Careers at Foot Anstey

Inclusive culture. Serious commitment.

Growing diversity and inclusion in our firm

Being diverse and inclusive is right at the heart of our priorities and goes beyond our policies. It’s something we consider across everything we do – from the way we encourage our people to reach their potential right through to our values. We pride ourselves on being refreshingly human – and it is this approach that has shaped the way we support, promote and grow greater diversity and inclusion at the firm.

We want all our people to feel supported and heard, and we work hard to create a workplace that is inclusive, where our people feel welcome and valued, regardless of their background, identity, or circumstances. To do this we need to be proactive in creating an equitable workplace, where equality, diversity and inclusion is embedded within everything that we do.

Shifting the dial

We have made positive progress in numerous areas over the past few years to help to develop a more equitable workplace. We are working hard to develop and refine our approach to ensure we are continually shifting the dial and creating a workplace where everyone is welcome and belongs. And more than this, we want to make sure this shift is felt in the communities in which we are located and in which our people live and in the way we engage with our clients.

Attracting talent

We are committed to recruiting and retaining talented individuals from diverse backgrounds through positive action measures and measurable key performance indicators. We are developing processes and programmes such as our Achieve Vacation Scheme which seeks to support underrepresented individuals gain access to a career in law.

Making connections

Our Connections Groups are developed and run by people in our firm, and contribute to the way we run our firm, support our people, and engage with awareness days. To date, we have African-Caribbean, Asian, Climate, Islamic, LGBTQ+, Neurodiversity and Menopause Connections Groups. Members of the Groups are supported to be part of external networks and attend specific events – to learn more and help us grow as a firm.

Celebrating and learning

Our awareness calendar is a great way to celebrate and mark cultural days throughout the year. A way to connect our people, learn about different cultures, histories and identities and ensure we can play a more active role in future change as individuals and as a business. Our days are driven by our Connections groups and other passionate individuals within the firm.

Inclusive benefits

Through our range of benefits, we are committed to supporting our people and helping them at various points in their lives – at work and at home. We are proud of our inclusive range of benefits which support people with their health, wealth, lifestyle and family – whatever challenges they face.

Read more about our benefits

Diversifying our leadership

We have made progress when it comes to reducing the gender gap in our leadership. We have more work to do but are proud that women now make up 32% of the partnership and 30% of our Board. To continue this progress, we have introduced our Future Leaders Programme, which seeks to support the progression of individuals into the partnership.

What our people say?

What I can see is a firm committed to diversity and inclusion, from top to bottom. I am proud to be part of the African and Caribbean Connections group, where we’re encouraged to attend talks and discuss issues, use our CSR days and help shape the way the firm moves forward.

Simone Harding Executive Director, Client & Colleague Experience

I think the growth is really exciting because of the opportunity to bring a greater level of diversity into the firm, to create opportunities at every single level for people to build out on existing opportunities.

Lydia Lloyd Senior Associate, Corporate Team

I knew that there were quite a few female partners, which was really energising for me and gave me a lot of encouragement that I could see myself in this firm not only as a junior maybe all the way through to a more senior role.

Rachel Griffith Solicitor, Commercial Team

Islamic Connections is important to me because not only is it essential for internal cohesiveness and internal diversity and inclusivity, but it’s also very important to people who haven’t had the experience of working with other people like them.

Aziz Deen Associate, Islamic Finance Team

I think being part of a minority is an aspect of working life that many legal practitioners, myself included, can find challenging. Because of that, Asian Connections is important to me as it turns this element of challenge into an opportunity to celebrate heritage, learn from each other and to network really across the forum.

Clara Pike-Siew Trainee Solicitor

Pledging for change

To ensure that we are moving in the right direction we work with a variety of partner organisations to ensure we set benchmarks, have robust policies and are reaching for better.

Halo code

By adopting the Halo Code, we are proactively taking a stand to ensure that no member of our Foot Anstey community faces hair discrimination at work.

 

Stonewall Champions

We are part of the leading employers’ programme for supporting the development of LGBTQ+ inclusive work environments where every employee can thrive.

Find out more

Menopause Workplace Pledge

We’ve signed the Menopause Workplace Pledge and have made a commitment to ensuring Foot Anstey is a supportive and understanding place for our people going through the menopause.

Find out more

Living wage employer

We are a living wage employer and ensure that all employees aged 18 and over, including certain classes of contracted staff, are paid at least the Living Wage.

Find out more

Race Fairness Commitment

We are signed up to the Race Fairness Commitment which aims to provide fairness at work for people of all ethnic backgrounds.

Find out more

Gender Pay Gap

We evaluate our pay data closely each year to make sure we fully understand where and why pay gaps exist so that we can use this information to evolve and adapt our processes with the aim to reduce our gender pay gap.

Read our latest reports

Diversity data

To inform our approach we collect diversity data from our people to understand our population, help to track our progress and tailor our future approach to attracting and recruiting talent from diverse backgrounds.

Read our latest report

People Stories

We are keen to hire people from a range of backgrounds; people who can contribute new ideas and different thinking to our firm.

View all

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