Sustainability
Proudly B Corp certified
As an independent and purpose-led law firm, we strongly believe that business has a responsibility to bring about positive and lasting change.
This led us to adopt a set of ambitious sustainability goals in 2020, which have since led our journey.
Yet for us, being a responsible business goes much further than the environment alone. It also means giving back to our local communities and wider society — this is why our sustainability goals include issues like diversity, poverty, equal pay, affordable housing and more.
Through a series of internal colleague-led action groups, we’re focused on achieving these goals and making further improvements around issues close to our hearts, such as equality, diversity and inclusion.
This approach aligns perfectly with the B Corp movement — and in 2022, we proudly became the UK’s largest law firm (and the first outside of London) to become B Corp certified.
Why B Corp?
Companies in the global B Corp network are independently recognised for being purpose-driven, committed to creating benefits for all stakeholders and operating as a force for good.
We take this accreditation and responsibility very seriously and continually evolve our strategy around sustainability and society as part of our commitment to bring about positive change.
This means that we adopt the ‘triple bottom line’ framework for evaluating business success — which means that the treatment of people and planet are adopted as measures of success alongside profit.
We were proud to be shortlisted for Sustainable Business of the Year by edie in 2023 alongside the likes of Vodafone, EY and E.ON and to win the Sustainability Initiative of the Year Award at the Lawyer Awards 2023.
Recognised by
“Our commitment to the B Corp movement has only strengthened as we continue to engage with the industry-leading knowledge of our colleagues in the global B Corp network. Their support has been instrumental in shaping the evolution of our sustainability strategy and, in turn, helped us to act more effectively as a flagbearer for the legal sector to incorporate people and the planet as measures of success.”
Robert White, CEO, Brabners
How to become a B Corp
Alongside being a committed B Corp ourselves, as a full-service law firm we are in a position to help other purpose-led businesses gain B Corp certification.
This is a detailed process that can take a significant amount of time and effort — so having support from people familiar with what’s needed and who share the same values can be a huge help throughout the application process.
B Lab offers a lot of guidance but doesn’t provide hands-on support. It’s generally useful to have external support to demystify the process and assess your environmental impact — and making changes to governance and employment documents is best done with the support of a good lawyer.
Our B Corp team is led by experienced corporate lawyer and recognised Better Business Pioneer Simon Lewis — "an advocate for the role of the legal sector in sustainability" who is "passionate about aligning his professional career with his personal values".
Find out more about the practicalities involved in becoming a B Corp.
Our services include:
- Governance — articles of association, anti-bribery, code of ethics and other governance documentation.
- Workers — employment policies, health and wellbeing policies and employee ownership models.
- Community — charitable foundations, EDI policies/procedures, supplier codes of conduct and purchasing policies.
- Environment — landlord/tenant collaboration and supply chain management.
- Customers — terms of business and data protection.
If you’re looking to become a B Corp — or simply want to improve the sustainability of your business — we can help.
B Corp impact report 2023
Each year, we’ll publish an ‘impact report’ as part of our ongoing commitment to the B Corp movement.
We are proud to present our 2023 report, which demonstrates the progress we’re making in terms of governance, diversity, sustainability, community and more.
