Responsible business
We act sustainably together as a responsible business driven by an inclusive, innovative and learning culture.
Being responsible is not only one of our values, it's a core part of our strategic vision, governance structures and board discussions. Working together with our clients and community partners, we aim to build better businesses and protect the world.
We act sustainably together as a responsible business driven by an inclusive, innovative and learning culture.
Being responsible is not only one of our values, it's a core part of our strategic vision, governance structures and board discussions. Working together with our clients and community partners, we aim to build better businesses and protect the world.
Protecting our culture of inclusion
We're committed to delivering an inclusive environment where we empower all our people to lead, learn and grow. By bringing new experiences and viewpoints into the firm we're able to gain new perspectives, enhance teamworking and create extraordinary results for our business.
Our inclusion programme has six priority areas, each with partner champions and network groups to drive engagement.
Gender balance
Cultural diversity
LGBTQ+
Social mobility
Wellbeing and disability
Family matters
We each have a responsibility to shape our culture, and our trainees are involved in the committees of all our inclusion networks. For more information on how we're working to improve inclusion, read our gender pay gap and diversity reports.
Investing in our communities
We build long-term relationships with charities and community organisations that champion inclusion and the arts including:
We began our relationship with the National Portrait Gallery in 2005, when Taylor Wessing sponsored The World's Most Photographed, an exhibition created by the NPG jointly with the BBC to showcase the most photographed personalities in the world. In 2008 we launched the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize, one of the most prestigious international photography awards, which showcases new work submitted by some of the most exciting contemporary photographers.
The Roundhouse is an iconic live performance venue and a 'hub' of inspiration and creativity. But the venue you know is only half the story. The Roundhouse is a charity that supports thousands of young people every year. Below the main space lies a space for diverse young people aged 11-30 to conceptualise, collaborate and create. This includes musicians, poets, performers, film and radio makers. We want to make a positive impact in our local communities, so we invest in initiatives such as the Roundhouse where tangible differences are made on a regular basis.
We work with Future First to support in their mission of increasing access to professional careers for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. We run insight days and mentoring programmes, including CV writing workshops, mock interviews and building your brand workshops.
Taylor Wessing is proud to be a sponsor and supporter of the London LGBTQ+ Community Centre at 60-62 Hopton Street. The Centre initially came about as a pop-up Centre in response to the severe isolation and loneliness the LGBTQ+ community has felt since lockdown began, and they aim to provide some comfort and solace for LGBTQ+ Londoners and their friends and allies. The centre is now a permanent space. The centre works with some of the capital’s amazing LGBTQ+ service providers, offering a holistic programme of services, events, talks and workshops, combined with a cafe space that invites visitors to simply just be. The Centre will always welcome you with open arms.
Evolving mindset - Our local Liverpool office charity selected by the office in 2023. Evolving Mindset is an award winning, non-profit mental health organisation established in 2019 to promote positive mental health in our communities. They deliver regulated and bespoke mental health training packages within organisations, schools and the Community Sector. As a social enterprise, the profit received from their commercial activities supports them to provide free community mental health & Well-being projects for individuals and families who need it most.
Informal relationships
We support many more community organisations via inclusion networks and local projects. We prefer to develop long lasting strategic relationships rather than short term relationships.
You can make a difference by fundraising, mentoring students or using your paid volunteering days to give back to your local community.
We also have a strong focus on pro bono work. Our trainee solicitors provide vital access to justice via legal advice clinics, where you'll experience the impact the law has on people in our local community whilst developing new skills and gaining valuable experience.
Reducing our environmental impact
Taylor Wessing is progressing towards Net Zero and has committed to having a near-term science-based target. We believe that we have a responsibility as part of the legal sector to support the transition to a low carbon economy. We have taken a leading role in establishing the Legal Charter 1.5, and are active members of the Legal Sustainability Alliance, and the Net Zero Lawyers Alliance.
In addition to this, we have delivered training to our lawyers and business services teams regarding how climate change impacts the role of solicitors.
