Black Lives Matter - From Simpson Millar’s Senior Management Team

We have given careful thought as a business to the Black Lives Matter protests that have been taking place in the UK, the U.S. and elsewhere in the world and how we should respond – not only with words, but also with actions.

The death of George Floyd in the U.S. was not only unlawful, it was abhorrent. It has shone a spotlight on the wider effects of racism and inequality and deeply affected many, many people.

We wanted to issue a statement to say that we stand with and support everyone in our community who has suffered because of this, and that we are fully committed to stepping up our own efforts and measures of accountability in the areas of diversity and inclusion.

In doing so, we are looking robustly and critically at our own organisation, and we will have honest and open conversations with our colleagues so that we can facilitate true, meaningful, and impactful change.

Across the legal sector as a whole Black, Asian and minority ethnic people are under-represented at senior levels, and we know that our own organisation currently replicates this position.

In recognition that we have a lot of work to do here at Simpson Millar we have now established a working group which includes representatives from across the business, as well as our CEO Greg Cox.

We will make further announcements to our colleagues about the steps we are taking. We expect this to happen quickly, within the next 28 days.

As part of this group we pledge to continue to do all we can to work towards a fairer society for Black, Asian and minority ethnic people.