Irwin Mitchell Reaffirms Responsible Business Commitment In Latest Report

Irwin Mitchell has today launched its annual Responsible Business Report, revealing a year of progress across its four key responsible business priorities: building organisational resilience, protecting our planet, progressing inclusion and wellbeing, and empowering our communities.

The latest report reaffirms Irwin Mitchell’s commitment to being a responsible business and identifies significant progress on its objectives during FY25. These include achieving a greenhouse gas emissions reduction target several years ahead of schedule and achieving Disability Confident Level 3 – a status held by only 3.5% of employers in the UK¹. The firm was also the only law firm recognised in The Sunday Times’ Best Places to Work ‘Very Big’ category.

Highlights from the 2025 Report:

Protecting our Planet

• 78% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions as a result of energy efficiencies and 100% renewable office electricity– surpassing an FY27 target early
• 8% year-on-year reduction in office energy use
• 70% of vehicle fleet now electric or hybrid, accelerating the firm’s journey to Net-Zero

Building Organisational Resilience

• Mandatory ethics training rolled out across the firm and the formal launch of the firm’s Ethics and Commercial Decisions Forum which resolves ethics related issues
• Recognised by The Sunday Times in its Best Places to Work guide – the only law firm in the ‘Very Big’ category (for firms with over 2,000 employees)
• Fully integrated the premises management, health and safety, and facilities teams as part of a wider Responsible Business and Sustainability team

Progressing Inclusion and Wellbeing

• Achieved Disability Confident Level 3 – a status held by just 3.5% of UK employers¹
• Over 40 colleagues took part in our relaunched reciprocal mentoring scheme, which paired senior leaders with ethnic minority colleagues for mutual learning
• Women now make up 58.2% of partners, up from 52.8%
• Continued implementation of innovative recruitment practices including Evenbreak job advertising and inclusive language training

Empowering our Communities

• 6,917 hours contributed by colleagues through volunteering, fundraising, and skills-based activities
• Continued legal advocacy for under-represented groups, including Black, mixed heritage and South Asian maternity care and Sharia family law

• The Irwin Mitchell Charitable Foundation has donated over £4 million since its launch, with £235,250 shared among 12 charities in 2025

Kate Fergusson, Director of Responsible Business and Sustainability, Irwin Mitchell, said: “This year we have made significant progress across our four priority focus areas. Fully integrating our premises management and facilities teams into our wider Responsible Business and Sustainability team strengthens our ability to embed inclusion and sustainability into every aspect of workplace management. This has an impact in every decision we take, from opening our new London office, to our approach to accessibility, wellbeing and safety, and our efforts to improve our environmental impact.

“Our commitment to doing business responsibly remains at the heart of everything we do, it is how we do business and drives us to continually improve and innovate, working in collaboration with our colleagues, clients, suppliers, and communities.”

The full Responsible Business Report is available to download here.

¹ As of March 2025