10 July 2019

Over fifty Costain employees, their families, friends and supply chain colleagues, took part in the Pride in London parade on Saturday 6 July 2019 for the third consecutive year.

This year’s event theme was #PrideJubilee, marking the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising that took place in New York and the subsequent birth of the modern LGBT+ rights movement.

This year’s parade was widely reported as the biggest and most diverse yet, with the Costain team amongst 30,000 people from 600 different groups walking the streets of London. The LGBT+ and Allies Network co-ordinated the Costain entry into the parade, which for the first time saw the team participate with a float decorated in pride colours, in addition to displaying pride colours of bi and trans communities.

Sophie Sharpe, Chair of the LGBT+ and Allies Network said: “I was proud to march in the parade with a diverse team of LGBT+ people and visible allies. Having both our CEO and COO join us at Pride in London also sent a very strong message to our stakeholders that striving for inclusion of everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, is a business imperative that will ultimately ensure that Costain is a safe and great place to work.

For the first time at Pride in London, we collaborated with our supply chain partners from Keyline Civils and Drainage, who I extend a thank you to for providing us with a fantastic Costain float and support for the event.”

Darren James, COO and executive ally sponsor for the LGBT+ and Allies Network added: “I am absolutely convinced that a diverse team outperforms one that is not and am proud to support the LGBT+ community as part of the Costain Inclusion strategy. I was delighted to have joined my colleagues at Pride in London and I will continue to champion the eradication of discrimination.”