Wellbeing and engagement

The wellbeing and engagement of our people are crucial to our efforts to being a responsible business. Our approach to wellbeing focuses on the mental, physical, emotional and financial wellbeing to ensure our team members thrive both personally and professionally. This section highlights what we do to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, motivated, and equipped to contribute their best.

2025 Objective

Status

Progress

Review and refresh our Wellbeing Strategy.

Ongoing

In 2025, we appointed a dedicated Reward, Benefits and Wellbeing Manager. Since joining, the post holder has been gathering feedback on the firm’s current wellbeing offering as part of a wider benefit review.

Provide a more comprehensive and personalised financial wellbeing benefit: Support our people in managing finances, reducing stress, and enhancing financial stability.

Achieved

During 2025, we launched a partnership with Octopus Money, provided tailored financial coaching for all of our people, in addition to pensions support provided via Hargreaves Lansdown.

Promote the Mindful Business Charter principles: Use new guidelines to foster a healthier, sustainable working environment that prioritises mental wellbeing and reduces stress.

Ongoing

We have continued our work promoting and embedding the MBC principals across the firm. We have run several sessions to departments across the firm and supporting some departments in launching their own tailored charter principals. We were also involved in the creation of a set of MBC guidelines for the legal industry.

2026 Ambition

Status

Progress

To enhance our Investors in People score and achieve an engagement score of at least 80% in our People Survey.

Ongoing

Retained Platinum Investors in People accreditation. Pulse Survey engagement score from June 2025 is 76% (above industry average).

To enable our people in their ongoing development by facilitating 14,000 visits a year to informal learning on the Learning Management System (LAB).

Ongoing

We are prioritising quality improvements to our Learning Management System, and personalised learning over quantity.

Key performance indicators

Data shown is from our baseline year and the last three years.

Absence and People turnover

Digital training courses per person

People survey ‘engagement’ score (new measure in 2024)

RollonFriday and Investors in People

We are particularly proud to have been named RollOnFriday Best Law Firm to Work at 2025 for the fourth consecutive year – a reflection of our continued commitment to fostering a workplace where people feel supported, valued and empowered.

We are also proud to hold Investors in People Platinum three years running having held Gold in 2020.

Led by our new Benefits, Reward and Wellbeing Manager, our programme includes enhanced pension contributions, private medical and dental insurance, flexible family leave, financial wellbeing support, mental health resources, and a variety of learning and development opportunities. These reflect our commitment to financial security, personal wellbeing, and professional growth.

Wellbeing

We promote physical wellbeing through inclusive and accessible initiatives that encourage movement and self-care. In our Bristol office, colleagues benefit from access to yoga sessions, sports groups, and onsite clinics offering posture checks, injury screenings and seated massages. We also offer a monthly in-house GP service that provides confidential consultations, examinations, prescriptions and referrals — helping colleagues access timely medical support without leaving the office. To support hybrid and remote working, we partner with Pilates at Your Desk to offer an online movement portal. This includes a library of short videos and five live classes per week, helping colleagues stay active wherever they work. All employees on permanent contracts are also entitled to a Bupa Health Assessment, fully funded by the firm. These assessments include core health checks, mental health reviews and lifestyle coaching, and are available at Bupa clinics nationwide.

We continue to prioritise mental health through proactive support and awareness. Our annual Wellbeing Day, held in October to coincide with World Mental Health Day, focused on the theme ‘How to have more good days’. Activities included guided meditation with Headspace, a live conversation with psychotherapist Owen O’Kane, and practical sessions such as “Move at Your Desk” and digital harmony talks. A lunchtime panel discussion featuring senior leaders explored how to maintain wellbeing in high-performing roles, reinforcing our commitment to psychological safety and open dialogue.

We’ve expanded our financial wellbeing offering this year through strategic partnerships with Octopus Money and Hargreaves Lansdown. Octopus Money provides one-to-one coaching sessions to help colleagues build personalised financial plans, covering everything from saving goals to retirement readiness with everyone in the firm is entitled to a free starter session. Hargreaves Lansdown has delivered a series of webinars and resources aligned with Pension Awareness Season, including sessions on responsible investing, pension consolidation and building a deposit for a first home. These initiatives empower our people to make informed financial decisions and feel more confident about their future.

We promote physical wellbeing through inclusive and accessible initiatives that encourage movement and self-care. In our Bristol office, colleagues benefit from access to yoga sessions, sports groups, and onsite clinics offering posture checks, injury screenings and seated massages. We also offer a monthly in-house GP service that provides confidential consultations, examinations, prescriptions and referrals — helping colleagues access timely medical support without leaving the office. To support hybrid and remote working, we partner with Pilates at Your Desk to offer an online movement portal. This includes a library of short videos and five live classes per week, helping colleagues stay active wherever they work. All employees on permanent contracts are also entitled to a Bupa Health Assessment, fully funded by the firm. These assessments include core health checks, mental health reviews and lifestyle coaching, and are available at Bupa clinics nationwide.

