Addleshaw Goddard's groundbreaking Mindful Business Charter, developed in collaboration with Barclays and Pinsent Masons, has received recognition at this year's Legal Week Innovation Awards, winning the HR Innovation accolade.

The Mindful Business Charter, which was created in an unprecedented alliance of a number of the UK's biggest banks and law firms to change poor and avoidable working practices that can cause unnecessary stress and wellbeing issues for employees, is a set of principles centred on openness and communication, smart meetings and emails, respect for rest periods and considerate delegation of tasks.

Fighting off tough competition from the likes of Gowling WLG, Mills & Reeve and Shearman & Sterling to take home the coveted accolade, the Charter has enjoyed huge success since its launch just six months ago, with 20 signatories committing to drive forward the actions and necessary change in support of the initiative.

Charles Penney, Senior Partner at Addleshaw Goddard, comments:

"Mental wellbeing has a huge impact on organisations and individuals, their friends and families. In many instances small changes can have exponentially positive impacts in reducing stress. This in turn helps improve retention, motivation and productivity while assisting on absenteeism. 

"We are proud to be working alongside Barclays and Pinsent Masons in driving this Charter forward and are delighted to see the initiative being recognised on such a public platform."