Foreword from our Chair & CEO

We are committed to being a responsible business that delivers exceptional legal services in a sustainable and inclusive way. Doing purposeful business that excels at meeting the needs of our clients is at the heart of what we do, contributing significantly to the well-being of our communities and the environment.

Our vision for responsible business is bold and evidence-led, delivering for our clients, people and communities to enable a sustainable and inclusive future. We are aligning our business to that vision with a refreshed sustainability strategy aimed at reducing the negative impact of our operations, whilst maximising the positive ones. Doing this will enable us to support our clients on their sustainability journeys through the advice and services we offer, as well as increasing the positive impact we can have on the communities we operate in.

This is a review of the progress and impact we made during 2024-2025, in respect of our clients, our people and our communities.

Emissions

Our emissions continue to decrease in line with our Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) net zero targets, with a 20% reduction in our footprint since 2020, including a 95% reduction in carbon emissions associated with electricity. This trend is expected to continue, with 100% of our electricity to be sourced from renewable energy by the end of 2025, if not sooner.

Emissions from travel are down almost 30% since 2020, thanks to our sustainable travel policy and internal carbon price on air travel, which creates a ring-fenced budget for funding carbon reduction activities with the funds generated by the levy on flights. We remain on track to meet our carbon targets approved by the SBTi:

Targets

We also committed to a target to achieve net zero by 2025 for our scope 1 and 2 emissions which was not validated by SBTi. This goal was set in good faith and we have made significant progress in delivering against it, reducing scope 1 & 2 emissions by 74% since 2020. However, considering the physical footprint of the firm we have been unable to reduce emissions in line with the requirements to claim net zero. As a result, we will invest in high quality carbon removals to balance our remaining emissions, and will commit to doing so until 2030 at least, to ensure that we are operationally carbon neutral, while continuing to invest in emission reduction activities.

Further detail will be shared in our next Carbon Reduction Plan, which will be published in September 2025.

How we are supporting our people

This year we introduced our One Shoosmiths career framework to create clear expectations for the roles of our people in the firm. Informed by our 2030 business strategy, the framework has been used to create tailored training and development that is relevant, meaningful, impactful, and available on-demand in the flow of day-to-day work. That means that colleagues can find the support they need when they need it most, creating clarity on how our people can influence their career development.

Race Equity Action Plan

We launched our Racial Equity Action Plan (REAP) at the end of 2024, outlining our anti-racism commitment and pledge to improve racial diversity and equality across the firm. To inform the REAP, we partnered with an external consultancy to run focus groups and interviews, helping us better understand the experiences of ethnic minority colleagues. Insights were shared at a firmwide Town Hall and shaped the plan alongside input from our Embrace network and Shadow Board.

Encouragingly, the attrition gap between minority ethnic and white employees has narrowed by 4% this financial YTD compared to 23/24. Aligned to our DEI pillars; accountability, opportunity, and community, REAP actions span career progression, day-to-day behaviours, employee voice, leadership, and systems and processes.

Social mobility

We launched a national social mobility working group focused on facilitating a more coordinated and impactful approach to social mobility outreach activity and supporting young people from disadvantaged backgrounds. The working group comprises a designated lead from each office, meeting quarterly to exchange insights, best practices, strategies and success stories.

This collaborative forum has brought greater visibility to activity taking place across our office locations and developed an internal platform for sharing material and resources.

This year we partnered with The Social Mobility Foundation (SMF) to welcome 12 young people to our Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and London offices for a three-day work shadowing placement. The students were all part of the SMF Aspiring Professional Programme which supports Year 12, lower sixth or S5 students from disadvantaged backgrounds, through their years of further education and then into employment. The placement aimed to help the young people learn more about the professional services sector – specifically working in a law firm and the broad range of opportunities this can offer.

We are delighted that our focus has been recognised externally with the firm ranking 25th in the Social Mobility Employer Index 2024 – an annual cross sector benchmarking assessment coordinated by The Social Mobility Foundation.

