Bristol-headquartered national law firm Burges Salmon has been named as one of top employers for women for the second year running.
The accolade, the latest in a string of such successes for the firm, has come in form of inclusion in The Times Top 50 Employers for Women listing and follows a rigorous independent assessment of its approach to gender balance in the workplace. 
Now in its 12th year, the list is the UK’s most highly profiled and well-established showcase of employers striving for gender equality in the workplace.
More entries were received this year than any previous year and all were closely assessed on what they were doing to remove the drivers that enforce gender inequality.
This incredibly competitive process also identifies companies that make gender equality part of their business strategy and strive to bring it to life at all levels of the organisation.
Staged by Business in the Community (BITC) – the business-led membership organisation dedicated to responsible business founded by HRH The Prince of Wales – it assesses applicants on a range of areas, including their approach to recruitment, family-friendly policies and how they have championed gender equality in the context of the pandemic.
Burges Salmon, which employs 800 people in its Bristol HQ and London and Edinburgh offices, said the accolade reflected the work being delivered by its gender taskforce and BBalanced, its people-led network for gender balance.
The firm’s gender action plan was developed in 2020 to directly respond to the challenges and gaps identified through research while the taskforce has responsibility for driving the action plan and reporting to the firm’s board.
Burges Salmon senior partner Chris Seaton, pictured above, who chairs of the firm’s gender taskforce, said: “To receive this recognition for the second year running in is a significant achievement for the firm.
“Diversity and inclusion are of paramount importance to our firm-wide strategy.”
He said its gender action plan underpinned the firm’s commitment to ensuring its female colleagues could see demonstrable evidence of a clear route to senior roles within the business, equality in terms of pay and recognition, and a strong support network within the firm to help facilitate this.
BBalanced chair Kate Redshaw, pictured, added: “I couldn’t be prouder that our efforts as a firm have been recognised in this way.
“The engagement and support we see within our network shows how important gender balance is to the people who work here.
“Our network, which works closely with our gender taskforce, offers an opportunity to shape our policies and to celebrate and showcase our many talented women inspiring and encouraging our people across the board.”
Other businesses in The Times Top 50 Employers for Women include Network Rail, accountancy groups PwC, KPMG and Deloitte and publisher Hachette UK. Other law firms in the table include Linklaters, Addleshaw Goddard and Allen & Overy.
In January Burges Salmon took the top spot out of 61 firms in a ‘best firm to work for’ table compiled by legal website RollOnFriday. It also topped the Sustainability category at April’s LexisNexis Legal Awards 2022, which recognise and celebrate excellence and innovation across the legal sector.
