Responsible Business at Capsticks

The majority of our clients are either public sector organisations or deliver services on behalf of public sector organisations – NHS bodies, emergency services organisations, professional regulators, local government bodies, housing associations and providers. We’re really proud to act for so many organisations that are fundamental to the running of society and to keeping people healthy, safe and housed. How we give back, as part of the work we do as lawyers for our clients, is through our social value commitments to those clients. These commitments range from sponsorship for client charitable initiatives, to volunteering activities, to training on a range of social value topics and supporting initiatives to bring through into work young people from challenged socio-economic backgrounds.  

For example, we’ve partnered with the Ahead Partnership for the last 15 years in the vital work they do in school academies in England. And when it comes to social value, our contracts and frameworks tenders team are fully versed in the requirements of the National Themes, Outcomes and Measures (TOMs) Framework so that as a current or prospective client of Capsticks you can be assured that social value commitments will be embedded in all the work we do for you.

Our social value lead is Rachael Heenan.

Closely linked to our social value programme is the volunteering work we do in our communities.  Given that Capsticks’ purpose is to work for organisations that make a real difference to society, the people who work at Capsticks are really committed to giving something back, and we have a busy calendar of volunteering events in all of our offices.  Each year, the volunteers in each of our offices nominate a charity that their office will support for the next 12 months.  Currently, those charities are:

• Birmingham - Acorns Children’s Hospice and St Basils
• Exeter -  Royal Devon Hospitals Charity
• Leeds - St Gemma’s Hospice
• London - Faith in Action and the Wimbledon Guild
• Manchester - Together Dementia Support
• Winchester -  Winchester Young Carers

For the last four years we have also run a community grants scheme to enable the charities we support by office to apply for funds for specific initiatives.  We’re really proud that in recent years through this grant-funding we’ve been able to make such a difference to people’s lives in our communities - such as Learn to Love To Read’s work in child literacy in Wandsworth,  or Derian’s House Hospice’s “say my child’s name” campaign to support bereaved families remember their child.

We also support individuals at Capsticks in their own fund-raising campaigns for causes that are close to them, via a one-off payment of £100 to get them started in their fund raising.

And everyone at Capsticks has two days’ paid volunteering leave a year to ensure that as a business we’re doing everything we can to encourage everyone to give something back.

Our community lead is Vicky Watson.

Motivated Teams is how we describe our people strategy which also links to another of our foundational values – people first.  People first as a value for us is all about decency, respect, fairness and inclusions.  And key to all of that as a responsible business is how we:

• support our people to stay well to have fulfilling careers with us, and
• continue to develop a truly diverse workforce who are representative of society and the clients we advise.

We go far beyond the – very important - standard employee-assistance programmes you’d expect of any business and recognise that what people need to feel supported, will vary according to individual need.

In 2018 we were early signatories to the Mindful Business Charter and have worked according to its principles ever since – openness and respect, smart meetings and communication, respecting rest periods and allocating work mindfully. 

We offer colleagues the safe and confidential space of reflective practice groups, supported by external therapists, to decompress from the sometimes considerable pressure and stress of managing challenging casework for our clients.   

We’re a Disability Confident employer and offer anyone at Capsticks with a disability an accessibility and adjustments process to put in place adjustments tailored to need. 

We’re a neuro-inclusive place to work, recognising and celebrating the contribution our neuro-divergent colleagues make to our achievements as a leading national law firm.

We’re also a Real Living Wage employer and since 2022 we’ve been independently rated as an Outstanding Place to Work by Best Companies.

Our motivated teams lead is Jude Cragg.

Being a responsible business includes making environmental sustainability a priority, ensuring that we’re doing all that we can to reduce our output of greenhouse gases through our infrastructure, processes and systems. We know that with some key changes that we’ve already made and with more to come, we can become an ever-greener and ever-cleaner business.

We became a carbon-neutral business in May 2024, and we’re committed to achieving net zero emissions by 2040.  Since January 2024 we have been accredited with ISO 14001 – the international standard for environment management systems.

Our ongoing areas of focus include:

• In all our offices using 100% renewable energy tariffs.
• For our carbon offsets, partnering with Make it Wild, who are committed to restoring and protecting the natural environment through re-forestation in Yorkshire, close to one of our key offices in Leeds
• Encouraging everyone at Capsticks to reduce their individual carbon footprint both through their individual working practices and in our benefits offering.  For example, our approach to hybrid working post-Covid, with our teams now working on average 40% of their time in the office, has significantly reduced our private and public transport footprint; and our pension provider is A+ rated for its own ESG programme and its approach to MSCI integration (the process which helps pension members select their funds ethically)
• In our supply chain we prioritise partnering with other businesses who are themselves committed to the same goals as we are in relation to environmental sustainability
• And fundamentally, we act for clients who are themselves committed to environmental sustainability.  For example we are market leaders in advising the NHS on its decarbonisation programme.

Our environmental lead is Rosie Chahal.

Our corporate governance structure is designed to ensure that responsible business considerations are embedded in the way Capsticks is led, managed and held to account. Oversight sits with our Senior Management Team, with clear reporting lines into the firm’s strategic decision-making. This ensures that our commitments on social value, community impact, people, inclusion and environmental sustainability are not treated as separate initiatives, but are part of how we run our business day-to-day.

This includes our responsibilities in areas such as modern slavery, supplier management, environmental performance, charitable and community activity, equity, diversity and inclusion, and the wellbeing of our people. By bringing these responsibilities together through a clear governance framework, we can monitor progress, identify where more action is needed and continue to improve the impact we have for our clients, our people and the communities we serve.

Our corporate governance lead is Neil Middleton.