The impact was recognised by our people too. DEI scored highly in the firm engagement survey with 83% of our people feeling they can ‘be themselves’ and 82% feeling the firm values diversity. 84% of colleagues feel part a team that is supportive, open and inclusive with hybrid working allowing autonomy which is highly valued.

Supply chain engagement

Sustainability is a commitment that extends beyond our operations to our supply chain. Our supply chain makes up 75% of our emissions and is where the highest risk for modern slavery sits. As a result, we have hired a dedicated sustainable procurement advisor to engage our supply chain collaboratively and help drive reductions in emissions and increased capabilities across our value chain. We are also chairing the new Legal Sustainability Alliance Sustainable Procurement working group, collaborating across the legal industry to improve sustainability in procurement.

As a firm we have sustainability experts embedded with our sectors and divisions that can enable our client’s own sustainability journey. From renewable energy, through to environmental litigation and compliance, we support our clients in delivering on their plans to create a sustainable, net zero world.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are more than just buzzwords to us—they are crucial commercial drivers. We pride ourselves on our relationships with clients that are enabling that vision, by collaborating with companies that prioritise clean energy and sustainable practices, we are delivering on our own strategic priorities. This strategic alignment enables us to join in leading the transition to a low-carbon economy, underscoring our commitment to innovation and sustainability.

Enabling clean energy

We advised a landmark agreement, led by Central Co-op and involving Lincolnshire Co-op, Scotmid Co-op, East of England Co-op, and Southern Co-op, to supply renewable energy to over 400 locations across the UK, through a groundbreaking 10-year corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) between the Co-ops and RWE, the UK's largest power generator and a global leader in renewable energy.

The CPPA will deliver up to 53 gigawatt hours (GWh) of green electricity annually, sourced from the London Array offshore wind farm in the outer Thames Estuary, delivering not only significant cost savings for the co-operatives but also a significant step towards their sustainability goals.

The deal, executed in just three months, showcases the expertise and efficiency of the partnerships involved, including Inspired PLC, the UK's leading energy and sustainability advisor, and Shoosmiths' legal team led by E&I sector and PPA specialist James Wood-Robertson.

This collaboration exemplifies how strategic partnerships can drive ethical and responsible energy sourcing, ensuring a more sustainable future for communities.

Supporting social investment

Shoosmiths advised a charitable foundation on the charity law and governance aspects of a significant £3.8 million social investment. This investment was directed towards a black-led angel group that is dedicated to supporting underrepresented entrepreneurs. This initiative not only furthers the charitable objectives of the foundation but is also designed to generate a financial return in the long term. These returns will be reinvested into the Foundation’s ongoing efforts to remove barriers to education and skills in technology.

Our work in this area exemplifies our commitment to supporting foundations in their mission to create positive change. We understand the unique challenges that come with social investments and are dedicated to providing the guidance and support needed to navigate these challenges successfully. Whether it’s through legal advice, governance support, or strategic planning, we are here to help foundations make a meaningful difference in the world.

Ethics policy

We launched our new Ethics at Shoosmiths Guidance which is a significant step in reinforcing our commitment to integrate integrity and ethical decision making alongside the commercial interests of the firm and our clients.

The guidance encourages independent and critical thinking about the impact of our decisions on colleagues, stakeholders, and our reputation as a leading legal services provider. The guidance, along with our new client offering on sustainability, demonstrates to clients and other stakeholders that we are acting in the right way on ethical, environmental and social topics.

As part of this initiative, we also launched our ‘do the right thing toolkit’ which considers the art and science of ethical decision making before setting out the various rules/regulations which could impact professional practice.

In addition, we’ve integrated The Law Society guidance on climate change into our ethics guidance, as well as our toolkit, to ensure how we assess the risk of climate change on clients is integrated into our advice.

Strategic partner growth

Since April 2024, we’ve welcomed a cohort of exceptional new partners whose appointments reflect our continued investment in strategic growth, client service excellence, and sector leadership. These hires are not just additions to our headcount - they are pivotal to our ambition to deepen expertise, broaden our market reach, and future-proof our offering. Each new partner brings a distinct blend of technical excellence, sector insight, and leadership capability.

