Independent UK law firm Burges Salmon has been named Employment Law Firm of the Year at the Personnel Today Awards 2023. The firm was recognised for supporting and advising employers through the cost-of-living crisis, working with clients to shape solutions so they could support their people, whilst balancing the priorities and interests of their organisations.
Now in their 25th edition, the awards celebrate the most impressive HR and Learning and Development achievements, recognising the businesses and organisations across the public and private sectors who are making a positive impact on their people, business or clients.
Coming hot on the heels of the pandemic, the cost-of-living crisis was and continues to be a challenging situation to navigate for many employers. Pooling together its extensive market and sector insights and expertise from across the employment team, Burges Salmon devised a range of solutions for its clients, including low and no cost solutions, which minimised legal risk whilst delivering maximum benefit.
Burges Salmon also created a free online handbook – Supporting your people through the cost-of-living crisis – which quickly became a go-to HR guide for leaders, managers and CFOs operating across sectors. Going beyond the law, the guide offers practical solutions for employers to alleviate the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, advises on communications strategies and highlights the help available for employees seeking financial planning, wellbeing or debt advice.
Adrian Martin, partner and head of the Employment team at Burges Salmon, comments: “In what were and continue to be challenging trading conditions for many businesses including high inflation, rising energy and materials costs and a competitive recruitment market, we listened to our clients to understand their priorities and constraints. We used these insights to devise commercially viable solutions and to enable them to respond to the situation in a meaningful way.
“Our client centric approach encapsulates the way we deliver employment law advice and we’re thrilled to have been recognised by Personnel Today as the leading law firm in this area in the UK. Our win is a tribute to our talented team of lawyers who constantly strive to deliver an unbeatable service to a client base which includes FTSE 100 companies and household name employers.”
This is the second time the firm has won the award after it was recognised in 2021 for its ‘superb’ support for clients, remaining agile and responsive to their needs and those of the wider HR community, throughout the pandemic.
Burges Salmon’s Employment team advises clients in all UK jurisdictions, and across the world through an international network of leading independent law firms. The team advises on the full range of contentious and non-contentious employment matters, including high-profile and business-critical projects, acting for FTSE 100 and 250 listed companies, household brands, major public sector employers and not-for-profit organisations. The firm’s work helps to shape UK employment law and the team participates actively in numerous employment law organisations and committees.