West Midlands-based advocate warns local businesses are failing neurodiverse talent

But Ramal Royal is helping businesses across Staffordshire and the West Midlands to reverse this trend with a pioneering suite of solutions which could ultimately help to drive individual business growth as well as save the UK economy billions.

With figures showing that 1 in 6 adults in the UK are neurodiverse, but only a third of them are in employment, and of those, just 21% are in senior management roles and 12% C‑suite executives, the disparity is alarming.

It’s against a backdrop of shocking statistics, which highlight systemic barriers to progression, that 29-year-old Ramal pioneered inclusive programmes to create more accessible pathways to senior roles and help businesses tap into this talented, but under-utilised workforce.

An inspirational force, Birmingham’s Ramal is passionate about working with businesses of all sizes and across sectors to refine outdated systems that are currently failing the neurodiverse.

Award-winning Ramal, who comes from a place of lived experience, including as someone with dyslexia, said: “The lack of social mobility costs the UK economy £19 billion a year, yet doors to employment and career progression often stay closed for neurodiverse individuals.

“There is a lot of conversation around celebrating diversity, which I wholeheartedly support, but at the same time, organisations often still maintain leadership systems that only work for a narrow group of people. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

“We work with businesses to redesign systems to make them truly inclusive, from removing barriers to daily accessibility in the workplace to creating accessible leadership pathways so that neurodiverse employees can thrive, not just simply be a part of the workforce.

“Ultimately, evolving to better accommodate the talents of their neurodiverse workforce, businesses can also help to drive their growth from the inside.”