We continue to prioritise mental health through proactive support and awareness. Our annual Wellbeing Day, held in October to coincide with World Mental Health Day, focused on the theme ‘How to have more good days’. Activities included guided meditation with Headspace, a live conversation with psychotherapist Owen O’Kane, and practical sessions such as “Move at Your Desk” and digital harmony talks. A lunchtime panel discussion featuring senior leaders explored how to maintain wellbeing in high-performing roles, reinforcing our commitment to psychological safety and open dialogue.

We’ve expanded our financial wellbeing offering this year through strategic partnerships with Octopus Money and Hargreaves Lansdown. Octopus Money provides one-to-one coaching sessions to help colleagues build personalised financial plans, covering everything from saving goals to retirement readiness with everyone in the firm is entitled to a free starter session. Hargreaves Lansdown has delivered a series of webinars and resources aligned with Pension Awareness Season, including sessions on responsible investing, pension consolidation and building a deposit for a first home. These initiatives empower our people to make informed financial decisions and feel more confident about their future.

People Survey

Since launching our new people survey tool in 2024, we’ve continued to make full use of the platform. We’re now gathering insights on how individuals feel in newly promoted roles, how well our new starters are integrating and improvements we can make from exit interview feedback.

We followed up with a “You Said, We Did” update, highlighting progress in our wellbeing initiatives – such as the introduction of Octopus Money. We’re also in the process of replacing our HR system and have rolled out Copilot across all departments. To support everyday accessibility, we’ve created a ‘Designed for All’ page, offering practical tips to simplify daily tasks. Career progression remains a key focus and we’ve complemented our promotion surveys with a new feedback model aimed at enhancing the quality of feedback across the firm.

To keep the conversation going, we launched our pulse survey in June 2025, achieving a strong response rate of 78%. This short survey helped us track progress against our commitments and quickly gauge engagement levels. While we saw a slight dip in our engagement score this year, the firm continues to outperform the legal benchmark set by the survey tool, scoring 3% above the benchmark. This engagement survey continues to be a cornerstone of our refreshed listening strategy. Our Managing Partner also hosts regular listening sessions across the firm, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to be heard.

We are proud to have been named Best Law Firm to Work at 2025 (joint first place with Michelmores) — an accolade we’ve now achieved for the fourth consecutive year. The rankings, published by legal news site RollOnFriday, are based on thousands of responses from UK lawyers and business professionals who rated their firms on leadership, culture, career development, pay, work/life balance and office environment.

We’ve consistently performed well in this survey since 2022, and we’re grateful to the hundreds of colleagues who contributed to the 2025 results. Their feedback highlights our unique and exceptional working environment — one that’s rooted in delivering outstanding service to clients and championing values of openness, inclusivity and support.

People Survey

Since launching our new people survey tool in 2024, we’ve continued to make full use of the platform. We’re now gathering insights on how individuals feel in newly promoted roles, how well our new starters are integrating and improvements we can make from exit interview feedback.

We followed up with a “You Said, We Did” update, highlighting progress in our wellbeing initiatives – such as the introduction of Octopus Money. We’re also in the process of replacing our HR system and have rolled out Copilot across all departments. To support everyday accessibility, we’ve created a ‘Designed for All’ page, offering practical tips to simplify daily tasks. Career progression remains a key focus and we’ve complemented our promotion surveys with a new feedback model aimed at enhancing the quality of feedback across the firm.

To keep the conversation going, we launched our pulse survey in June 2025, achieving a strong response rate of 78%. This short survey helped us track progress against our commitments and quickly gauge engagement levels. While we saw a slight dip in our engagement score this year, the firm continues to outperform the legal benchmark set by the survey tool, scoring 3% above the benchmark. This engagement survey continues to be a cornerstone of our refreshed listening strategy. Our Managing Partner also hosts regular listening sessions across the firm, ensuring everyone has the opportunity to be heard.

We are proud to have been named Best Law Firm to Work at 2025 (joint first place with Michelmores) — an accolade we’ve now achieved for the fourth consecutive year. The rankings, published by legal news site RollOnFriday, are based on thousands of responses from UK lawyers and business professionals who rated their firms on leadership, culture, career development, pay, work/life balance and office environment.

We’ve consistently performed well in this survey since 2022, and we’re grateful to the hundreds of colleagues who contributed to the 2025 results. Their feedback highlights our unique and exceptional working environment — one that’s rooted in delivering outstanding service to clients and championing values of openness, inclusivity and support.

roger bull

“We’re absolutely delighted with this year’s RollonFriday result, which not only recognises our collaborative and inclusive workplace but importantly how we’ve consistently maintained one of the key aspects that our clients, people and communities value most about working with us: our culture. Culture requires continuous effort and engagement, with everyone at every level of the firm embracing the same values. We’re extremely proud of the supportive business we’ve built and are excited about the future as we continue to prioritise our clients and the wellbeing, development and growth of our people.”

roger bull

Roger Bull Managing Partner

01
01