• Swindon & Wiltshire Governance
• Tuesday April 21 2026

Freeths achieves Stonewall Proud Employer Champion status

Bristol law firm Freeths has been awarded Champion status in Stonewall’s Proud Employers accreditation – a recognition reserved for organisations demonstrating embedded, effective and continuously improving LGBTQ+ inclusion.

The status reflects the firm’s long-standing commitment to ethical practice, responsible business and building a workplace culture aligned with its wider B Corp and equity, diversity and inclusion priorities.

Stonewall is Europe’s largest charity campaigning for LGBTQ+ rights, and describes its Champion status as acknowledging employers whose inclusion work is consistently delivering impact, where policies, behaviours and culture show that LGBTQ+ inclusion is firmly taking root across the organisation.

Freeths earned the accreditation following strong performance across Stonewall’s refreshed Proud Employers framework, which assesses organisations against eight areas of inclusive practice. Stonewall highlighted several strengths in Freeths’ submission, including:

Visible senior leadership engagement around LGBTQ+ inclusion.
Robust cross‑network collaboration and allyship, including joint initiatives between employee networks.

Impactful internal storytelling campaigns, amplifying LGBTQ+ voices and lived experiences.

The firm’s LGBTQ+ podcast and book club, designed to build awareness, education and community across offices.
Strong foundations in inclusive policy, culture and employee experience.

Senior EDI and community engagement manager Lou Silver said: “This accreditation is a powerful recognition of the progress we’ve made, but importantly, it also reflects the collective commitment across the firm to creating a workplace where LGBTQ+ colleagues feel seen, supported and able to thrive.

“Stonewall’s new framework has helped us sharpen our focus on the areas that matter most, from inclusive policies and leadership accountability to the everyday culture we cultivate in our teams.

“Achieving Champion status shows that our work is having a real impact, and it gives us a clear direction for what comes next. I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved together and excited about the next stage of our inclusion journey.”

The Proud Employers accreditation replaces Stonewall’s former Diversity Champions programme, introducing a more outcome-focused framework to measure meaningful, sustained progress.

The new status also gives Freeths a clear roadmap for strengthening its approach to LGBTQ+ inclusion across the firm. As part of the next stage of its EDI strategy, the firm is focused on widening accountability beyond employee networks, including embedding explicit LGBTQ+ inclusion within onboarding for new starters and recruitment processes.

Freeths is also developing more targeted support for underrepresented groups within the LGBTQ+ community, including trans, non‑binary and bi colleagues, to help ensure its inclusive culture is experienced consistently across all teams and career stages.