Our People

Championing future leaders

Since the launch of our Achieving Balance initiative in 2016, we have been working hard to improve the retention, progression and development of female talent within the Firm to Partnership and senior leadership.

Our target: 35% females in the UK Partnership by 2024

In 2021, we set ourselves the target of reaching 35% females in the UK Partnership by 2024.

We are on track to hit that target with female representation in the UK Partnership currently at 30%. This year the FFG set an additional target of 30% females in senior leadership roles by 2025.

One of the key contributors to achieving these targets is Evolve, a female leadership programme offered as part of the Charles Russell Speechlys Business School.

So far 62 people have signed up to the Evolve programme, which consists of seven modules and one-to-one coaching with executive coaches over a 12–18 month period.

“Evolve is very much about helping participants reflect on where they are now and where they want to get to in the future and supporting them to develop their own leadership style and skills,” says Brodie, Senior Learning and Development Specialist/Coach at Charles Russell Speechlys.

“Taking part in the Evolve programme enabled me to take a step back and think about how my underlying values and beliefs impact who I am and how I behave. That gave me an understanding of why other people behave in the way that they do and how you can change your own behaviour to get the best out of others.”

Suzi Gatward, Partner, Real Estate. Charles Russell Speechlys

Collaborative learning

One of the key benefits of the programme is that it is enabling participants to learn collaboratively with their peers and create networks across the Firm. Suzi Gatward, Partner in the Real Estate team who specialises in land acquisition for house builders, was in the second cohort of Evolve, which took place during the pandemic. She says the programme has taught her a range of new skills and enabled her to build networks with women across the Firm that she intends to maintain..

“Professionally it was absolutely brilliant to meet a cross section of the other amazing female partners in the Firm who I hadn’t met before. It’s been incredible to see the wealth of talent we have,” says Suzi. “It has also enabled me to know what other people are doing outside the house building world, and that has opened up the possibility of collaborating and sharing our collective talents with existing clients.”

Paula Boast, Partner and Head of Construction Engineering and Projects for the Middle East Region, who has also participated in Evolve, says the programme is a step in the right direction for the Firm.

“What's great is that it's not just geared towards senior associates and partners. There are other senior participants from Marketing, HR and other areas of Business Services,” says Paula. “The biggest thing that has come out of it for me is the connections I’ve built with other fee earners and employees of the Firm.”

The fifth cohort is about to get underway and Brodie says the plan is to run two cohorts a year — one at Partner/Senior Manager level and one at Senior Associate/ Manager level.

“We're constantly thinking about how we can make it better and at the end of each programme, we have a debrief and ask for feedback so that we can keep evolving the programme,” says Brodie.

Sally Ashford, Partner, Tax, Trusts and Succession, Charles Russell Speechlys

Building a workplace family

Sally Ashford has been with the Firm for more than 25 years and was recently appointed Head of the Guildford office.

Sally has enjoyed what she describes as a “scenic career journey”, including taking career breaks for maternity leave and a few years out from fee-earning performing other roles within the Firm, before becoming a Partner in 2015.

“I feel like I've grown up at the Firm. I had a very poorly husband and I've always had a lot of support and flexibility from my partners and colleagues. You don’t necessarily expect that from a professional services firm,” says Sally, who sits on the Firm’s Advisory Council and Future Firm Group.

She says that when she joined the Guildford office, it only employed around 40 people, but today there are nearly 200 in the office.

“We joke that it’s our work family, but there’s a lot of truth to it. We do try to support each other however we can,” adds Sally.

This support was vitally important during the pandemic, which presented a number of challenges for the Firm, such as the shift towards hybrid working and paperless working. “I see my role as being a supporting presence. I think it's about reassuring people, being available to people, encouraging people and listening to their concerns,” says Sally.

As for what her message would be to future female leaders in the Firm, she responds: “Keep going, be flexible and realistic. It won’t always be easy but you can work part-time, you can have a family, you can go through difficulties in your life, and you can still make it work for you and the Firm.”

“People want to progress and do better, they want to cooperate and collaborate and they want to know that those are the real tenets of the business going forward. I think Evolve has played a key role in helping to achieve these things and we would be a poorer firm without it.”

Paula Boast, Partner, Construction, Engineering & Projects, Charles Russell Speechlys

Race Action Review: Creating a more diverse workplace

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