Our efforts to reduce CO2e emissions continue to take effect. Our total gross emissions for the year ending 30 April 2023* reflect a decrease from our previous year; however, in comparison to our 2020 baseline year (1,116 tCO2e) our emissions have reduced by 34% to 741 tCO2e.
As part of our ISO 14001 and ISO 50001 certifications we work closely with suppliers to continually improve our environmental performance. We are seeking to play our part in creating a circular economy, by minimising waste to landfill and encouraging reuse. Example activities include:
We have reduced our energy usage by
and energy intensity has decreased by
(kWhs/FTE).
We have reduced our energy usage by 7%, and energy intensity has decreased by 14% (kWhs/FTE) by further refining our heating, cooling and lighting provisions to reflect actual building occupancy. 76% of the energy in our UK offices is renewable electricity. The remainder is gas for heating, which we plan to remove as part of our London office refurbishment. As part of this refurbishment we are building in environmental accreditations, such as BREEAM and WELL.
Reduced food waste with the support of our caterers by purchasing excess produce from Angry Monk that would otherwise have gone to waste and purchasing mainly seasonal produce. All food waste was either donated via Olio or disposed of by anaerobic digestion to produce nutrient rich compost which is then sent to farms and gas for energy. Additionally, all waste cooking oil was converted into biodiesel.
Aiming to reduce carbon from travel. In 2023 we refreshed our travel policy and developed travel dashboards. We also introduced e-bikes in our London office.
Removed single-use food containers from our catering facilities, replacing them with compostable ones. And this year, in our catered London office, we have replaced compostable cups with glass reusable KeepCups.
In 2023 we received a 3* rating from RSGI's GreenPrint. Out of the 180, only 22 law firms made it onto this leader board. RSGI compared reports and data published by 180 major law firms. The aim was to identify best practice in strategy, targets and reporting, and also confirm which law firms are starting to do what they advise their clients to do on the ESG agenda.
Get involved
We have an established ESG Network, with client facing representatives from every area of our business. Their role is to help drive increased collaboration on ESG services and engage with clients on all matters relating to our responsible business performance and ESG services. To find out more about our ESG services and case studies, please visit our website.
If you are also interested in supporting Taylor Wessing as we move on our environmental agenda, then you can join our Environment Network. If you would like to get involved, or have any suggestions please contact the sustainability team.
*Our FY24 data will be available in due course.
Our initiatives
We have partnered with Aspiring Solicitors for several years supporting the objective of increasing social mobility within the legal profession. More recently we have built a Head Start programme with Aspiring Solicitors which enables us to provide support and guidance, reducing any barriers, at all stages of the career from joining our Vacation Scheme to qualifying with the firm.
BASS Mentoring
In collaboration with the Black Aspiring Solicitors Scheme (BASS), we invite a cohort of Black and mixed-race Black heritage mentees to join a series of virtual and/or in-person workshops. The workshops are designed to upskill mentees, developing their application skills and commercial awareness, and provide insights into working in commercial law. They also build their professional networks and develop their soft skills.
Not every candidate’s achievements look the same on paper. That’s why we use Rare Recruitment's Contextual Recruitment System (CRS) to consider every student's achievements in context, helping to identify those with the greatest potential, from all backgrounds.
We have an open dialogue around disabilities from the start; whether it’s discussing concerns about the recruitment process or our working environment. We partner with MyPlus Consulting to make disability confidence part of our student recruitment strategy, beginning with attracting candidates, through to assessment and onboarding.
We have partnered with myGwork, as the largest global business community of LGBTQ+ professionals, graduates, inclusive employers and anyone who believes in workplace equality. It empowers the LGBTQ+ community by offering individual members a safe space where they can connect with inclusive employers, find jobs, mentors, professional events, e-learning/training and news.
We have a duty to protect our planet and the responsibility to preserve the environment for the early talent we recruit. That is why we have been proud signatories of the Sustainable Recruitment Alliance since its inception. Our focus is to be mindful during early careers processes to reduce the amount of merchandise, travel, food and onboarding materials that are used, and wasted. We also prioritise ethics – ensuring we are working with suppliers that protect people involved in our supply chain, as well as the environment.
