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Transport for London has blocked a US consulting giant that scrapped diversity policies from working on its advertising campaigns.
The local government body, which is controlled by Sadiq Khan, said it had vetoed Accenture’s bid to work on a TfL marketing campaign, saying the consultancy’s new stance on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) clashed with its own approach.
It comes after Accenture, which is one of the biggest consulting firms in the world, said in February it would be “sunsetting” the diversity policies it first set out in 2017 in response to Donald Trump’s war on “woke”.
A TfL spokesman said: “We were unable to continue with [Accenture’s] bid for our creative tender contract as they no longer met the criteria for diversity that we expect from all suppliers.
“We are proud to hold our suppliers to account, making sure they are aligned with our commitments on diversity and inclusivity to help expand opportunities across our supply chain and create equal opportunities for all.”
The decision means Accenture and its creative agency Droga5 are blocked from bidding for work on TfL’s planned £50m overhaul of its marketing strategy, which are part of Mr Khan’s wider attempts to boost public transport use.
Accenture dropped its diversity policies this year after the US president banned companies with federal contracts from operating “illegal” DEI programmes. The consultant, which is the world’s biggest by revenue, is one of the US government’s federal contractors and won a five-year IT contract last year from the US Air Force worth $1.6bn (£1.3bn).
Last month, Accenture said cost-cutting initiatives led by Elon Musk’s department of government efficiency (Doge) were already negatively affecting its US sales and revenues.
Shares in the company have lost more than 17pc of their value since Mr Trump’s inauguration on Jan 20.
An Accenture spokesman said: “We can’t comment due to the strict confidentiality around the bidding process”.
Mr Khan’s decision to block Accenture comes as he grapples to plug a gap in TfL’s finances and boost passenger numbers, which have slumped since the pandemic.
The Mayor’s transport strategy, which was first set out in 2018, involves TfL working with a creative agency to overhaul its marketing strategy, with a view to encouraging more walking, cycling and use of public transport.
In a tender for bids to work on the £50m marketing overhaul, TfL said it also plans to launch campaigns to “reach all of London’s diverse communities, particularly those from black and Asian minority heritage”.
TfL provoked widespread backlash last year after it led a rebranding of the London Overground that involved a diversity-themed rebrand of the network’s six lines, including the Suffragette line and the Windrush line.
London design firm DNCO was paid £6.3m for the overhaul, which resulted in one line being renamed the Lioness line after England’s women’s football team and another the Mildmay line after the HIV and Aids specialist Mildmay Mission Hospital.