Burness Paull has been named Best Early Careers Employer and Best Diversity & Inclusion Initiative at the s1 Jobs Recruitment Awards 2024.

Now in their 12th year, the awards celebrate Scotland’s recruitment sector, highlighting excellence and innovation across all industries.

Diversity, inclusion & wellbeing has long been part of Burness Paull’s culture, with the firm leading the market following a number of stand-out initiatives. These include becoming the first Scottish law firm to sign up to the Mindful Business Charter; partnering with the leading neurodiversity charity, the Salvesen Mindroom Centre, on their first-of-its-kind Neuroinclusion at Work programme; being the first independently accredited ‘Menopause Friendly’ employer in Scotland; and partnering with The Robertson Trust to create Scotland’s first Legal Career Pathway for talented students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

The firm has also invested heavily in recruitment technology such as Rare Recruitment, Arctic Shores and a new applicant tracking system to remain at the forefront of inclusive hiring practices.

These achievements sit alongside a range of enhanced employee benefits, family-friendly policies, and firmwide line-manager training to ensure a supportive and inclusive working environment for all.

Peter Lawson, Chair at Burness Paull said: "As a responsible employer we are committed to creating a culture that values diversity, inclusion and workplace wellbeing, where everyone in the firm has equality of opportunity and where all our people can be themselves and succeed. This is embedded in the full life cycle of our recruitment and retention strategy - attracting and retaining the best talent from the widest pool - and our fantastic Talent Acquisition, Graduate Recruitment and Inclusion & Wellbeing teams collaborate with others across the business to ensure this happens. And as a market leader in the legal field, we believe it’s our responsibility to help widen access to the legal profession. We know there’s a long way to go, but I’m very proud that our firm is taking an active role in improving opportunities for those joining the sector, and that we continue to look for new ways to support our colleagues – the most valuable assets of our business.”

These latest awards follow on from Burness Paull being announced as Gold TIDE winners for 2023, remaining ranked amongst the top 75 employers for social mobility in the Social Mobility Foundation’s Employer Index Report, and progressing to a silver level Armed Forces Covenant award.