East Anglian law firm Birketts launches drive to boost diversity and equality

James Austin, senior partner at Birketts. (Image: Archant)

Birketts, which has offices in Ipswich, Chelmsford, Cambridge and Norwich, has formed a diversity committee to lead the process, with an initial focus on gender diversity.

Chief executive Jonathan Agar said: “We invest significant effort in attracting the best talent to Birketts. Allied to talent acquisition is a determination to make the best use of this precious resource.

“With this in mind a diversity committee has been created to lead the business in this area. Our first commitment is to look at gender diversity and equality, with the specific goal of addressing the imbalance between women in the business below and at partner/management level.”

He continued: “The diversity programme carries the full support of the board and it is essential that we utilise the potential of our entire workforce to meet the challenges ahead.

“There is proven data that gender-balanced businesses perform better. To do that we need to understand what issues are holding us back from this goal. Representatives of Birketts’ diversity committee will be visiting each office to deliver a short presentation to all staff to ignite the conversation.”

James Austin, senior partner, added: “As well as the issue of gender, the committee will also be looking at considerations of age, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, mental and physical capabilities.

“Through our diversity programme we want to build upon our culture and create an environment where the best people want to work, where everyone is treated with dignity and respect, where people are promoted on their merits and where opportunities for success are available to all.

“Embedding the principles of diversity management in everything that we do will help achieve our most ambitious business goals and ensure that we continue to provide exceptional client service.”