ORGANISATION IN FOCUS -  WRAGGE & CO LLP

Wragge & Co LLP is a major UK law firm providing a full service to some of the world’s largest and most successful organisations. Most unusual for a top UK law firm with a national and international practice, its main base is outside London - Birmingham. 

There are 105 partners and 1076 employees comprising of 571 fee earners and 505 support staff.

Wragge & Co has a dedicated Community Investment Programme headed by Steven Butts. The work includes substantial pro bono advice to community organisations and charities such as the Community Education & Training Academy (which supports people from low income background who face exclusion) and helping the homeless into employment by providing work placements for participants. The Programme largely benefits BME Communities in the inner cities and it attracted attention and a visit from several MPs and a presentation at the House of Commons as well as an invitation to give feedback to HM Treasury.

In 2005, Wragge & Co was recognised as the leading provider of Free Legal Services to BME Communities by the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) and was also recognised by The Law Society in their Race Equality Awards in the same year. 2005 also saw the Community Investment Programme recognised by the European Federation of Black Women Business Owners when the firm got an award as the leading Mainstream Corporate.

In February 2006 Wragge & Co came 29th in the Diversity League Table of 2006 and accepts that whilst its commitment to diversity is strong, there is still much work to be done.

In 2006 Wragge & Co came 39th in the Times Top 100 Best Companies to Work For in the UK. The Times described the organisation’s culture: “meritocracy and equality are bywords at Wragge & Co where the input and views of every employee count. Senior partner Quentin Poole holds lunches with fee-earners and coffee mornings with secretaries”. In May 2006, it was ranked 13th out of 50 best workplaces in the UK and it also came first in the web technology award in the Intendance Fast Fifty Solicitors’ Web Sites.

Below are some of the questions we posed to Wragge & Co’s Diversity Forum which is chaired by the Managing Partner, Quentin Poole (pictured above) and the other members include Steven Butts, Linda Bellis, Director of HR and other key business managers and employee volunteers:

BLD:What structure/team do you have dedicated to issues of diversity?

W&C: We have a Diversity Forum comprising of sixteen people.

BLD:How do you foster a culture of diversity within the organisation?

W&C:Our Senior Partner, Quentin Poole, is our diversity champion.  His role is to communicate the importance of promoting diversity both within the firm and outside the firm, to clients and the wider community.  Quentin also sees it as his role to get views and comments about diversity direct from our staff.  He has held informal forums with employees to talk about their experiences of diversity and working at Wragge & Co.  However, all partners and managers across the business are also expected to be diversity champions. 

Although the firm had committed to making diversity a key strategic focus, we felt that we still needed to raise awareness across the business about what diversity meant, the challenges and the opportunities it could bring.  And we wanted to involve staff at all levels and in all areas of the business. 
We rolled out an internal awareness progress, launched with a brochure outlining the firm’s diversity strategy, what we’d done so far and what we still wanted to achieve.  This means that our staff and clients can assess us against the objectives we’ve set for ourselves. 
We introduced diversity training for all managers and partners so that they could ensure everyone understood what diversity at Wragge & Co is all about. 
For all staff, there is a wealth of information on our intranet including our diversity strategy, but also information about various religions and beliefs.  The aim was to help us all to understand and appreciate the richness of cultures in our working community and the value those differences can bring.  We also publicise important dates and festivals for various religions via our computer screensavers. 
We believe this focus on raising awareness benefits all our staff, by making everyone feel that their culture and contribution is valued.  We regard our employees as ambassadors of our business.  By creating this positive environment, we hope that they will tell others – including potential employees and their communities – about the distinctive approach Wragge & Co can offer. 
What positive initiatives are in place to promote an inclusive recruitment policy?

1. We have an equal opportunities and diversity policy.
2. We let prospective employees know about our commitment to equal opportunities and diversity.
3. We have made all recruitment agencies with whom we have dealings aware of our objectives and policies on diversity and we have asked them to provide their own policy on diversity.
4. We monitor all application forms of people applying for a position at Wragge & Co via our online database

BLD: Does your organisation market itself to appeal to ethnic minorities? If yes, how?

W&C:The recruitment team have advertised in the following publications to promote our qualified lawyer/support staff vacancies:

1. The Black Lawyers Directory
2. The Voice
3. Black Solicitors Network handbook of Members’ Directory 2005/2006

The graduate recruitment team advertise in the following publications to attract prospective trainee solicitors:

1. Doctor Job’s guide to equal opportunities
2. Hobsons’ Diversity Handbook 2006
3. Smaart Talent, the careers magazine for black and minority ethnic students
4. Hobsons’ GET 2006, guide for ethnic minorities
5. Black Solicitors Network Diversity League Table Survey 2006

BLD:Does your organisation have a mentoring scheme or sponsorship programme for black minority ethnic candidates?

W&C:Our Graduate Recruitment Team is working with the University of Central England (UCE) on different diversity initiatives, specifically the UCE Mentoring Scheme which pairs professionals (mentors) to ethnic minority students (mentees).

BLD:What is the single most challenging diversity issue facing your organisation? 

W&C: Attracting BME candidates. We need to ensure that talented people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds see Wragge & Co as the place to work in order to maintain and build our reputation for technical excellence and commerciality.