LoginBuilding Belonging: Tendy Lindsay on Leading CTSI's New Race Network
As CTSI launches its new Race Network, we speak to Chair, Tendy Lindsay about the opportunities ahead, the progress already made across Trading Standards, and the steps still needed to ensure people from all racial and ethnic backgrounds can thrive, progress and lead within the profession.
After nearly 30 years in Trading Standards, including roles at both TSO and Manager level across several UK local authorities, and as an independent Trading Standards practitioner seconded to regulators and enforcement bodies in the Caribbean, Tendy Lindsay was appointed CTSI Chair in October 2022. Now she takes on a brand new role as the first convener of CTSI's Race Network.
Drawing on her experience as a founding member and former Chair of CTSI's Race and Equalities Working Group, Tendy shares her vision for a member-led network that provides a safe and inclusive space for discussion, learning and collaboration, while helping to shape positive change across CTSI and the wider Trading Standards profession.
What made you want to lead CTSI’s new Race Network?
I wanted to lead the Race Network because I believe there is a real opportunity to build on the work that has already taken place within CTSI and take it forward in a way that is meaningful, inclusive and sustainable. I was a Founder Member of CTSI’s Race and Equalities Working Group and chaired that group for three years. That experience reinforced for me both the importance of creating spaces where people can talk openly about race and equality, and the importance of ensuring that those conversations lead to action.
For me, the Network is not about creating another layer of activity around equality. It is about creating a safe, inclusive and empowering space where members can share experiences, learn from one another, challenge assumptions and help CTSI understand what is happening across our profession and the communities we serve.
I also want the Network to recognise the diversity within our racial and ethnic minority communities. While Black experiences will naturally be an important part of the conversation, the Network should be relevant to people from all racial and ethnic backgrounds and should encourage people to come together as colleagues, partners and allies.
During your time in Trading Standards, where have you seen genuine progress on racial equality and inclusion?
I have seen some important progress, particularly in the willingness to have conversations that perhaps would not have happened so openly in the past regarding all protected characteristics. Within CTSI, there has been increasing recognition that equality, diversity and inclusion are not simply about representation. They are also about culture, belonging, opportunity and whether people feel able to be themselves and contribute fully.
I have also seen people across Trading Standards become more willing to recognise unconscious bias and to consider how recruitment, development and professional opportunities can affect people from different backgrounds. There is also a growing recognition that diversity strengthens the profession. Trading Standards serves incredibly diverse communities, so having a profession that reflects and understands those communities is important not only from an equality perspective, but also for effective consumer protection, business support and fair regulation.
We should also recognise the importance of supporting Black and ethnic minority businesses. Many of these businesses contribute significantly to local economies and communities, but may face barriers in understanding or navigating regulatory requirements. CTSI has an important role to play in promoting clear, accessible and proportionate regulation, and in encouraging approaches that support businesses to comply and succeed.
However, progress should not be confused with completion. There is still much more to do.
What still needs to change if Trading Standards is to become a profession in which people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds can belong, progress and lead?
We need to move beyond representation towards genuine belonging and progression. It is important that people from all backgrounds can enter the profession, but we also need to ask what happens once they are here. Do they have access to development and leadership opportunities? Do they feel that their contribution is valued? Can they raise concerns without feeling that doing so will negatively affect their career? Do they see people who look like them in senior and influential positions?
We need to encourage better representation of people of colour in leadership positions, within CTSI and across the wider Trading Standards profession. This should also extend to trainees, apprentices and early-career professionals. CTSI can help influence this by working with local authorities, government departments, other regulators and partner organisations to create more inclusive recruitment, apprenticeship and development pathways.
We also need to continue challenging unconscious bias and the assumptions that can influence recruitment, progression, professional relationships and perceptions of leadership. For me, inclusion means creating an environment where people do not feel that they have to minimise aspects of who they are in order to fit in.
Leadership matters too. Representation at senior levels sends a powerful message about what is possible. But it should not be the responsibility of people from minority backgrounds alone to drive this change. It requires commitment from the whole profession, including CTSI, local government, government, regulators , partner organisations and the private sector.
Who is the Network for, and how will members be able to join, help shape its priorities and support its work?
The Race Network is for CTSI members who want to engage with issues relating to race and racial equality, whether through lived experience, professional interest, learning, allyship or a desire to help create positive change. It is important to me that the Network is not seen as being exclusively for people from racial or ethnic minority backgrounds. Allies have an important role to play, and everyone should feel able to participate respectfully.
The Network will be member-led. I want members to have a genuine opportunity to influence its priorities rather than simply being presented with a programme that has already been decided. We will listen to members, identify the issues that matter to them and create opportunities for people to contribute through discussions, events, learning, sharing experiences and practical initiatives.
The Network should also provide a route for members to raise issues affecting Black and ethnic minority businesses, including barriers to accessing regulatory information, support and advice. These insights can help CTSI understand where regulation or enforcement practice may unintentionally create disadvantage and where better guidance, engagement or partnership working is needed.
