Be a better business – all

Realise your purpose: Wellbeing in the workplace

Realise Your Purpose is a Bates Wells campaign to help commercial organisations consider, decide on and implement their ESG goals. From governance to people, and from contracts to real estate, this series will provide insight and guidance for business leaders and senior decision makers on the first steps in their sustainability journey.   Employee sickness absence …
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Equality case law roundup: Bailey, Sutcliffe and Orwin

It has been a busy two weeks for equality and discrimination lawyers, with three recent judgments (one from the Employment Tribunal, one from the Employment Appeals Tribunal, and one from the High Court) adding to the body of decisions in this hotly contested area of law and policy. Here, we summarise the decisions and consider …
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Realise your purpose: Increasing social mobility and diversity in the workplace

Realise Your Purpose is a Bates Wells campaign to help commercial organisations consider, decide on and implement their ESG goals. From governance to people, and from contracts to real estate, this series will provide insight and guidance for business leaders and senior decision makers on the first steps in their sustainability journey.   There is widespread …
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Strategic litigation: driving change and positive impact – July 2024 roundup

Welcome to our strategic litigation roundup, a place for us to share information with you about key updates and insights in the area of strategic litigation. Our litigation and public & regulatory teams have been keeping on top of developments in this space and continue to explore ways to challenge norms through litigation and policy …
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Speaking up, speaking out! – Developing corporate advocacy strategy for purpose-driven businesses

In this pivotal global election year, many businesses may be considering the policies and regulations that a future government could bring, and how the business might influence those developments. For purpose-driven businesses, driving positive change is often embedded into the constitution. We seek to address social and environmental injustice and to support economic systems that …
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Pioneers Post: Philip Kirkpatrick comments on Anglian Water’s purpose-led business model

Philip Kirkpatrick, Partner in our Charity & Social Enterprise team, has spoken with Pioneers Post about the positive impact that embedding social purpose into a company can have but the need for better accountability mechanisms to ensure the value of doing so in the long term. Anglian Water, a UK water utility company, amended its …
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EIIP and Bates Wells launch EDT Principles to address legal power imbalance

Bates Wells are delighted to announce the launch of the Equalising Deal Terms – Investor Key Principles (EDT Principles) today, an initiative co-led by Equality Impact Investing Project (EIIP) and Bates Wells (and supported by the Connect Fund) to address power imbalances and inequality in impact investing relationships. The EDT Principles are designed to support …
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Weaving the threads together: key insights from our panel discussion on sustainable fashion

On the 5 March, we were joined by Kresse Wessling (co-founder of Elvis & Kresse), Thea Cooper (Senior Business Manager of anti-slavery charity Unseen UK) and Safia Minney (founder of Fashion Declares) at our panel discussion exploring the potential for the fashion industry to be more sustainable as part of our B Corp month celebrations. …
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Setting our science-based target

We have been working hard to reduce our carbon footprint for over a decade now. As a city-based professional services firm, our direct emissions are relatively low, but we are determined to do our bit to reduce any negative impact that we have on the planet and to encourage others to do the same. In …
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B Corp Month UK: Our B Corp journey so far

Happy B Corp month! Next year will mark our 10th anniversary as a B Corp and we’re delighted to see how the movement in the UK has grown from the 60 founding B Corps in 2015 to more than 1,900 with over 81,000 employees. This year the theme is this way forward, highlighting the fact …
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Strategic litigation: driving change and positive impact

Welcome to our first roundup relating to our focus on strategic litigation and what it might mean for your organisation. We’ll be pulling this roundup together twice a year to keep you informed of key issues, updates and changes in approach. Our litigation team is focused on using its expertise to create a widespread positive …
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Bates Wells advises Woodland Savers in £.7m seed investment round

Bates Wells has advised Woodland Savers, an organisation developing a new model of UK woodland ownership, in their recent investment round. The new venture focuses on building a national network of community initiatives. It will help them co-acquire and co-manage local woodlands and co-develop projects delivering nature recovery and enhancement. Revenues will be generated through …
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