Gender pay gap.

Allen & Overy has announced it will close its hub in Vauxhall, an office that was designed to enable easier remote working, just 18 months after its launch.

The decision to end the project, which the firm had hoped would office staff a better work-life balance by cutting commute times, coincides with the Magic Circle firm's pay gap reports for gender, sexuality and diversity.

A&O head of diversity Jo Dooley told Legal Week: "We wanted to test the boundaries of how we could support people. Since it's been open, a small group has used it but it hasn't been big enough to commit to it permanently. We've consulted with those who did use it and made improvements to the technology people use for remote working to make it easier for people to work from home."

At the time of the launch, when the firm took space for eight open-plan desks in April 2018, A&O said it would consider opening other hubs in London if the pilot was successful, but Dooley said that is no longer being considered.

Meanwhile, A&O has kicked off the 2019 pay gap reporting season, expanding its figures to include data based on sexuality as well as gender and diversity.

The Magic Circle firm has become to the first firm to report its most recent figures, in line with its decision to report in September last year.

Its 2019 partner pay gap has stayed the same as last year's (15.9%), as has its partnership makeup. Currently, 80% of the firm's U.K. partners are male.

Its combined U.K. partner and employee gender pay gap, which encompasses its London and Belfast operations, is 61.5% for 2019 – remaining practically stagnant on last year's gap of 61.2%.

In London, the firm's total employee gender pay gap has fallen slightly, from 20% last year to 17.1%. In Belfast, the figure also dropped slightly, hitting 11.7% compared to 13.8% in 2018.

The Magic Circle outfit has also reported its ethnicity pay gap data for the second year in a row, and expanded its reporting to include sexuality too.

Nearly three quarters (73%) of the firm's U.K. workforce recorded their sexual orientation during the year, with 5% of partners and staff identifying as LGBT+. A&O has recorded a favourable pay swing towards those LGBT+ members of 9.8%.

Its latest figures for BAME show that the combined pay gap for U.K. partners and employees stands at 23.1% – a slight increase on last year's figure of 21.6%.

For partners alone, the BAME pay gap has increased marginally to 3.8%, up from 3.5% last year.

While 32% of the firm's London trainee population currently identify as BAME, this drops to 10% at partner level. Dooley told Legal Week: "We need to focus on making sure we help our BAME lawyers progress through the ranks."

A minority of firms have committed to targets to improve their BAME headcount. Dooley said the idea is a "live discussion" within A&O, but wants the issue to be viewed more holistically.

Last year, the firm introduced a target for partner candidate figures as part of its refreshed gender strategy, which was drawn up after it made up just two women to partner in 2017.

By 2021, 30% of partner candidates at the firm must be female, with A&O also working towards a 30% target for the partnership in the longer term.