Environmental Policy

As a smart, bold team who always act together, we’re committed to being environmentally responsible. This means adopting practices and policies which reduce harmful impacts our business might have on our environment, both locally and globally.

We’re proud to hold the ISO 14001 Environmental Management Accreditation, which we first  achieved in 2015. This recognises that we follow the best environmental practices and minimise our impact.

We now want to build on this platform as part of our wider commitment to operate our business ethically and sustainably.

We will:

• Monitor, measure and report our environmental impact, setting clear targets for ongoing
  improvement.
• Comply with all relevant environmental legislation and relevant voluntary standards, including B 
  Corp obligations.
• Engage and inform our people on environmental objectives, encouraging feedback 
  and participation through our Green Group and local office initiatives.
• Prioritise sustainable procurement, focusing on key suppliers and encouraging them to adopt 
  similar environmental principles.
• Embed environmental governance by defining roles and responsibilities across leadership and 
  operational teams to ensure effective implementation and oversight.

Good practice in action

Green Group

Our Green Group meets every quarter to review, monitor and recommend good environmental practices. A director from our Clean Energy, Waste and Sustainability team chairs the meetings, joined by representatives from Sustainability, Human Resources, Administration and Facilities, and other volunteers. Our local Green Group reps help address local office-level challenges, and we are implementing further governance mechanisms and delivery groups in support of our Net Zero Transition Plan which is currently in development.

Environmental Management System

Our ISO 14001-certified Environmental Management System (EMS) provides the framework to manage and improve our environmental performance. It helps us stay accountable to our commitments by setting clear objectives, monitoring progress, and identifying areas for 
improvement.

Through regular review and action, we aim to:

• Increase uptake of renewable energy tariffs across all offices wherever possible.
• Reduce waste, with a focus on minimising paper use.
• Strengthen sustainable procurement through our Supplier Code of Conduct.
• Encourage staff to use public transport whenever they can for commuting and business 
  travel.
• Champion green issues among staff. We use our Green Group and intranet to get the message out.

Profile

Freeths LLP is one of the UK’s leading full-service law firms, with turnover exceeding £160m. Our people – namely 1,200+ freethinking colleagues – work across our 13 UK offices. Nottingham is our head office, with most administration and support services provided from there.

Sustainability contacts

Maggie Stewart
Sustainability Manager
Phone: 0345 009 7629
Email: maggie.stewart@freeths.co.uk

Daniel Bolstridge
National Head of Facilities
Phone: 0345 077 9584
Email: daniel.bolstridge@freeths.co.uk

Good governance

This policy is reviewed by our Chief Operating Officer, who is also responsible for implementing it.

Our Responsible Business Committee also reviews and approves the policy for extra transparency.