Eversheds has become the first law firm to sign up to a new voluntary gender reporting initiative launched by the Government.

The UK top 10 law firm has joined Tesco and BT as the first members of the 'Think, Act, Report' initiative, which is aimed at improving transparency on gender equality issues in business.

The new scheme, which was unveiled last week (15 September), will see participating organisations encouraged to carry out regular self-analysis of their own gender equality and take action to address any issues.

Businesses taking part in the scheme will be encouraged to report on the gender make-up of the workforce, including representation at different levels of seniority, promotion rates by gender, maternity leave returners, staff on flexible hours and any variances between male and female salaries.

Eversheds chairman John Heaps commented: "By going public with this issue, it helps to advance the topic of gender equality in the law. I hope that by being open about the issues we face we'll be able to attract more women to the firm, who can see what we're trying to achieve."

He added: "It won't change anything we currently do immediately – we've been reporting our diversity statistics internally for three years – but that's not to say we can't do more. At the board level, we've set a target of 30% women by 2015 but current sit at around 27%. In the partnership, we have 23%-24% women and we will be aiming to do better."

Home Secretary and minister for women and equalities Theresa May added: "I am delighted that some of the UK's most recognised and successful firms have volunteered to publish data on gender equality. Business should be congratulated for making this positive step towards greater transparency, which will help close the gender pay gap."

The Government will review the progress of the framework annually and will develop a support programme to help organisations that join up.