b'Mercia asset Management PLc25Annual Report and Accounts 2021Investing Growth, diversity in people and inclusionEmpowering #OneMercia In a time when we have seen many The strong culture that has our values atcompanies reducing headcount and its core has been crucial as wefreezing recruitment plans, we have transitioned to homeworking. Thecontinued to grow, and at pace. Over the people that make up the fabric of ourperiod, we have attracted and settled 21 business were now working across c.100new permanent colleagues across the different home-office locations and theGroup. We take great care to ensure that key business imperative was to preserveall employees are treated equally and #OneMercia and support continuedgiven the same opportunities and access collaboration and motivation throughoutto training and professional development, the team, vital to everyone. The creativeregardless of age, gender, race, religion or outreach adopted to engenderbelief, sexual orientation, disability or transparent and frequent communicationcourtney Yeoman, ethnic origin. We give a voice to our entire included a range of well-designed andexecutive assistant and Facilitiesteam and we listen to the views of relevant activities, from the more formalcoordinator, chair of Mercia spirit everyone within Mercia. We appreciate theStrategic reportweekly Group CEO all hands Zoomneed to address the challenges that exist meetings, to the light-hearted bi-weeklyaround attracting under-represented Friday Files, a people-focused newsletter,groups into the business, and this is an all crafted around the tenets ofarea that we will be focusing on during the connectivity, trust and flexibility. Theyear ahead. We will provide an update onGovernance Financial statementsresult was an empowered workforceprogress in next years Annual Report. evidenced in Mercias best Employee Net Promotor Score ever received, increasing significantly on the previous year, scoring most positively in the areas of culture, work/life balance and enablement. Learning and engagementThroughout the year, Mercia provides continued professional development support supplementedwith external training courses and webinars. These are either bespoke to an individuals needs, or open to the entire team and covering subjects that pertain to our own business areas or new peripheral topics that are either influential to our business or impacting our industry.Our O2 group continues to give voice to a broader range of insights and ideas, providing a platform to engage with more diverse thinking and counsel, on topics that range from improved operational efficiencies to more cohesive employment engagement. A means to take the temperature of the business, this group cuts across the entire business, providing the opportunity to hear from team members that might otherwise not have the chance, or the confidence, to provide their point of view.'