The Client

gunnercooke is a corporate and private equity boutique law firm. It was established in September 2010 in Manchester.

Over the next three years gunnercooke aims to have offices in London and Manchester, and subsequently overseas.The ultimate aim is to have a presence in eight or nine major international locations.

Each office has approximately nine corporate partners. gunnercooke also works with a number of high-quality commercial lawyers, who act as consultants of the firm and provide support to, and are led by the senior partners who have a speciality in litigation. Its clients are predominantly large PLCs, mid-market companies and private equity houses.

The initial consultation

When gunnercooke was established in 2010, they made a commitment to creating a law firm with a difference; dedicated to making a real difference to their clients, employees, communities and the environment.

Darryl Cooke, Managing Partner at gunnercooke genuinely believes in creating purpose beyond profit, and as part of this commitment, is keen to develop their Social Responsibility Strategy. He approached Donna Okell, Managing Director of Fairer Business to support them in this important area of growth.

During the initial consultation Fairer Business discussed the overall business plans with Darryl and took time to understand the business and its stakeholders. Donna then gave a presentation to key stakeholders which illustrated how Social Responsibility is increasingly important to the success of a business. Winning businesses today compete on ethics and values, not solely on price and profit.

The Audit, the Social Responsibility Strategy, the Communications Strategy

We completed a Social Responsibility audit of the firm to provide us with a clear understanding of the current position. Like many other organisations, gunnercooke is already doing great work in the community. This provided an effective foundation on which we can build a Social Responsibility Strategy.

The next stage involved a discussion regarding Social Responsibility objectives for the next three years. A survey was sent to partners and associates to ensure that everybody involved with the business was engaged in the new SR Strategy.

All the objectives, which were agreed with key stakeholders, are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely. They will support the overall objectives of the business and will be integrated into all that gunnercooke does. The four focus areas chosen were: the environment, community engagement (employee volunteering and mentoring), client engagement, and employees.

The gunnercooke Social Responsibility Strategy document was then created and a communications strategy agreed. It’s fundamentally important to the success of any SR strategy that progress is communicated effectively to stakeholders; employees, clients, communities, suppliers and other business partners.

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