Osborne Clarke for Good Report
Osborne Clarke for Good 2022 report
We are pleased to share with you our first OC for Good annual report, detailing the commitments and impact we have made in 2021-22.
A message from Ray Berg
I’m pleased to share with you our first OC for Good annual report, detailing the commitments and impact we have made in 2021-22.
Sustainable business, corporate social responsibility, or ESG: however we term it, responsible business is at the heart of Osborne Clarke’s mission – to make a positive impact for our clients, people and communities.
"A guiding principle of our 2025 business strategy is that we will empower and incentivise our people to proactively do good for our clients, communities and colleagues – investing our time, money and expertise sustainably to make a notable difference." Ray Berg
It has been a challenging few years since we set ourselves that objective, navigating significant change and disruption brought on by a global pandemic and new ways of working, but I’m immensely proud to see our many and varied successes set out in one report for the first time.
We’ve increased participation in our community outreach and pro bono programmes, using our professional skills to do good. We’ve strengthened our employee networks and those representatives have challenged us to make bigger strides towards making OC a workplace where all our people can thrive. We’ve articulated our People Philosophy. And we’ve enhanced our wellbeing offering and range of employee benefits, responding to the changing needs of our people and keeping us all connected, even when we couldn’t be together in person.
Towards the end of the financial year, the Executive Board committed Osborne Clarke to a near term science based target, to halve our greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and to develop a long term, science based target to reach net zero, by 2050 at the latest. I can’t think of anything that embodies our business strategy better: our clients expect us to decarbonise our business; our people demand it; our communities need it.
While we look back and celebrate our achievements over the past year, we’re reminded that many of them are about our future. As we publish this report there are stormy clouds gathering for the UK economy, which means our responsible business commitments are more important than ever. We’ll continue to invest in our people, our communities and our business to deliver sustainable growth and progressive, insightful legal services.
- Ray Berg, UK Managing Partner (2015-2022)
Awards Highlights
A good corporate citizen
We believe that we thrive when the communities around us thrive. Being a good corporate citizen is about recognising our role in society by focussing on what’s important to our business, our people and our communities. In particular, we use our skills and resources to deliver social impact across four priority areas.
"It’s been a great year for our Corporate Citizenship pillar. We have exceeded our expectations for engagement and participation on our pro bono and other volunteering programmes, and an increase in the number of our people involved." Georgina Dennis - CSR and Pro Bono Assistant
Volunteering
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Pro Bono
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Charity Fundraising Summary |
| 2,614 charity and volunteering hours |
3,078 pro bono hours volunteered |
£150,190 donated via Osborne Clarke Charitable Trust |
| Valued at £884,858 |
84 pro bono organisations represented |
£15,932 in employee matched giving |
| Community involvement hours increased by 78% |
Valued at £1.033m |
£41,500 |
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123 hours |
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91 |
Always a good employer
Our 2025 business strategy starts with our people. Our mission is to preserve our unique and inclusive culture, ensuring we are dynamic and adaptable in the way that we attract, grow and retain high-performing, purpose driven people.
"We have grown our employee wellbeing, diversity and inclusion programmes and been recognised through awards and benchmarks. My highlight is the launch of three new employee networks, bringing about meaningful dialogue on diversity and inclusion at work." Su Akgun - Diversity & Wellbeing Manager
Our diversity and inclusion priorities
We’ve focused this year on developing our Gender Action Plan with input from senior women, OC Gender, and the executive board. The plan will support delivery of our gender target with a roadmap to improve gender balance in all senior positions, through three core principles:
- Embedding an inclusive recruitment process which delivers balanced results at all levels of seniority
- Providing opportunities for progression and promotion which are fair and transparent and reflect the pool of talent available; and
- Challenging the firm to create a culture and environment which meets the needs of a modern workforce
Our 2025 diversity targets
Being a good business
We are in a climate crisis, and if we are to meet the urgent need for society to decarbonise, we all need to do more.
That’s why this year, OC committed to both near and long term science based targets.
"Our UK business' commitment to science based targets is an exciting but necessary step as we tackle climate change, and the interlinked issue of biodiversity loss." Omar Al-Nuaimi - International CEO
Science Based Targets
We will reduce our baseline emissions by 50% by 2030.
Within 24 months we will set a long term target to reach net zero emissions by no later than 2050.
Move to Halo Building in 2023
In 2019 Partners at Osborne Clarke voted to relocate our Bristol office from Temple Quay, which has been home for over 20 years, to a brand new building in the Finzels Reach quarter of the city.
Halo will incorporate the best environmental practices. It has been designed to achieve BREEAM Outstanding 2018 and includes features such as roof-mounted solar photovoltaic panels; low carbon heating through its connection to Bristol’s Heat Network; water saving appliances and fittings; smart technology and controls to optimise energy efficiency. Materials for the Osborne Clarke office have been chosen for their durability and minimal environmental impact. It will have excellent facilities for our many active commuters, and charging for electric vehicles.
Looking ahead
This report is the first time we have published our non financial results and achievements in this way. As we look ahead to next year’s OC for Good report, a number of exciting projects are already underway that will further us towards our three overarching goals. We recently announced our membership of Business in the Community; we launched our partnership with UK Youth; we are welcoming our first cohort under the 10000 Black Interns scheme; our Wellbeing Strategy is in the pipeline and of course we are embarking on our first year of action in our new carbon reduction programme, OC Zero.
"This year’s achievements have really advanced the OC for Good framework as part of the firm’s business strategy. A number of exciting projects are already underway that will further us towards our overarching goals in 2023." Bola Gibson - Head of Inclusion & Corporate Responsibility
A good corporate citizen |
Always a good employer |
Being a good business |
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| Targets |
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| What we’ll be doing in the next 12 months to move us towards our goals |
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| What’s in the pipeline for 2025 and beyond |
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