Future Firm Group: Our Culture
Our Firm is committed to developing and maintaining an increasingly diverse, inclusive and supportive workplace culture where everyone can be themselves, feel valued and that they belong.
These efforts are sponsored through our well established Future Firm Group (FFG), a senior task force formed under the governance of our Advisory Council and chaired by our Senior Partner Bart Peerless and Managing Partner Simon Ridpath. The work of this group is informed by data, lived experiences and best practice and guided by representative voices from individuals and networks across our Firm.
Our intended aim at the outset in 2021 was that our Future Firm is diverse and inclusive. It is diverse because we value equitable opportunities for all. It is diverse because, as a leading international law firm with a focus on private capital, we must reflect the ever-increasing diversity of our clients and intermediaries. It is diverse because we understand that diversity of experience and perspective drives creativity and equips us to deliver the best and most innovative solutions for our clients. It is inclusive because, for our Firm to thrive, everyone must feel empowered to be their authentic self at work.
We understand that, to build this diverse and inclusive Future Firm, we must:
- Pursue equity – recognising that different groups may need targeted support to ensure everyone has access to the same opportunities
- Set ourselves challenging goals
- Take coordinated action – including empowering everyone at the Firm to do their job in a way that drives diverse representation and supports our inclusive culture
- Evaluate, measure and report our progress both internally and to the market, being open and transparent about what we are doing well and what we must do better
Whist a lot of work has been achieved through the evaluation of our processes, developing data and benchmarking standards, creating specific action plans for each strand of diversity with some challenging goals. Our actions have been coordinated across the Firm, which includes empowering everyone to do their role in a way that drives diverse representation and supports our inclusive culture
In 2024, we launched a new diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) strategy, which incorporates our Firm values and focuses on all areas of DEI. The aim being to ensure everyone at the Firm understands their role in cultivating an inclusive environment.
Our new DEI strategy incorporates four key elements:
Engage A campaign to inform and engage the Partnership with the vision and aims of our strategy so that it is led from the top of the Firm.
Equip
- Increased knowledge and understanding of our individuality and inclusive working practices.
- Storytelling, awareness raising, training, mentoring and reverse mentoring.
Embed DEI into our culture, client service, processes and procedures so that DEI is part of our culture and how we do things in our inclusive Firm.
Evaluate
- Authentic strategy (informed by qualitative and quantitative data and by best practice.)
- We will provide everyone with the firm will updates on our actions and progress.
- Benchmarking and collaboration to enable improvements with the Firm and wider profession.
Embedding our values
Our DEI Strategy is supported by Partners, Ambassadors and subject matter experts. We have introduced DEI Champions in each of our teams to champion active involvement in our DEI agenda, share information and encourage a positive two-way conversation on the DEI issues that matter most to our people.
Our Firm Values are the foundation of everything we do, and our values guide our actions and behaviours. Over the last year, we ran a significant number of workshops to embed our values and behaviours, and involve all of our staff across the globe. Creating an inclusive culture is the responsibility of everyone at the Firm and aligning our values means we continue to weave an inclusive and equitable approach which enables diversity of thought to drive commercial outcomes for our clients and a supportive workplace environment. Our values work has also included the launch of a new behavioural framework for recruitment, performance and promotions to ensure the values are threaded through everything we do.
In September 2024, we expanded our employee-led DEI networks with the launch of our Disability and Neurodiversity network, Mental Health and Wellbeing network and Working Parents and Carers network.
You can read more about our approach to DEI on our website.
Some achievements and initiatives this year include:
Our target for women Partners was 35% by 2024 and we reached 34% in November 2023. The percentage has fluctuated between 29.9 and 34.4 due to fluctuations in the partnership numbers. We continue to focus our efforts on meeting this and holding ourselves to account.
Our ambition to have 30% of women in leadership roles by 2025 was achieved in May 2024.
Our strategic aim is that an inclusive approach, which is informed and authentic to us is part of how we do things as a Firm. The opportunities to share stories, learn and bring people together are key to building a culture in which people can be themselves and thrive.”
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