Equity and Diversity

Equity and Diversity is about more than a policy. It is about living and breathing our values and ensuring that our commitment to equality, diversity, inclusion and social mobility is at the heart of the way we work, the employers we are and the services we buy.

It is central to our values that our teams reflect the diverse community around us and that everyone at Sharpe Pritchard can be themselves and bring their authentic selves to work. We know that ensuring diversity and inclusion is not just the right thing to do, it yields a wider range of skills, broader experience and perspectives which in turn leads to more innovation, problem solving, strategic development and higher engagement.

We are proud that the firm has a long history of gender equality at every level in the firm and that we buck the trend within professional services in having achieved gender balance in partnership for a number of years but we want to do even better. Achieving true equality, diversity and inclusion is a core aim at Sharpe Pritchard and we very much welcome applications from all sections of our diverse community, irrespective of race or racial group, sex, sexual orientation, sexual identity, religion or belief, age or disability.

Disability Support

We are a Disability Confident employer, which means that we will make reasonable adjustments to help you perform at your best. Please click here to find out more about the types of adjustments we offer to the application and interview process. If you would like to discuss what we can do differently, please email  recruitment@sharpepritchard.co.uk

We regularly review our workplace and offices to remove physical barriers and provide accessibility to applicants of all abilities. Please click here to find out more about the measures we have put in place to support accessibility.

We have a number of initiatives to help
improve this approach, including:

We embrace flexible working and a flexi time policy so that whatever life looks like, our people can work as they need to.
Family friendly policies including enhanced maternity, paternity and parental pay.
A work force that reflects our community
We are a signatory to the Law Society’s Diversity and Inclusion Charter, as part of which we monitor and report on our diversity data.
All staff have mandatory annual equality and diversity and unconscious bias training.
Our commitment to E&D is enshrined in our business strategy.
EDI Forum with staff representation across the firm, promoting an inclusive culture and sharing experience and learning
Key partnerships to promote social mobility
We are proud to have adopted The Halo Code
Here at Sharpe Pritchard, we are proud to support the 10,000 Black Interns programme. We had our first intern this year, and we are excited to be signing up again for 2023!
NOTICED is the UK’s first inter-firm diversity network aimed at promoting networking opportunities to integrate, celebrate and educate on diversity across the legal sector.
We are a corporate member of Neurodiversity in Business a forum and industry group for organisations to share industry good practice on ND recruitment, retention and empowerment.

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion forum

Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion forum includes team members from across the firm. The aims of the EDI forum are:

  • Increasing internal awareness of all diversity and inclusion issues including through training and events.
  • Linking with external organisations to promote equality, diversity and inclusion
  • Influencing through building external awareness of diversity and inclusion issues

Social Mobility

We recognise that attracting and retaining the very best members and staff, who are reflective of the diverse communities we serve is fundamental to our success and that of our clients. We aim to lead by example and be recognised as an inclusive organisation, ensuring anyone can access the profession no matter their background. Within the last 12 months we:

  • Welcomed our first cohort on to our Trainee Solicitor Programme; a fully funded 32 month graduate apprenticeship, as well as hosting an insight evening for potential applicants
  • Partnered with the 10,000 Black Interns initiative to offer a 6 week paid internship
  • Continued our work with the PRIME & The Sutton Trust, providing access to work experience to students from low social economic backgrounds
  • Worked with our Charity Partner, Reach out to Kids (ROK) to raise vital funds and provide access to work experience to students from low social economic backgrounds
  • Partnered with the Allabout law early careers experts to attract trainee applicants from lower socio – economic groups.

These initiatives build on the work previously undertaken by the firm and have resulted in firm being ranked 63rd in the Top 75 Employers, Social Mobility Foundation Index. The SMF rankings were first launched in 2017 and have grown to become one of the leading national employers led social mobility indices.

It assesses the steps being taken to ensure that employers are open to talent from all social backgrounds. The award is a is recognition of the practical steps we’ve taken and the work we continue to undertake, to improve social mobility.

Statistics:

DISABILITY:*

Disabled Staff 8%

as defined by the Equality Act 2010

Disabled solicitors 7%

as defined by the Equality Act 2010

As of November 2022, (12%) of our solicitors and (19%) of our employees identify as being Black, Asian, or from another minority ethnic group. The national average is (18%) for solicitors and (17 %) for all staff.

*These results are based on the workforce data as of July 2024, not all staff responded

Gender Pay Gap

What is the Gender Pay Gap?

A gender pay gap is a measure of the difference in the average pay of men and women across an entire organisation, regardless of the nature or level of their work. It highlights the different number of men and women across all roles. It is different from an equal pay comparison, which involves a direct comparison of two people or groups of people carrying out the same work or work of equal value.

What is the difference between mean and median figures?

Median pay gap:

The difference between midpoints in the ranges of hourly earnings of men and women. It takes all salaries and orders them from lowest to highest and picks the middle salary.

Mean pay gap:

The other measure is the mean gender pay gap, which shows the difference in average hourly rate of pay between men and women. This is also affected by the different numbers of men and women in different roles.

For 2023, the mean pay gap is -2% and the median pay gap is 15%

This is a reduction of 7% to the mean pay gap compared to 2020. Our median pay gap has remained the same compared to 2020.

The UK median pay gap for 2021 is 15.4% with the Office of National Statistics.

Median and Mean pay gap