9 June

Change Starts Together: Storytelling with Wayne Page

‘Change Starts Together’ is our storytelling campaign which forms part of The Lord Mayor's Appeal Power of Inclusion programme.

These stories help us to raise awareness of the importance of social mobility within the City of London and across the UK, as well as inspiring businesses to create inclusive cultures by hearing from those with diverse socio-economic backgrounds.

To celebrate Social Mobility Day on June 12, we asked Wayne Page, Head of Inclusion & Diversity at Brit Insurance to share his 'Change Starts Together' story... 

Tell us about your early life, background and aspirations? 

I always wanted to be a primary school teacher in my early years but only achieved average GCSE grades. This meant I would have needed to resit my Maths but wasn’t able to do that due to family income restrictions (single mum on benefits couldn’t afford for her kids to not go to work).

So I had a couple of manual labour jobs but then decided to join a YTS Scheme in Amenity Horticulture. I loved this and was soon placed with Lewisham Council for work experience which quickly lead to an employed position with day release to finish my qualification.

I left the Council after a few years and joined a security company and was based on-site at Canary Wharf. This gave me my first exposure of being around ‘suits’ and having some experience in the business world.

And what exposure it was. The way people spoke to me, to each other was so different to council estate upbringing but you quickly learn to adapt to achieve the best results. I’ve always been able to tweak my style to my audience and it’s easy to see where that started.

Tell us about your experience of working in the City? 

I did have some exposure to ‘city life’ after working at Canary Wharf for many years, however at that time it wasn’t the same as working in the city.

When I joined Brit Insurance in February 2021, I started to learn that the city has its own vibe, culture and it’s very different to other places I’ve worked. Initially I didn’t like it at all!

I loved my job but I didn’t enjoy the culture of the city. It was very socially-focused, especially in the evenings – the bars would be overflowing into the streets. And it felt very cliquey to someone new to the city.

It took being invited out by my colleagues and friends a few times to help me settle in and to make me realise I could also be welcomed – it definitely wasn’t as cliquey as I thought and I can now see it was me who was holding back, rather than just joining in.

At Brit, I can honestly say that my social background has never had any detrimental impact on my career. I’ve never felt unable to be my authentic self and I certainly haven’t changed the way I speak or acted any differently to try and fit in.

I know that in order to be my best at work I have to be able to be myself, and Brit is definitely a place where I have been encouraged to be authentic.

What does social mobility mean to you?   

Social mobility is extremely important to me because I know firsthand that just because some people haven’t had the same opportunities around education and work as others, doesn’t mean that they can’t bring huge benefit to your workplace.

We know that diversity brings many benefits to companies across the world and social background must be included in that. Most of the challenges I’ve faced and overcome have been caused by me – worrying that I won’t fit in, being concerned about having tattoos or changing the way I speak.

Once you learn to be yourself then you can achieve anything you put your mind to.

Brit have a very senior colleague who often shares his own experience of his social background, which isn’t too dissimilar to mine, and this has been a huge inspiration for me. It shows me that if he can have such a successful career and has been able to be true to himself, then so can I! 

This Social Mobility Day 2025, what is your top piece of advice for businesses hoping to improve their socioeconomic diversity and create a more inclusive environment? 

Role model your people from different social backgrounds. Let people share their stories – especially those that achieve success without going to university or coming from different industries – and show everyone that they can be successful.

Promote your learning opportunities and make it clear that everyone can progress, no matter their age, background or education. If you’re willing to work hard then you can build an amazing long-lasting career. 

Join the Power of Inclusion hub here