Celebrating diversity

Like any family, we’re all different – and that’s something we celebrate.

We mark key events, as well as listen to our ethnic minorities, LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender plus), sex and gender, menopause and disability networks who highlight various issues and provide support. These are supported by the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) Committee, which is a sub-committee of and report regularly to the Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS) board and helps shape plans for the future.

Stamping out racism
We are proud members of the Race Fairness Commitment – A racial equality commitment for legal firms to ensure fairness at work for people of all ethnic minority backgrounds.

We celebrate Black History Month to highlight and support the needs of our colleagues and society at large.

ACS support Wear Red Day, an initiative started by the charity Show Racism the Red Card (SRTRC) which utilises the high-profile status of football and football players to help tackle racism in society.

Adoption of the Halo Code

At AC, we recognise and celebrate our colleagues’ identities, fostering an ethos of equity and respect. We believe hair texture and style should never be used to discriminate against anyone. By embracing the Halo Code, we agree to affirm the pledges and we proactively stand against discrimination towards Afro-textured hair. 

This one-of-a-kind initiative founded by young Black organisers from The Advocacy Academy, explicitly protects employees in the workplace and schools who wear their natural hair and protective hairstyles associated with their racial, ethnic and cultural identities. Hair discrimination continues to be a source of racial injustice, particularly affecting Black people in the UK. Based on a study by World Afro Day and De Montfort University, one in five Black women feel societal pressure to straighten their hair for work.

Transparency is key
In our 2024 gender and ethnicity pay gap report, we published our ethnicity pay gap and shared our partner pay data for gender and ethnicity.

What we found:

• 21.6% of our employees identify as from ethnic minorities.
• Our mean ethnicity pay gap is 18.3% across the employees of the firm.
• Our ethnicity pay gap is understood when we see that only 8.6% of our upper pay quartile employees are from an ethnic minority.
• 14.6% of our partners identify as from ethnic minorities.
• Our mean ethnicity pay gap for partners is 2.4%.
• Our combined partner and employee mean ethnicity pay gap is 20.6%.

Commitments for 2025

Leadership

1. Increasing diversity of the membership of the firm’s Board and partnership
2. Embedding our diverse reverse mentoring initiative for additional Board members
3. Increasing targeted mentoring and coaching for people identified as leadership succession candidates.

Access for all

1. Implementing a transparent promotions process for those in non-legally qualified and business support roles.
2. Reviewing our flexible/hybrid working practices and ensuring support is provided to all to access them.
3. Reviewing family friendly practices and policies including a focus on paternity and fertility.

Equity

1. Focusing on women’s health and wellbeing as part of our benefit offering, including fertility and menopause testing.
2. Monitoring and analysis of our exit interview data to identify potential barriers to career success

Increasing diversity

1. Diversifying the range of festivities, awareness days and celebrations we feature as a firm.
2. Further strengthening our gender, REACH, social mobility, health conditions and LGBTQ+ subgroups

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