BGF’s Portfolio team and the BGF Foundation have partnered with the Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) to provide pro bono support, as it introduces a new way of presenting its Social Mobility Employer Index. In 2026, employers will be grouped into performance bands, rather than a single ranking, improving clarity for audiences, accessibility for participating organisations, and SMF’s ability to grow participation going forwards.
About the Social Mobility Foundation
The SMF works for a society where people from all social backgrounds can thrive in education and the workplace, and all young people can explore their talents.
They do this by opening up opportunities for young people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds through their Aspiring Professionals Programme, which supports over 4,000 young people across the UK every year. The programme provides mentoring, skills workshops, employer insight, and access to professional networks.
The organisation also campaigns to break down barriers in our systems, so that potential always comes before privilege. Part of this is the Social Mobility Employer Index, which is entering its 10th year in 2026. This annual benchmarking and assessment tool supports employer-led social mobility, guiding employers committed to taking the lead in building more inclusive, representative, and successful organisations.
The SMF are motivated by the knowledge that, when we foster the potential of all young people, we lift up every member of our communities.
The challenge: evolving beyond a single league table
The Social Mobility Employer Index is a cornerstone of the SMF’s work with employers, and a key driver of the influence and income that supports its broader mission. But, like many mission-led organisations, the SMF is balancing a growing product, ambitious impact goals and limited capacity.
For the Social Mobility Employer Index, one key challenge was how to evolve beyond a single ‘Top 75’ ranking format, while preserving the credibility and rigour that makes the benchmark valuable to employers.
BGF Foundation partnership
As part of its charity partnership model, the BGF Foundation pairs funding with hands-on, skills-based volunteering. It draws on expertise from our team, as well as business leaders in our portfolio and our extensive advisor network.
The BGF Foundation awarded the SMF with £50k, to help strengthen its approach to the Social Mobility Employer Index. BGF also provided the team with pro bono support, particularly around product positioning, communications and future growth strategy for the Index.
Portfolio team working sessions
As the SMF prepared to evolve its Social Mobility Employer Index in 2026, we helped to pressure-test and articulate the ‘why’ behind this change, anticipate employer questions, and reduce potential confusion during its launch.
Members of our Portfolio team attended a series of virtual working sessions with the SMF, offering focused, strategic input. This included challenge-led discussions, designed to test assumptions and support decision making at pace.
The working sessions covered:
- Rationale for shifting from a Top 75 ranking towards a banded approach, while keeping the underlying survey and mark scheme largely unchanged
- Risks and mitigations for this new approach, including how different employer cohorts might respond and what needs to be (over-)communicated
- Narrative and communications, including draft FAQs, key messages, and how to frame the changes for both internal and external audiences
- Naming and band design considerations, balancing simplicity and shareability with the SMF’s desire to avoid an ‘accreditation’ tone
- Success measures and learning loops, ensuring the 2026 cycle captures insights to inform future Index development
Jill Williams, Portfolio Partner at BGF, said: “This was a compelling opportunity for BGF’s Portfolio team to support a product that sits at the heart of the SMF’s long-term impact. The move to a more accessible, banded approach to the Index should help broaden engagement and create a stronger platform for growth over time. Our role was to apply an investor lens, bringing practical, real-world experience to challenge the SMF’s strategy and consider how the proposed changes might land in practice.”
Product–Market Fit workshop
Community events and workshops are a core part of BGF’s value creation offering to our portfolio. The SMF was invited to attend one of these sessions, our recent Product-Market Fit workshop, alongside BGF portfolio companies, to support its Social Mobility Employer Index project. This was as a timely opportunity to bring the charity into a room it wouldn’t typically be able to access.
Following the session, Sophie Gregory, Strategic Communications Manager at the SMF, commented: “The product-market fit event was a brilliant half-day workshop that helped us to reflect on the Social Mobility Employer Index and the need it’s responding to. We explored the importance of considering our ideal customers and which KPIs actually serve our purpose.
“Through the workshop format, thoughtful facilitation, and the bringing together of BGF’s community, we had a really helpful conversation about what product-market fit means in a quickly changing world. With so many different organisations in the room, we were able to learn from one another, as well as having the time to decide what to take back to our teams.”
A model of timeboxed, skills-based support
The SMF recently announced its new banded ranking approach for the Social Mobility Employer Index, following a successful launch webinar. The new bands – Pioneering, Progressive, Established and Committed – champion all organisations making a difference to workplace social mobility.
