PFS director and disability and inclusion campaigner Eddie Grant FPFS, a Chartered Financial Planner, explains how the forthcoming Disability Access Symposium can offer Financial Planners the chance to unlock a £446bn opportunity.
Disabled customers represent one of the largest untapped market segments in financial services, with 25% of UK adults disabled and the so-called 'purple pound' calculated by University of Bristol to be worth £446bn.
Yet despite this, many disabled people face barriers when accessing insurance, pensions, protection and Financial Planning.
The Disability Access Symposium Week (5–9 October) arrives at exactly the right moment, offering firms a rare opportunity to gain cross-sector insight, strengthen commercial performance and build disability confidence at scale.
Hosted in collaboration with the UK Cabinet Office Disability & Access Ambassadors, the Symposium will bring together leaders from across sectors including technology, tourism, transport, Financial Planning and many others.
The week is designed to showcase and scale proven initiatives, create cross-sector coalitions and motivate leaders to embed accessibility at the earliest stages of product, service and workplace design.
The Symposium is open to all, with in-person and virtual events. It has the aim of moving beyond awareness and into practical, evidence-based action.
The Symposium agenda is built around three core objectives: amplifying what already works, collaborating to drive inclusive design and inspiring leaders to design access from the start.
Throughout the week we will showcase the work of the UK’s 20 Disability & Access Ambassadors. These are senior leaders appointed by the Cabinet Office to drive improvements in the accessibility and quality of services and facilities in their sector for disabled people and help ensure businesses are doing all they can to support disabled customers and employees.
The cornerstone event is the 07/10/2026 Conference, a full day programme designed to spotlight cross sector innovation and provide delegates with a structured pathway to turn ideas into action.
A highlight of the morning will be Sir Charlie Mayfield’s session on the government Keep Britain Working initiative designed to tackle the UK’s rising economic inactivity caused by ill‑health and disability by creating a new, shared model of responsibility between employers, employees and government.
The afternoon brings sector specific insight from ambassadors across universities, recruitment, tourism, transport, banking, technology and insurance. These sessions reveal practical examples of redesigned services, securing senior buy in, embedding digital inclusion and improving customer experience. Attendees will secure ideas that can be implemented in firms.
Our Insurance Institute of London Lunchtime at Lloyds session, in the heart of our profession, focuses on the insurance and financial planning sector’s role in improving access, trust and outcomes for disabled customers and employees. The agenda brings together leading voices from BIBA, GAIN, the ABI, the CII, Three Hands, Vocational Rehabilitation Association and iDawn.
The third element is our online events which will be played during the week and then will become an on-demand resource for our profession. With over 16 online sessions, delegates have at their fingertips accessibility focused sessions including disability confidence, data sharing, disabled customer experience, practical reasonable adjustments tips, and examples of what our sector has delivered that we can all amplify.
With so many competing events, why attend the Disability Access Symposium?
For me there are three key reasons
- The Commercial One - Unlock a £446bn opportunity, hear practical, evidence-based ways to improve access, strengthen trust and tap into one of the UK’s largest underserved market segments.
- The Talent One – attracting, retaining and empowering disabled people is at the heart of inclusive and accessible workplaces, removing the barriers will secure wider reach and improve retention.
- The Collaborative One - The Symposium creates a rare space where leaders can share proven initiatives and building cross‑sector coalitions, gain collaborative momentum that no single organisation can generate alone, turning isolated good practice into scalable, systemic change.
I truly hope that our profession rises to the challenge and registers. Find out more via these links.
1. 7 October Conference register
2. 8 October Lunchtime register
Eddie Grant is an advocate for the insurance and Financial Planning professions. He is UK Cabinet Office Disability and Access Ambassador for Insurance, a PFS Director, a Past President of the Personal Finance Society (PFS) and its longest-serving non-executive director. He also serves on the board of the European Financial Planning Association which has 101,000 members.