At the same time, the Network needs to be a safe space. People should be able to speak honestly about their experiences and perspectives, with respect for confidentiality and for the different experiences that people bring.
What do you hope members will gain from being part of the Network?
I hope members will gain a sense of belonging and connection, as well as the confidence that their experiences and perspectives are valued. I would like people to have opportunities to learn from one another positively, build professional relationships, develop their understanding of race and equality, and support each other positively.
For members from minority backgrounds, I hope the Network can provide a space where they feel seen and understood without feeling that they have to explain or justify their experiences. For allies, I hope it provides an opportunity to listen, learn and understand how they can contribute positively. I also hope the Network will help members understand how CTSI can influence wider change, including better representation in leadership, traineeships and apprenticeships across CTSI, local authorities, government, other regulators and partner organisations.
Ultimately, I want people to feel that they are part of something that can make a practical difference.
What is the one thing you most want CTSI to do as a result of what it hears through the Network?
Listen and then act, real action leading to positive changes, not just procedural changes, ensuring adequate resources, including financial resources are in place rather than relying on other institutions to fund such important work. It is important that the Network is not simply a place where people share experiences and then nothing changes.
I would like CTSI to use what it hears through the Network as a source of insight into its policies, practices, culture and priorities. Where members identify barriers or concerns, we should be willing to examine them honestly and consider what needs to changes through active monitoring so that we are evidence based. I would also like CTSI to use its influence to lead and promote positive business regulation across the four nations of the United Kingdom, working with local authorities, government, other regulators and relevant partners.
That should include encouraging a more supportive and proportionate approach to regulation, particularly for Black and ethnic minority businesses. Enforcement will always have an important role where necessary, but businesses should be given clear information, practical guidance and reasonable opportunities to comply wherever possible. The emphasis should be on support, prevention and education rather than prosecution as the first response, especially where businesses are willing to engage and put things right. Equally, where something is working well, we should recognise it and learn from it.
The Network should have a genuine two-way relationship with CTSI, so that members can contribute to the organisation and CTSI can communicate with members about what it is doing in response.
Black History Month provides an important point of focus, but what should CTSI and the Network do to sustain this work throughout the year?
Black History Month is an important opportunity to celebrate Black history, achievements and contributions, and to encourage conversations about race and equality. But racial equality cannot be something we focus on for one month and then put away for another year. The Network needs to have a programme of activity throughout the year, with opportunities for members to engage, learn, connect and raise issues.
More importantly, the principles behind the work need to become part of everyday organisational culture including recruitment, professional development, leadership, communications, training and decision-making. This should include practical work to improve representation within CTSI and across the wider profession, particularly in leadership roles, traineeships and apprenticeships. CTSI should work with local authorities, government, other regulators and partners to help create clearer and more inclusive routes into the profession and into senior positions.
The work should also include sustained engagement with Black and ethnic minority businesses. CTSI can help promote positive business regulation across the four nations by encouraging regulators and local authorities to provide accessible advice, early support and proportionate interventions. Businesses should understand what is expected of them and be given meaningful opportunities to comply before enforcement or prosecution is considered, except where serious or deliberate breaches require a stronger response.
I would also like us to continue creating opportunities to celebrate the contribution of people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds throughout the year. Diversity should be part of the story of CTSI all year round.
A year from now, what do you hope members will be able to say has changed because the Network exists?
I would hope members could say that they feel more connected, more confident about speaking openly about race and equality, and that they know their voices are being heard. I would also like them to be able to identify practical changes within CTSI that have come from those conversations.
I hope they will see stronger representation of people of colour in leadership, trainee and apprenticeship opportunities within CTSI and through its partnerships with local authorities, government, other regulators and professional organisations.
I would also like Black and ethnic minority businesses to feel that CTSI and the wider regulatory community are more accessible, supportive and willing to help them comply. Positive regulation should mean clear guidance, constructive engagement and proportionate enforcement, with prosecution not treated as the default response where businesses are willing to work with regulators and address concerns.
Perhaps most importantly, I would like members to say that the Network has helped create a stronger sense of belonging that people from different racial and ethnic backgrounds feel that there is a place for them within CTSI and within the wider Trading Standards profession. I would like us to look back after a year and see not simply how many meetings we have held, but what we have learned, what we have influenced and what has changed across CTSI, local government, government, other regulators and the businesses and communities we serve.
For me, the ultimate measure of success will be whether people feel that the Network has made a genuine difference to their experience of CTSI, whether it has helped improve support for Black and ethnic minority businesses, and whether it has helped us move closer to a profession where people of every racial and ethnic background can belong, progress and lead.
Something to Say? If you'd like to share your story or experience - to inspire, empower or motivate others - then please let us know by emailing [email protected] (please include your full name, contact details and, ideally, your membership number, in your message).
