DEI is falling out of fashion

Burberry has sacked its head of inclusion to save money, and it could be the start of a hot new trend

- James Moore

Is DEI dying? British luxury design house Burberry has caused something of a stir by giving the man in charge of all things diversity, equity and inclusion the well-shod boot.

As part of its latest cost-cutting drive - in the first quarter of 2025, after a 12 per cent slump in sales, the brand posted a £66m year-on-year loss - it is shedding 1,700 jobs worldwide.

But it is the “phasing out” of Geoffrey Williams, a “key thought leader” who bore the august title of “vice-president of colleague attraction and inclusion” (I know, ugh...), that really catches the eye.

It is eight months since Donald Trump returned to the White House, and his bonfire of all things DEI may have sparked something similar in the UK.

On the day of his inauguration, Trump issued a series of executive orders withdrawing DEI programmes in the public and private sectors, liberally introduced by the Biden administration “in virtually all aspects of the federal government, from airline safety to the military”; measures dressed up as “positive discrimination” that were, to Trump’s mind at least, a “shameful discrimination” that also “demonstrated immense public waste ... Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect”.