Gordons lands another coveted national accolade for its innovative apprenticeship scheme
Monday 30th September 2013
Yorkshire law firm Gordons is celebrating after landing another prestigious national award for its ground-breaking annual apprenticeship programme.
The firm’s scheme has won the Most Effective Diversity Programme of the Year category in the inaugural Management Awards organised by leading sector publication The Lawyer. Gordons’ entry beat stiff competition for the accolade, including submissions from global practices Baker & McKenzie and Norton Rose Fulbright, which were placed second and third respectively.
Gordons’ prize was announced at a presentation event in London venue The Brewery, where firms and people responsible for ensuring the smooth delivery of operational and strategic management functions within law firms across the country were recognised.
The first scheme of its kind when it was launched in 2011, Gordons’ apprenticeship programme enhances diversity and promotes social mobility, by offering a route into the legal profession for a selection of bright 18-year-old school leavers each year who would otherwise be excluded from it by their inability to attend university. The firm’s apprentices train initially as chartered legal executive lawyers through a mix of practical work experience and study over five years.
The latest accolade follows several awards for the apprenticeship programme earlier this year. These included the Best Training and Best Job Satisfaction categories at the annual national Top Employers for School and College Leavers Awards. In addition, Gordons was named Ambassador of the Year at this year’s Leeds Apprenticeship Awards and Newcomer of the Year in the Yorkshire & Humber regional section of the National Apprenticeship Awards. The programme has previously been highly commended in the Excellence in Community Investment category of last year’s Law Society Excellence Awards.
Commenting on The Lawyer Management Award, Gordons’ managing partner Paul Ayre said: “This is another coveted prize for all those involved in our apprenticeship scheme, which means a great deal for many people within our organisation.”
Gordons continued the award celebrations the following day when the Yorkshire Building Society letting of 80,000 sq ft on three floors of the Broad Gate development in central Leeds won the Commercial Property Deal of the Year accolade at the Yorkshire Property Industry Awards. Gordons’ partner Nick Chamberlain advised the society on securing the space, in the largest single office transaction in Leeds since 2004. One of the UK’s most successful law firms, with offices in Leeds and Bradford, Gordons has been established for over 169 years, currently employs 265 people and has a turnover of more than £25.3m. The firm’s excellence has been recognised in the following award schemes in the last year, including:
- Yorkshire’s Best Business with a turnover between £10m and £50m at the Yorkshire Post’s Business Excellence Awards.
- Private Client Team of the Year and Managing Partner of the Year in the Yorkshire Lawyer Awards.
- UK and Ireland Regional Team of the Year in the STEP (Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners) Private Client Awards.
- Property Law Firm of the Year category in the Yorkshire Property Industry Awards.
- Apprenticeship Ambassador of the Year at the Leeds Apprenticeship Awards.
- Best Training and Best Job Satisfaction Awards in the annual Top Employers for School and College Leavers Awards and the highest ranked law firm in the Best Employer Category.
- Highly Commended in the Excellence in Community Investment category of the Law Society Excellence Awards.
Clients include Wm Morrison Supermarkets plc, construction and high performance materials manufacturer Saint Gobain, international brewers Molson Coors, greetings card retailer Card Factory and the world’s largest electrical heating business Glen Dimplex. For more information visit www.gordonsllp.com