Foreword

Looking back over the course of the last year, I am proud of the progress that has been made in pursuit of our responsible business goals and, in particular, the dedication and passion demonstrated by my colleagues across the firm in support of our people, our communities and our planet.

2024, in particular, has been a year of disruption, change and transition both here in the UK and around the world. Amidst the maelstrom, it is all too easy to lose sight of the incremental positive effect of individual efforts – the personal and the professional – small acts of kindness, and a commitment to staying the course on the journey.

We have made progress this year. And, in some cases, progress means better understanding of opportunities to do more and to do better.

Our environmental impact is one such example. In our Responsible Business Report for 2023 we laid out our commitment to join the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), which we have now done and correspondingly committed to reducing our carbon emissions by 50% by 2030. This is an important step. While we have been proud to be carbon neutral for many years, and one of the first UK firms to be so, we know that we must make adjustments to those things that are within our control to continue to minimise our direct impact on the environment.

Key to this is our sustainable procurement policy – the implementation of which was, again, one of our core commitments for 2024 – and which ensures that we are using our buying power as a business to support likeminded sustainable and ethical enterprises.

A standout success in recent years and an area that I have been particularly pleased to see the dial shift on is the gender make up of our firm. I am proud that we are leading the way, particularly among London firms, for women in senior positions, and are now very close to achieving parity in the number of male and female partners in the firm. This should be celebrated, even as we acknowledge that we must continue to explore ways to improve access to the profession, and progression within it, among all underrepresented groups.

More widely I have been so inspired to see the energy and effort of our teams right across the firm to deliver on our responsible business commitments, ranging from the roll out of our volunteering programme firmwide to successfully securing a new legal aid contract until June 2026 – helping to ensure that those most in need can access the very best advice as they seek to secure justice. That we are one of the very few top 100 firms doing legal aid work at scale and with respect to some of the most challenging cases remains a real source of pride for me.

Our three-year firm strategy made climate change, and responsible business more generally, core to our business – informing and instigating the decisions we take. As we approach the beginning of a new strategic cycle in 2025-26 those decisions will continue to drive us forward, with the progress made in recent years a platform for long term responsible and resilient business – not least with our 2030 climate target in place.

I would like to thank all of my colleagues who lead, contribute to and support the many initiatives that collectively comprise our Responsible Business Strategy and which, together with our fundamental culture and belief in ‘doing the right thing’, make Russell-Cooke the very special firm that it is.