Weightmans announce ESG Advisory Group

After receiving the green light from its Board, the ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) Advisory Group will help Weightmans pursue its long-held ambition to be one of the UK’s most socially and environmentally conscious law firms. This includes ensuring the business meets its many strategic priorities in this area, such as its commitment to becoming Net Zero by 2030, as well as developing an understanding of how an evolving ESG landscape can be integrated in practice to its service offering for clients.

As a Top 40 law firm, with a vision to become Top 30, Weightmans has already carried out a considerable amount of work to meet the objectives set out in its ESG strategy; it has reported a consistent year-on-year reduction in carbon emissions; maintained ISO14001 and ISO50001 certifications for environmental and energy management at its offices; and is recognised as a Top Employer in the UK for the 17th year in a row, entering the top ten rankings once again in 2024, in recognition of its people-centric policies.

The ESG Advisory Group is to be chaired by the firm’s senior partner and supported by its main board of directors. The Group will bring the ESG focus closer to the heart of the business in overseeing and advising the Board on the firm’s strategies, risks and opportunities related to sustainability and ESG, promoting the long-term sustainable success of Weightmans, and generating value for the members and the firm’s other stakeholders. It will also be looking to expand the firm’s capacity and competency mix to support its ESG needs through partnerships with specialist firms in the ESG and sustainability space.

Simon Colvin, partner who leads Weightmans’ ESG programme, said:

“This confirms our commitment to ESG, putting it firmly at the heart of the business and demonstrating the importance of ESG to us and our people internally, and to our clients. As an early adopter of ESG, this is the next step in our ever-evolving sustainability journey, and I’m excited to see where it takes us next.”

Additionally, the new advisory group will monitor current trends and advise the Board on emerging developments in the sustainability and ESG regulatory landscape of relevance to the business’ key clients.

Weightmans’ ESG programme is led by Simon Colvin. Supporting Simon are Nick Barker, a specialist environmental lawyer with over a decade of experience advising on all aspects of environmental compliance; and Abhay Srivastava, who boasts 12 years of experience working across the full ESG spectrum.

On the advisory group, they will be joined by Peter Wake, senior partner, who has been appointed chair, and Sarah Walton, partner / client relationships, who takes up the role of co-chair. Other appointments to the group include several of the firm's other main board directors such as Bob Granger, Rob Williams, Stuart Jones, Stuart Whittle and Helen Taylor.

The announcement comes after Weightmans recently won the Mental Health and Wellbeing Initiative of the Year award at the inaugural Legal 500 ESG Awards 2024.