City of London law firm Royds Withy King has moved to new energy-efficient offices which better meet the needs of its growing staff and client base and are more closely aligned with its strong commitment to sustainable practices.
While the move may be just a few doors away, from 65 to 69 Carter Lane (near St. Paul’s Cathedral), the new offices provide a dynamic, open-plan environment within one of eight buildings in the Carbon Trust’s Low Carbon Workplace portfolio.
Recently refurbished in partnership with the Carbon Trust, this high quality office space is fitted with the latest energy-saving measures and has been upgraded from an EPC rating of E to B.
Royds Withy King has the sixth lowest carbon footprint per employee when compared with the data of 60 law firms, as set out in the Legal Sustainability Alliance’s latest annual report.
Commenting on the move, Graham Street, managing partner at Royds Withy King, said: “This is an exciting move for the London office and for the firm, as we look to consolidate our position as a UK Top 100 law firm and further our commitment to sustainable practices. We are committed to providing a positive working environment which offers enhanced visibility and accessibility for individuals and teams while encouraging high levels of engagement, support and collaboration.”
Stewart Wilkinson, lead partner in the London office of Royds Withy King, said: “While it will be business as usual for many of our clients, there are others that will enjoy visiting us in our new environment and benefit from our enhanced facilities. Importantly, our new offices will also help us to reduce our carbon footprint and to measure, monitor and report on our building management performance, in line with our commitment to reduce the impact of our business on the environment and to positively impact our communities.”
The office move, which was completed last week (8 May 2017), follows the successful merger between Withy King and Royds in September 2016.
In addition to new low carbon offices in central London, the firm has a network of regional offices in Bath, Wiltshire and Oxfordshire which supports green practices; measures include smart metering, real time duplex printing stats, regular ‘switch off’ campaigns, increased use of video-conferencing and an annual ‘Green Week’ initiative.
Royds Withy King is a member of the Legal Sector Alliance which allows UK law firms to benchmark their carbon footprint against others in their sector. Since 2013, Royds Withy King has reduced its carbon footprint from 1.5 to 1.37 tonnes of CO2 per employee.
