Overview

Burges Salmon is the independent UK law firm which delivers the best mix of advice, service and value.

Everything we do is driven by the needs of our clients.

We focus on quality. By focusing on the markets and areas of expertise where we have extensive knowledge and experience, we achieve the best outcomes for our clients who range from large organisations, entrepreneurial businesses and public sector bodies to private individuals and families. We are trusted to help them with everything from their everyday legal needs to their business critical issues and all points in between.

We collaborate. We are all based in one location. However, we work wherever our clients need us to be, both within the UK and internationally. By having one base for all our people, we maintain a collaborative and cohesive culture which underpins the quality of our work and our client service. In short, we hire, train and retain the best people to work together to serve our clients and provide them with the best possible experience.

We work across the UK. We have lawyers who are qualified to work in all three legal jurisdictions in the UK – England & Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

We work internationally. Across the world we work with a select number of like-minded independent law firms – our Preferred Law Firm network.

We are confident in our model. In a rapidly changing world, our clients instruct us because we offer a different experience: unrivalled expertise, excellent service and exceptional value.

Career

Our most valuable resource is our people which is why we provide excellent training, benefits and opportunities for growth. Our open and collaborative culture promotes an inclusive work environment which ensures that we continue to recruit, retain and motivate the highest calibre of people across the business.

We believe that our people are our greatest asset and we understand how important it is to reward them fairly.

Below are some of the ways in which we do this.

Pay: Our salaries are highly competitive and are amongst the highest in the legal sector outside London. We link pay to your contribution so you know your hard work is being recognised. Everyone benefits from our annual bonus payment which is linked to salary and the performance of the firm.

Holiday: Everyone is entitled to 25 days’ annual leave (plus bank holidays) with extra days awarded after three, six and 10 years of service.

Volunteering: All our people have the opportunity to take two paid days of leave to take part in volunteering. This could be something sourced by our corporate responsibility team or for a cause that is relevant to you. You can take these days either individually or as part of a team volunteering day. Last year 442 days were taken.

Pension and life assurance: We operate a group personal pension plan which is currently with Standard Life. We will match your contributions from 3-5 per cent. This means that if you pay in 1-3 per cent, we will contribute 3 per cent and if you contribute 4-5 per cent, we will match this. In the event of death in service, we will pay out four times your salary.

Health and wellbeing. We offer private medical insurance to all our people which is currently provided by BUPA. Everyone is entitled to a free health check with BUPA when they start at the firm and every two years after that.

We also pay for an annual eye test and contribute to the cost of glasses.

Our people are covered by a group income protection scheme. This means that your salary will be protected (subject to a successful claim), if you are unable to work for a prolonged period of time for health reasons. We offer an employee assistance programme, which offers support on a variety of matters including second opinion medical, counselling and debt advice. It is free and confidential.

Maternity, paternity and adoption leave: We offer enhanced maternity pay of 13 weeks full pay and 13 weeks half pay to those who meet the eligibility criteria. New fathers who meet the eligibility criteria are entitled to two weeks full pay. Under the shared parental leave scheme we offer enhanced parental pay that matches our maternity pay package.

Child care vouchers: We are part of the scheme that allows you to purchase child care vouchers before tax in the form of a salary sacrifice.

Flexible working: We will provide you with flexibility in the way you want to work as far as we possibly can. We consider all flexible working requests. 27 per cent of people currently work flexibly including part time working, working from home and alternative working patterns. Our agile working initiative also gives you the ability to work away from the office on an ad hoc basis.

Personal and professional development: The firm offers language classes for a variety of abilities that are open to everyone. These include French, German, Italian, Spanish and Mandarin.

We will support your personal and professional development. In addition to the support you will receive from our in-house development team, we pay for you to complete any external courses and qualifications that are relevant to your role.

Office environment: We have been based at One Glass Wharf since 2010, which is located at the heart of the Temple Quay area of Bristol, only five minutes from Temple Meads station. The building was designed especially for us and is one of central Bristol’s most eco-friendly buildings.

We have our own restaurant, Glassworks, which serves a range of very reasonably priced hot and cold food throughout the day. Each floor has its own kitchen area which is stocked with chilled water, tea and coffee making facilities and a fridge for your personal use.

Travel: Around 30 per cent of our people either walk, run or cycle to work. We provide on-site bike racks, shower facilities and locker rooms to use before work to make it easier for you to incorporate sport into your daily routine.

We work with Dr bike and offer free maintenance sessions several times a year. Our support for the Cycle to Work scheme also enables you to make big savings on the purchase of a new bike and pay for it in instalments via a tax free salary sacrifice.

We offer season ticket loans for those wishing to travel by rail or bus.

A car parking allowance is available for associates, senior associates and business services heads. Partners are allocated a parking space in our basement car park.

Social and sport: Everyone has the opportunity to join our firm wide social club, BSocial which offers members a wide range of discounts on theatre, cinema and sports activities.

We currently have football, hockey and running clubs with pilates, yoga and circuits classes available at the office. There is even a board game club for those with more leisurely interests!

The social club organises other events and trips away. Recent events have included wine and cheese tasting, bread making, cupcake decorating, weekend trips to London, a Belgium Beer Festival and make-up tutorials.

We offer subsidised gym membership.

Firm-wide socials: There is a firmwide social every other month where everyone gathers in Glassworks to enjoy a few drinks and nibbles. The firmwide summer party is a key event on the Burges Salmon calendar. In the past we have been to Bristol Zoo, had an indoor fairground complete with dodgem cars and a Las Vegas themed ball.