Business ‘for people and planet’ is the hot topic for Labour MP’s visit to Southampton legal practice

The founding partners of AL-HQ Law & More believe that every business in the UK, from small startups to large corporations, has a part to play in making the world a greener and fairer place.

They’re now part of a 2,000-strong coalition backing The Better Business Act, an amendment to the 2006 Companies Act which would cement these fundamental responsibilities in law.

And with support building in Westminster, Labour MP Alan Whitehead recently visited the team at AL-HQ to discuss the Act and the measures they’ve been taking within their own practice.

Syed Aminul Hoque, founding partner and director of finance, said: “We were grateful for the opportunity to share and engage in some meaningful conversations about how businesses can do better.

“At AL-HQ Law & More we aim to live by our faith-inspired principles for the greater good of people, the wider community, and our planet.

“It was a great morning to further the interests of business, and business done the right way. Sympathetic to people and the planet.”

The Southampton firm prides itself on being an innovative, climate- and client-centric practice.

Specialising in estate planning, it offers a collaborative legal life planning portal which connects local and national legal practitioners with those in need of wills and lasting powers of attorney.

But the focus isn’t just on the clients.

Yasmin Hoque, fellow founding partner and director of legal, explained: “We aim to put in place measures to make a tangible difference.

“Our purpose is to introduce cycles of goodness across generations.

“We know that the legal industry has a huge talent drop out for females at associate level, so we ensured that we operated on a hybrid basis from day one.

“This meant meeting in co-working spaces like the Business and IP Centre in Southampton Central Library, but also having effective technology to work fully remotely as needed.”

It’s a system which allows the team to involve consultant solicitor Munayah Hassan and legal intern Areesha Hassan – who studies at the University of Southampton – in their office meetings, while also checking in with them remotely.

Organic goods, recycled materials and healthy snacks for the meeting with Alan Whitehead MP

“We also know that legal services tend to be paperwork-heavy, so we offer digital legal solutions via our website.

“But paper is still needed for certain activities, so we undertake to plant a tree for every client instruction, leading to whole forests being planted globally.

“Keeping sustainability in mind at all times takes little effort and the combined efforts of everyone supporting each other is when we will start to see greater positive impacts.

“We are really keen to have cross-party support for this campaign and it is great to have launched our business space within the central constituency.

“We hope other likeminded businesses will come forward to support the growing public demand for better business.”