During our recent brand refresh, my Ryder Reid Legal co-owner, Andrea, and I spent a lot of time discussing what our passion was, why we enjoy what we do and how, as a legal recruitment agency, we could improve.
One area that we wanted to particularly focus on was corporate social responsibility. As a company, we believe that we have an obligation to help and advance those less fortunate than ourselves.
Social mobility
A subject that’s very close to both our hearts is social mobility and the opportunities that are – or are not – available to children from low-income families.
The counties in which we grew up (Essex for me, Merseyside for Andrea) are home to two of the most disadvantaged towns in the country, while London, where Ryder Reid is based, has the highest overall level of poverty in the UK at 28%, compared to 22% across the country.
When we began researching the impact this has on children’s potential education and career opportunities, the statistics were staggering. Two in three children from disadvantaged backgrounds do not achieve the basic entry requirements to progress in education beyond GCSE. By the age of 26, four in five will be earning below the “just-about-managing” salary threshold.
Future Frontiers
Clearly, these numbers are unacceptable and for that reason, Ryder Reid Legal has partnered with education charity Future Frontiers.
Future Frontiers exists to ensure that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds fulfil their potential at school and when transitioning to further education, employment or training. Future Frontiers does this through face-to-face coaching delivered by business professionals, giving students access to role models in their preferred industries, including recruitment and law.
As part of our partnership, the Ryder Reid Legal team will undertake training and act as a coach for a young person, as they make educational and career decisions that will help shape the rest of their lives. This will be in the form of several regular coaching sessions, where our team will coach young people on the options available to them dependant on their interests and aspirations.
Making a difference
With our unique experience in career advice and interview expertise, we feel that our team can offer huge value to these young people and be able to make a difference.
By a happy coincidence, the school that Ryder Reid Legal has been partnered with is less than a mile from where I grew up. It gives me huge satisfaction to think that young people within my community and those across the UK are not being forgotten, but are being given the chance to achieve their potential, which is no less than they deserve.
• Written by Callum Smith, Ryder Reid Legal co-owner and Business Director. Callum joined Ryder Reid Legal in 2006 and it was his first job in recruitment. He has worked his way up from entry level to now co-owning the business. Callum has worked in all of our recruitment divisions, but his main experience comes within our interim legal division. In 2018, Callum bought Ryder Reid Legal with Andrea Prendergast, our Executive Search Director.