Ashtons Legal partner with Auditel to become a Net Zero sustainable business by 2050

Ashtons Legal is a leading law firm operating predominantly within the East of England. It employs over 420 people in its Bury St Edmunds, Cambridge, Ipswich, Norwich, and Leeds offices.

The firm offers a full range of legal and specialist business services to individual and business clients throughout the country. Ashtons is ambitious as the firm embarks on its strategic goal: ‘putting its clients at the centre’.

A key feature is the firm’s commitment to being a responsible business, which is clearly set out in ‘Ashtons Impact’ – three employee-led groups who deliver projects for the benefit of their staff, business, clients and communities. Its Environmental Sustainability Group is the driving force behind the partnership with Auditel and is leading the way to ensure the business is fully committed to its goals with the aim of achieving Net Zero no later than 2050.

Sheila Small, partner and environmental lead for Ashtons, says: “We are committed to improving our environmental performance and are therefore implementing actions to minimise the environmental impact of our business operations. Auditel will support us to identify and improve our working practices to make that impact even bigger.”

Steps already taken and embedded to reduce their carbon footprint include purchasing all energy from sustainable sources, implementing energy-efficient lighting and heating systems in all offices, electronic document storage, and the use of DocuSign. The firm’s flexible working policy also allows staff to have autonomy to work from home when required, further reducing the need to commute.

One such initiative outside the business that staff have been participating in is ‘The Big Plastic Count’, the biggest-ever investigation into UK household plastic waste. By counting all the plastic thrown away for a week, participants helped to gather vital evidence needed to convince UK ministers, supermarkets and big brands to lead the way at the global talks that could finally phase out plastic production for good.

Ben Hallatt, Chief Operating Officer for Ashtons, goes on to say: “Our primary purpose is helping our clients to achieve their objectives. We believe in operating our business to achieve this purpose in a way that makes a positive impact on our environment, our people, and our communities.”