Economic
We employ over 290 people, in high quality jobs, in geographical areas that comprise some of the most deprived boroughs in the country. As one of their key local employers, we work closely with our home local authority, Wigan, to support their community wealth building strategy. We are currently involved in a project with the authority to employ disadvantaged people, such as care leavers, in apprenticeship posts and other permanent employment.
Using the national social value measurement (National TOMS) the value of employment in financial terms to the local community is £8,736 pa for each apprenticeship and £28,213 pa for each job. Having a strong business helps us to generate literally millions of pounds for the economy, and in particular our northwest communities, through jobs and taxes such as business rates, VAT, income tax and National Insurance. In the last five years we have had 14 apprentices qualify and we currently have over ten apprentices working across Stephensons.
We believe that the employment we provide should be, and is, of the best quality and our Lexcel assessor said: “The firm is managed in a modern and inclusive style. Senior management are open and approachable, people feel appreciated and valued, and the firm operates as a whole”. (Lexcel Assessor 2022)
Social (building cohesive communities)
We believe that access to the law is a fundamental right and part of any cohesive community.
We run our own legal call centre and provide telephone help to approximately 100,000 people a year.
Through our legal work we help people from all walks of life to take control of their lives and improve them.
We are also one of a dwindling group of lawyers who provide legal aid and other services in some hard to access but life changing areas of the law such as child care, discrimination and adult social care.
We are proud to be partners of the Business Growth Hub striving to work collaboratively and support business in Greater Manchester. In the last financial year our employment team has assisted approximately with over 100 enquiries on a pro bono basis providing them with a range of funding options so that they are able to progress their case
On a yearly basis Stephensons allocate 100 hours to be used by staff to help charities.
Between April 2021 – April 2022 as well as fundraising totalling £8,063.87 for our charity of the year Guide Dogs UK which is the equivalent to supporting a guide dog for two and a half years Stephensons donated £1,900 to nine different charities.
These donations included:
Wigan and Leigh Hospice - a charity providing care and support to people who have been diagnosed with a life limiting illness which is no longer curable.
Wigan Deanery Trust a charity - formed in April 2019 to support Church Wigan and other partners in their goal to re-orientate church and revive communities in the Borough of Wigan.
Wigan Youth Zone - a purpose built, state of the art youth facility in Wigan. It offers young people from across Wigan the opportunity to meet new friends, have new experiences, learn new skills and access the support they need to develop and achieve their potential.
Three Wishes - a charity supporting a wide range of healthcare services and facilities in respect of medical equipment, patient welfare, staff facilities and education. We made a donation which purchased four stands for TV’s in ICU at Wigan Hospital.
Rainbow Hub - a charity helping children and young people with disabilities from across the North West region.
Derian House - a charity providing respite and end of life care to more than 450 children and young people across the North West.
Daffodils Dreams - a charity helping young children reach their full potential by giving them opportunities to explore their natural gifts and thrive in life.
The following are examples of how we have supported the community more widely
We offer unwanted furniture and office supplies to local businesses through a community notice board co-ordinated by Wigan Council.
The firm assist Brighter School of Discipleship Church Wigan Youth Team in providing meeting rooms for their weekly meetings.
Stephensons have assisted Wigan Council in providing meeting room facilities for the community wealth business consortium.
Following any events held by Stephensons any leftover buffet/cakes are donated to a local care home.
Environment
Stephensons is committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, read more in our plan.
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Stephensons works in a paperlite way and we have a centralised administration function for efficiency and reduction of waste.
The majority of our staff work in an agile way meaning that they typically spend two core days a week in our office or less. This translates into a reduction of travel and environmental benefits.
We have calculated that if one person drives 30 miles per day, then that equates to 808 grams of carbon dioxide emissions released into the atmosphere per day. Stephensons have circa 240 people now working agile and attending the office two days per week, driving around 30 miles per day on average. This means that by working at home the rest of the time, there has been a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 581,760 grams per week, 30,251,520 grams per year.
Our head office is at the Wigan Investment Centre, we are pleased to say that following the installation of a photovoltaic (PV) system, the solar panels and inverter should be able to create 30% of its own energy per year converting energy from the sun.
In addition to working in a paperlite way, Stephensons seeks to recycle a significant proportion of materials including:
- Ink cartridges and toners
- Batteries
- Paper/cardboard
- IT and phone equipment
- Office furniture
To demonstrate the impact this has, we have measured that from April 2022 - April 2023 Stephensons recycled 20,732 pounds of paper. Every 2,000 equates to 17 trees. Stephensons have therefore recycled the equivalent of 176 trees.
Stephensons has a solid track record of providing services to public bodies and other social purpose organisations. But the bedrock of our firm is to provide easily accessible legal services to large numbers of ordinary people, coming to us directly. We are based in the North West but we do this on a national basis. We provide services in areas that many other lawyers have withdrawn from and we change lives for the better by doing so.
