We aim to play a positive role in our community, carefully manage our business’s impact, and create an environment where everyone can belong and achieve.
We use detailed data analysis to better understand our business, track long-term trends and improve our approach to diversity and inclusion. We voluntarily report our gender pay gap because we believe transparency and accountability help us make meaningful progress. In 2023, our most recent reporting period, our median gender pay gap was 2.2%, well below the national average of 14.3%. Our mean gender pay gap was 15%, considerably lower than the national average for the UK and for many law firms. Although the gender pay gap increased slightly from the previous year, we have analysed the reasons for this and believe our gender pay action plan remains appropriate to help us reduce this gap over time. Our report provides further details of our gender pay action plan and we are committed to monitoring our progress annually.
Please click here for our diversity statistics in 2025 and here for our 2023 gender pay gap report.
We are committed to continuous improvement in this area. As well as external reporting, we use our annual employee Engagement Survey to gather honest feedback from our people on our D&I activities, to monitor our progress and to guide our strategy.
Our established D&I Forum and its action sub-groups actively drive and accelerate our progress.
The action groups bring together people from across the business with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives to further specific objectives for different areas of D&I. These include LGBTQ+, race and ethnicity, mental health awareness, the Mindful Business Charter, family and parenting, the Interlaw Diversity Forum, and Women in the Law. The work of the action groups covers all aspects of our business, from recruiting apprentices and promoting alternative career paths into law to training mental health first aiders and supporting the progression of women into senior roles.
With support from the D&I Forum, Stevens & Bolton signed The Law Society’s “Women in Law” pledge, founded the Guildford Women in Business network in 2023, and hosted its first Legal Recruitment Workshop in 2024 to support University of Surrey students from diverse backgrounds pursuing legal careers.
We are committed to building a diverse workforce and fostering an inclusive, supportive environment where everyone can thrive. Our friendly culture and strong values are at the heart of everything we do.
For our Vacation Schemes and Training Contracts, we recently adopted the REALrating tool, upReach’s contextual recruitment system. This tool helps us identify the best candidates, improve workplace diversity, and promote social mobility. By considering the context in which students achieve their grades, the tool enables us to recognise high-potential candidates from disadvantaged backgrounds who may have otherwise been overlooked, ensuring we recruit the best talent from diverse experiences.
Please see our careers page if you want to work with us or learn more.
Our current firm charity is Challengers, a Guildford-based charity providing fun play and leisure opportunities for disabled children and young people. We host regular fundraising initiatives in support of Challengers throughout the year, from our much-loved Promises Auction, to bake sales, sponsored events and our annual Christmas Carol Service.
We are a founding member of Guildford Philanthropy, which aims to inspire local philanthropy to reduce social inequality across the Borough. Since its inception, we have worked closely to support Guildford Philanthropy, including becoming its first Corporate Ambassador. This connection and our other community and charitable initiatives allow us to maximise our impact in our local area.
Our bright and capable people also engage in pro bono work to expand access to justice and contribute to schools in our local area as governors and mentors.
We take environmental considerations into account in our business decisions. Our 2023 office refurbishment focused on sustainability, earning Silver Ska Certification through energy-efficient upgrades and water-saving measures.
Environmental considerations also affect how we carry out our legal work. We are a signatory to the Green Pledge, an initiative led by the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations that aims to minimise the impact of arbitration on the environment. We have also signed the Greener Litigation Pledge, which aims to reduce the impact of arbitration and dispute resolution on the environment.
We are privileged to work near the Surrey Hills National Landscape, home to rare chalk grassland. To help protect this biodiverse but threatened habitat, we work with the Mount Volunteers and hold regular staff sessions to remove invasive species.
There is more to do, however. In April 2025 we appointed our first dedicated Responsible Business Manager to work with the board and key stakeholders to develop our responsible business vision and strategy. The Responsible Business Manager will play a crucial role in further developing and coordinating all our responsible business activities, maximising their impact for our people, clients, the community and environment.
We have trained mental health first aiders to help our colleagues when they need our support. In 2024, we adopted the Mindful Business Charter, a framework of best practice guidelines to reduce workplace stress and promote well-being, embedding its principles into our daily operations.
We host regular firmwide webinars on well-being topics such as menopause, miscarriage, men’s health, sleep, and healthy eating. Our D&I action groups, including the family and parenting group, provide essential emotional and practical support.