Mishcon de Reya is one of ten founding members of a new charity called the Social Mobility Business Partnership (SMBP), a unique and award-winning social mobility programme formerly called The Legal Social Mobility Partnership, which is launching today in the House of Commons. The SMBP will promote social mobility in business, with particular focus on legal and accountancy professions.
The SMBP brings together professional bodies (including the ACCA, ICAEW, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and CILEx) social mobility experts and existing profession-led movements (including The Sutton Trust and PRIME), as well as commercial businesses, legal and accountancy firms and sports clubs, to deliver insight and skills programmes for Year 12 students in different regions.
The programme, driven by ITV's Barry Matthews, starts with an induction where students learn about the different pathways to the legal and accountancy professions, the future impact of AI on the delivery of professional services and the facts about university finance. The students then participate in a week-long programme of work insight and skills experience in which they are given the opportunity to spend a day at four different high-profile businesses, before attending a day run by a professional sports club to learn about the psychology of resilience and goal achievement models. Afterwards, the students have access to online 'virtual coaching' from legal, accountancy and business professionals.
14 people from Mishcon de Reya have volunteered to lead initiatives in teams in Brighton, Birmingham, Reading and Manchester and Managing Partner Kevin Gold is a trustee of the charity. Commenting on the firm's involvement, he said:
"We are very proud to support the Social Mobility Business Partnership. At Mishcon de Reya, one of our core values is to empower individuals to fulfil their potential. We believe in creating equal opportunities for everybody, regardless of their background, and so this is a cause that is very close to the firm's heart."
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