Freeths is a Top 50 employer for social mobility

Freeths has today been ranked as one of the Top 50 employers in the UK's first ever Social Mobility Employer Index.

The Index is a join initiative between the Social Mobility Foundation and Social Mobility Commission, in partnership with the City of London Corporation.

It ranks Britain's employers for the first time on the actions they are taking to ensure they are open to accessing and progressing talent from all backgrounds and showcases progress towards improving social mobility in the workplace.

The aim of the Index is to encourage firms to share their initiatives and progress in becoming more inclusive employers and to reveal which sectors and companies are taking the issue of social mobility most seriously.

Research has consistently shown that people from more affluent backgrounds take a disproportionate number of the best jobs and that employers tend to disproportionately employ graduates who went to private schools and elite universities.

Freeths has been ranked 32 out of 98 companies in the Index for the commendable work it has taken to tackle this and enable those from lower socio-economic backgrounds to succeed.

Firms from 17 sectors, who collectively employ just under one million people, submitted entries about their practices and procedures in areas such as work with young people, recruitment, selection and progression. The final rankings were decided by a respected panel of experts and all firms will receive a report with recommendations for areas of improvement.

Freeths' success in the Index was announced today at a launch event at the City of London and in a supplement in The Times newspaper.

Freeths, commented

"Diversity and inclusion are at the heart of the Freeths people strategy, and so we are delighted to be ranked number 32 in the first ever social mobility index. This is also encapsulated in our brand values touchstone as one aspect of "Doing the Right Thing". Our diversity committee delivers initiatives such as our right to read scheme, apprenticeship programmes, flexible graduate programmes (including the use of contextualised recruitment), legal scholarship schemes, careers labs workshops and mentoring programmes. We also celebrate a wide range of social and faith events to emphasise that all groups within our organisation are recognised and valued. Whilst this ranking is a great achievement, we know that it is only one step on our journey and we are committed to continuous improvement in this key area of our business.""All the Top 50 firms in the Social Mobility Employer Index should be applauded for the progress they are making towards ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to get in and get on - regardless of their background. They should be congratulated both for having prioritised social mobility and for being prepared to have their processes and practices independently scrutinised."