One of our core values is that in order to meet our clients' needs, we need to be passionate about excellence.

We aim to measure this, in part, by external accreditation. We hold both Investors In People (IIP) and LEXCEL awards and have a commitment to maintain them. We also hold APIL practice accreditation (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers).

The key to Investors in People accreditation is our commitment to training and development. We provide a people service and we can only expect to achieve high levels of quality and consistency if we are each developing our skills relevant to the area of the practice within which we work and whether as someone directly advising clients or providing support services.

Whilst we regard the commitment to training and development as the most important quality standard, we recognise that it is important to have measurable standards. Our statements of compliance set out how we adhere to the standards required for LEXCEL accreditation. We have maintained the Lexcel accreditation since January 2004 and this year were commended in 18 of the inspection areas. Assessors have been very impressed with the high standard of compliance with the quality standards and the extensive areas of good practice observed.

Assessor's comments included:

"The attributes that are required by any organisation wishing to improve its quality: openness, attention to detail, good leadership, etc, are clearly evident throughout the firm."

"Fee earners achieve high levels of consistency in file management and conformance to the firm's processes and procedures. Such an extremely high level of compliance is the result of continuing vigilance by fee earners and a well co-ordinated and systematic approach to continuous improvement."

"Estimates of cost are clearly provided to each client at the outset of a matter."

Veale Wasbrough Vizards is making every effort to achieve the Best Companies accreditation which highlights the success of the business and commitment to being a good employer. We are highly regarded for our high level of employee engagement and have been listed by Best Companies as 'One To Watch'.

Organisational successes are defined using data from the Best Companies to Work For survey which involves surveying over 100,00 employees from over 400 companies.