Gowling WLG has won the 'Excellence in ED&I' award at the People in Law Awards 2024, which recognises the very best people achievements across the industry.

The 'Excellence in ED&I' award was presented to Gowling WLG in recognition of the firm's Diversity, Equality & Inclusion ("DE&I") strategy – Inclusion for All ("IFA").

IFA is centred on making sure that all Gowling WLG people feel included, that they belong and can be their true selves at work; but also underpinning that everyone has a part to play in making the firm truly diverse and inclusive. The strategy ensures that every team is achieving positive change and contributing to diversity and inclusion goals by delivering and implementing key initiatives and action plans.

IFA was praised by People in Law as "a bold example of taking on the challenge of embedding 'inclusion for all'" and for the Diversity, Equality and Inclusion action plans "backed by strong data collection and reporting… put in place by every team in the firm. Meaning everyone in the business is responsible for DE&I effort and success."

An evening to remember, the firm was also among the finalists for the Excellence in Learning & Development and Best Social Mobility Initiative awards.

Chris Oglethorpe, HR director at Gowling WLG, said: "This recognition is for everyone at Gowling WLG and shows the impact we can all have to move the dial in relation to DE&I. As a core value of the firm, our teams all have annual action plans stating what they’re going to do to help achieve our ED&I ambitions and we can see the impact this is having year on year. This is not something we will rest on our laurels with but use as motivation to keep making a change and celebrate the diversity of our people."

The success follows further recognition for Gowling WLG's DE&I initiatives over the past year, having become the first law firm to be recognised as a Visibly Better Employer by the Royal National Institute of Blind People. The firm is also  recognised as one of the UK's Best Workplace™ for Wellbeing by Great Place to Work® UK, and has achieved Mansfield Certification – a structured process designed to create inclusive leadership opportunities for all qualified lawyers.