An update on our anti-racism statement 2021

As we approach the first anniversary of the murder of George Floyd and the innumerable BlackLivesMatter demonstrations across the globe, we have taken some time to pause and reflect on our journey to racial equality. Since we published our anti racism statement last year:

• We have implemented recruitment policies and programmes that encourage more diversity in recruitment and use our firm’s sphere of influence to help widen and diversify the talent pools within the legal sector. Within the last year, 30% of total applications were by people from UK ethnic minority backgrounds.
• We are no longer using the term “BAME” and will continue to look at race and ethnicity at a granular level to start to understand some of the specific challenges our different communities face.
• We have built a relationship with Mahogany Inclusion Partners and held a series of discovery sessions and listening exercises. Based on the input of those who spoke & shared their lived experiences and further engagement with our senior stakeholders, we have built an anti racism & conscious inclusion training programme which we are currently rolling out across the firm, starting with our leadership teams.
• We are setting targets to achieve a leadership population that is representative of society and which will be measured and reported on an annual basis. We will publish these targets in Summer 2021.
• We continue to hold awareness events within the firm to educate and engage the majority in discussions about race, culture, ethnicity and heritage.
• We will use our position to advocate publicly our commitment to a fair and inclusive society and stand firmly against racism with our ethnic minority colleagues.
• We have signed up to the Business in the Community “Race at Work” charter to set out visibly the measures for which we will be held accountable and ensure we are making a sustained impact. We will underpin this with our commitment to The Big Promise to ensure that “actions speak louder than words”.