Corporate Social Responsibility

Objective

As a firm, we recognise that our success depends upon more than merely being good lawyers and that we hold a wider responsibility for all our activities to our employees, clients, service providers and the broader society in which we operate. Our philosophy is, therefore, to ensure that as full a contribution as possible is made to our social and local economic development whilst improving the quality of life of all our members of staff. The key components of our Corporate Social Responsibility Policy revolve around our Clients, our People, the Community and the Environment.

Our Clients

Our clients are at the core of our business and we constantly seek to improve the overall client experience when dealing with the firm in all capacities. Feedback is sought from clients on a regular basis. We review this and make changes if need be to ensure that clients are provided at all times with a professional, friendly and efficient service. We provide information to clients in electronic format whenever possible to minimise the impact on the environment.

We look to learn about our clients so we understand their individual needs and circumstances and, by doing this, we can provide them with a tailor-made service for all their legal requirements. Understanding their needs means listening to our clients and finding out about issues in their community and shaping our services accordingly.

Our People

The firm values diversity in the workplace and expects and promotes mutual respect and understanding between people with different personal situations or backgrounds. We believe in caring for our employees and are committed to delivering a competitive and fair employment environment and the opportunity to advance. We believe continued learning is important for all our employees, and we strive to ensure that everyone in our organisation has ready access to development opportunities at all times.

We are fully committed to creating a culture of equal opportunity, fairness, inclusivity and respect for all. To these ends, our policy objectives are to:

• Value the differences in people
• Seek to build a workforce that reflects the communities in which we live and work so that we are best able to meet the needs of our clients
• Strive to ensure that we recruit with the ability and potential to do the job alone
• Promote professional and personal growth to ensure that the talents of all our employees are fully utilised
• Aim to provide our employees with a supportive working environment that encourages dignity, mutual trust and respect and is free from discrimination and harassment
• Aspire to be an employer of choice that has a reputation for fairness, integrity and innovation in order to recruit and retain the most talented people whatever their background and to attract and retain clients

The Community

The firm is dedicated to being a responsible contributing member of the community, seeking to build strong relationships with the local community and act as a good neighbour.

The firm is proud of the contribution made by employees to community and social responsibility programmes and aims to encourage and facilitate the growth and development of projects by the firm. The success of the policy is dependent on the contribution made by individuals and all employees throughout the firm are encouraged to consider how they can participate. Our policy outlines our support for a broad range of activities. Participation is both by individuals and as a firm and includes:

• Providing pro bono or low-cost legal advice to charities and not-for-profit businesses
• Wherever possible, use local businesses to provide services such as catering, cleaning, supplies, etc.
• Supporting initiatives aimed at assisting businesses in the local community
• Volunteering in community projects
• Supporting and sponsoring community work by employees
• Charitable donations
• Encouraging its employees to contribute to the local community by joining committees, trusts and boards.

The Environment

We recognise that our business practices have environmental effects, both directly and indirectly and, as such, we are committed to improving our environmental performance. Our goal is to be not only conscious of but also responsible in the way we deal with our environmental impact. The firm will be guided by the following objectives:

• To comply with all relevant environmental legislation
• To consider the environmental impacts of the materials we purchase at all stages of their life cycle and to adopt a sustainable procurement policy
• To reduce the environmental impacts of our transport use through the adoption of a ‘green’ transport philosophies, reducing unnecessary car journeys and promoting the use of cycling and public transport
• Reducing the volume of paper and plastic waste we produce and maximising its reuse and recycling through proactive waste management
• Saving energy by encouraging staff to be aware of their impact on the environment, and through intelligent use of IT
• Implementing a “switch off” policy and actively encouraging members of staff to switch off all electrical equipment at the end of the working day