Clients will benefit from expertise in key areas such as employment, banking and finance, commercial law, and restructuring. These appointments are aligned with our strategic priorities: to grow in sectors where we see long-term opportunity, to invest in high-performing teams, and to ensure we remain agile and responsive to client needs.

These hires are a clear signal of our intent: to be the firm of choice for top talent and clients seeking trusted, forward-thinking legal partners.

Shoosmiths Foundation

The Shoosmiths Foundation has funded grants of over £284k since 2021 to charities that:

• advance a carbon net zero UK
• advance access to justice in the UK
• advance social mobility in the legal sector, and across the UK, in line with our social mobility action plan

Creating a free climate contract clause training course

The Chancery Lane Project, funded by the Shoosmiths Foundation, has developed a course that equips legal and business professionals to address climate risks and enable decarbonisation. This includes practical skills on how to integrate climate considerations into everyday legal work, irrespective of the sector or practice area someone works in. It aims to build understanding of how the climate crisis impacts legal practice and can be addressed effectively through advisory services, commercial decision-making, and climate-aligned contracting.

Access to justice funding round

This year we launched a funding round aimed at improving access to justice, through sustaining or improving community access to specialist legal advice and/or leveraging pro bono programmes. We received a record number of applications, but were pleased to select Inside Justice as our recipient of £50k grant funding to deliver a strategic, multi-year programme combining immersive live events, targeted community engagement and compelling digital resources to increase public understanding of miscarriages of justice and strengthen community connection to justice reform.

Pro bono & volunteering

Harnessing the power of our people for social good is the cornerstone of our values. Our volunteering efforts, both pro bono and non-legal, address critical social issues, providing support to those who otherwise wouldn’t be able afford it. In 2024/25 we provided 2,297 hours of pro bono legal services and 1,092 hours of volunteering. To underpin this commitment to our communities, we have introduced a requirement of our legal advisors to contribute to the communities they operate in to be eligible for their annual individual performance bonus. We require all legal advisors to have completed a minimum number of hours of volunteering, pro bono or employee network committee membership to receive this bonus. We have also set up a new pro bono committee, and announced the appointment of Amit Nayyar as lead partner for pro bono, to oversee and drive pro bono legal services at the firm.

We believe in the power of collective philanthropy, supporting our people through match funding, client giving and office charities – we donated over £225kk plus gift aid in 24/25.

Sophie’s Saturday Night Suppers

Sophie’s Legacy is a charity committed to achieving nationwide change by aiming to support families who find themselves in the hospital with their child. One of the ways in which Sophie’s Legacy enhances the quality of food for hospitalized children and provides meals for the parents of these children is through their initiative, Sophie’s Saturday Night Suppers. This initiative entails pizzas being sponsored either by a business or individuals and pizzas then being delivered to the children’s wards of a number hospitals across the south of England. Continuing our partnership from 2023/24, our Solent office partnered with Sophie’s Legacy as its office charity.

Throughout our partnership with the charity, we have both sponsored Sophie’s Saturday Night Suppers and first-hand deliver the pizzas to the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, making a small difference to those families in hospital with their child.

Our involvement with the charity has been incredibly rewarding, and we’re proud of the support our people have provided to Sophie’s Legacy, and the opportunity to contribute to such a meaningful initiative, in doing so fulfilling some of Sophie’s wishes.

Microhive gold award

We retained our Gold Award status with  Microhive (formerly Pennies From Heaven), recognising our continued commitment to workplace giving. Microhive is a simple and effective way to support charity by donating the spare pennies from your monthly net pay—never more than 99p per payslip. It’s a small individual contribution that adds up to a big difference for our local office charities, making giving easy, inclusive, and impactful.

This achievement reflects the generosity and collective impact of our colleagues, who helped raise more than £40,000.

Collaboration is the key to our success. We partner with various organizations to drive social and environmental initiatives. These partnerships with non-profits, educational institutions, and industry groups enable us to leverage collective expertise and resources, amplifying our impact and fostering a more sustainable and equitable world.