Dr. Gregory Burke
Founder and Chair of AccessAble, Employment and discrimination barrister at 7BR.
Politics and Law
The most striking aspect of Gregory’s career is his hugely successful track record in challenging the narrowness of the public’s perception of disability.
While still a student Gregory founded DisabledGo, later named AccessAble.co.uk, in response to a national consultation he conducted as to why disabled people were so excluded from society; a principal reason was the institutional (mis)understanding of disability and a lack of relevant and sufficient detailed access information.
For the 23 years, AccessAble has striven to correct this. It provides detailed access guides on a genuinely pan-disability basis to nearly 400 large organisations including 100+ universities, 100+ local authorities, 90+ NHS trusts and 100+ national businesses including many household names. In the last year, well over 5 million disabled people used AccessAble.co.uk. AccessAble employs 95 people, turning over £4.3 million.
AccessAble’s chief executive for 12 years, Gregory remains its Chair. He has also subsequently trained as a barrister. He was called to the Bar in 2012.
By 2017 he was Head of Employment Law at 7 Bedford Row (7BR) leading a team of 28 barristers; possibly the youngest ever head of team (by call) in a leading set. At the Bar, he works predominately on employment and discrimination cases.
He is the co-author of Human Rights in the Workplace in Tolley’s Employment Law Service. He is consistently recognised in the annual peer-reviewed directories as a leading barrister.
Gregory mentors aspirant barristers. He sits on the Bar Standards Board Disability Committee and is actively involved in helping the Inns of Court and the wider profession become more accessible and inclusive. He is regularly featured in the national media, shining a spotlight onto how attempting to access venues can be a disabling experience for many people.
A wheelchair user from 16 years old, Gregory is a multiple award-winning scholar achieving an MA, MPhil and PhD from King’s College, University of Cambridge.
“The Disability Power 100 is so important because it challenges the entrenched perception of disabled people as supplicants. Listed in these pages are so many talented, influential and highly capable people; the tip of the iceberg because a vast number of disabled people have a huge contribution to make if only the barriers that prevented them from so doing were removed. Together, people on this list, the many, many more knocking on the door of being included on this list in future years, along with disabled people living their lives in our society and showing how ‘every-day’ disability is, are wrenching apart the narrow and outdated conceptualisation of disability. This, naturally, empowers disabled people but even more it has the potential to transform our country and beyond.”
Disability Power 100 2023 profile information has been self-submitted by the profile subject. Shaw Trust understands and respects that disability and impairment descriptors and language use varies from person to person. Shaw Trust assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or discrepancies in the content of this, or any other, profile page.
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