Birketts’ ESG Project
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is very much at the heart of Birketts; working with our local community is a big part of our firm’s culture. In support of our commitment to “doing the right thing”, we’re now extending our focus to Environmental, Social and (Corporate) Governance (ESG) to create a more sustainable, resilient and inclusive future.
In 2022, we appointed external consultants to work with us to combine our current commitments and future ambitions across ESG within our firm under one. The consultants were tasked with working with us to design our ESG strategy and ESG policy (to sit over the current CSR policy). Their method includes a review and audit of everything we are doing so far, identifying any areas for improvement and creating our ESG focus topics and ambitions.
In addition, we have created an internal ESG steering group led by Partner Grace Kerr, which has evolved from our long established CSR programme and reports directly to the Partnership Board.
This work will culminate in the completion and delivery of our ESG strategy and policy in early 2023.
However, we have already been taking steps to ensure a positive impact, prioritising five key work streams that we believe will make a real long-lasting difference:
Gender Diversity
We are committed to creating an environment in which talented women are able to progress and where all colleagues feel supported in developing their careers while balancing their responsibilities outside of work.
Inclusiveness
We want to create an inclusive and informed culture where everyone – regardless of background, identity and circumstance – feels empowered to bring their full, authentic selves to work.
Social Mobility
As a large law firm, we believe we can play a positive role in widening access to the profession and increasing social mobility through our recruitment and business practices and external community activities.
Race and Ethnicity
We want our firm to reflect the races, ethnicities, cultures and nationalities that exist in the communities in which we operate and support the journey towards greater racial and ethnic inclusivity in the legal sector.
Mental health and wellbeing
It is recognised that working in a law firm can be a pressurised and demanding environment, and we have an important role in overcoming the stigma of mental health and promoting positive mental and physical wellbeing.
