Corporate social responsibility
Our responsibilities matter
At Digby Brown, we are committed to operating our firm in a responsible way with our clients, staff and the communities we work in at the centre.
We take into account the way we do things from day to day, our values and the impact they have.
These can be summarised under our three main responsibilities; people, community and environment.
People matter
All our staff are dedicated to supporting clients through their legal journey helping them to receive not only the compensation they deserve but also the support they need at that time.
In May 2021, Digby Brown launched our ‘Supporting Your Well-being’ initiative across the firm. Our mission is to make a positive difference to our people’s mental health and wellbeing at Digby Brown. In order to achieve this, we set ourselves the following objectives:
1. To have a workplace culture free from stigma and discrimination
2. Provision of personalised support and availability of resources
3. Help our people achieve good physical and mental wellbeing
4. To realise these benefits for the development of stronger relationships with our clients and communities.
Teaming up with Scotland’s leading mental health charity, SAMH, we formulated the Supporting Your Wellbeing initiative and rolled our Mental Health Awareness Training to all of our people – raising the profile of this issue and making sure the conversation is at the forefront of everyone’s mind.
Every year, our HR Department create a Well-being calendar and run various activities throughout the year which focuses on the different pillars of wellbeing: mental, physical, financial and social.
To ensure we have the best staff on hand to help, we provide a motivational, fulfilling and fun environment to work in with a focus on recruiting and retaining the top people, rewarding their efforts and recognising their achievements.
It is Digby Brown’s aim to develop an environment that values diversity within its workforce, encourages individuals to succeed and responds to the needs of all individuals in a fair and equitable manner, whilst accounting for current legislation.
In 2016, Digby Brown became the first law firm in the UK to earn Platinum accreditation from Investors in People which does not only illustrate our drive for high performance and self-improvement, but also the quality of our service to clients. We were able to maintain Platinum Level Accreditation in 2019, and were awarded our third consecutive Platinum award in 2022.
Every year our legal excellence hits (and indeed retains) the top spots in publications like Chambers Guide and Legal 500, as well as numerous Scottish Legal Awards, and deservedly so given the effort every single employee puts in.
Investors in People fits in with these accolades because a great workplace encourages great work, which encourages great productivity.
Digby Brown is also an accredited Living Wage employer and has been certified by the Living Wage Foundation. Our people are central to our values and we believe that by investing in our employees, we not only improve their wellbeing, but improve our services. Meeting employee and client needs is at the forefront of Digby Brown’s ethos and we are therefore proud to be a Living Wage employer.
Community matters
At Digby Brown, we are proud to support the communities we work in and charitable causes through charity partnerships, staff volunteering and community events.
Charity partnerships
Each of our offices select a ‘Charity of the Year’ to work alongside and support throughout the year, championed by a Charity Ambassador. The total raised by each office is then matched by Digby Brown before being presented to the chosen charity at the end of the partnership.
Applications for 2025/2026 charity partnerships are open, please complete the Local Charity Partner Application Form and send to Kirsten.Smith@digbybrown.co.uk by Friday 22nd November 2024 to register your interest.
Payroll Giving
As a firm we give staff the opportunity to “dress down” on a Friday for a donation to their local charity. All staff are given the option to set up a monthly donation for this through Payroll Giving and as a firm we currently hold a Platinum Award for the donations made.
Staff volunteering
Whether clearing out a warehouse, tidying up hospital gardens, serving tea and coffee or bucket collecting at a football match, staff participate in volunteering activities that lend a hand to our charitable causes.
To apply for our Digby Brown volunteers to visit your charity contact kirsten.smith@digbybrown.co.uk.
Community events
We help to organise and facilitate a number of events throughout the year to raise awareness and demonstrate the support available to those with brain injuries, spinal injuries and cerebral palsy.
Events include:
- Head Injury Information Days
- Spinal Injuries Scotland Activities Day
- Cerebral Palsy Scotland Conference
Environment matters
Digby Brown recognises that our activities have an impact on the environment and aim to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner to reduce waste and improve recycling across the firm’s seven offices.
We are continuously working on ways to reduce our waste through initiatives such as the removal of plastic water cups from staff areas and providing all staff with reusable water bottles, implementing energy efficient motion activated lighting in our offices and encouraging staff to operate as a paperless work environment.
Working from home has aided in the reduction of paper use across the firm and we continue to offset our use through our commitment to plant a tree per employee each year with charity Trees for Life. We purchase recycled consumables where possible and encourage the disposal of waste paper, cardboard and plastics in the recycling bins provided.
We encourage staff to limit their business travel and carry out meetings online where possible to reduce unnecessary travel and emissions. We are also registered to the Bike2Work Scheme to encourage staff to look into a cleaner way of commuting into our offices.
For further information please contact Kirsten Smith, Corporate Social Responsibility Manager, by emailing kirsten.smith@digbybrown.co.uk.
