Celebrating diversity

Like any family, we’re all different – and that’s something we celebrate.

We mark key events, as well as listen to our ethnic minorities, LGBT+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender plus), sex and gender, menopause and disability networks who highlight various issues and provide support. These are supported by the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I) Committee, which is a sub-committee of and report regularly to the Anthony Collins Solicitors (ACS) board and helps shape plans for the future.

Stamping out racism
We are proud members of the Race Fairness Commitment – A racial equality commitment for legal firms to ensure fairness at work for people of all ethnic minority backgrounds.

We celebrate Black History Month to highlight and support the needs of our colleagues and society at large.

ACS support Wear Red Day, an initiative started by the charity Show Racism the Red Card (SRTRC) which utilises the high-profile status of football and football players to help tackle racism in society.

Adoption of the Halo Code

At AC, we recognise and celebrate our colleagues’ identities, fostering an ethos of equity and respect. We believe hair texture and style should never be used to discriminate against anyone. By embracing the Halo Code, we agree to affirm the pledges and we proactively stand against discrimination towards Afro-textured hair. 

This one-of-a-kind initiative founded by young Black organisers from The Advocacy Academy, explicitly protects employees in the workplace and schools who wear their natural hair and protective hairstyles associated with their racial, ethnic and cultural identities. Hair discrimination continues to be a source of racial injustice, particularly affecting Black people in the UK. Based on a study by World Afro Day and De Montfort University, one in five Black women feel societal pressure to straighten their hair for work.

Transparency is key
In our 2025 gender and ethnicity pay gap report, we published our ethnicity pay gap and shared our partner pay data for gender and ethnicity.

What we found:

• 24% of our employees identify as from ethnic minorities.
• Our mean ethnicity pay gap is 18.9% across the employees of the firm.
• Our ethnicity pay gap is understood when we see that only 11.7% of our upper pay quartile employees are from an ethnic minority.
• 9.5% of our partners identify as from ethnic minorities.
• Our mean ethnicity pay gap for partners is 1.9%.
• Our combined partner and employee mean ethnicity pay gap is 26%.

Commitments for 2026

Targeted mentoring and coaching
We will offer dedicated mentoring and coaching opportunities to all women and people from an ethnically diverse background who are identified as future leaders. We will strive for a 50+% increase on the participation rate in 2026.

Extended flexible working options
We are committed to broadening access to flexible working arrangements for all. We will review the outcomes of our current compressed hours pilot, with a view to extending this option to a wider group of colleagues.

Pay transparency engagement
We will actively engage with our people to understand their perspectives on publishing pay bands, with the aim of enhancing transparency around how pay is structured and determined at AC. We will make a decision regarding publishing pay bands by the end of 2026.

Inclusive recruitment

We are dedicated to ensuring that all aspects of our recruitment process are equitable and inclusive. We recognise particular focus on gender and ethnicity is necessary at that time. We will ensure our practices always include: consistent use of blind CVs, gender and ethnicity balanced interview panels, targeted advertising through inclusive job boards, and robust collection of equal opportunity data. We will also ensure representation of candidates across gender and ethnicity at application and interview stages. Additionally, we will invite all candidates to ask for any support or adjustments they may need to participate fully and successfully in the recruitment process.

Further support for colleagues from ethnically diverse backgrounds

We will provide further support focused on nurturing performance and career progression of colleagues from an ethnically diverse background. We are committed to ensure such interventions are effective and meets our colleagues’ needs and hope they can include elements such as career sponsorship and leadership development.

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