Next year will mark our 10th anniversary as a B Corp, and it’s fantastic to see how the movement has grown from the original 62 in 2015, to over 1,900 UK companies and more than 8,000 worldwide.
The B Corp movement is beginning to break into the mainstream too, as a recognised badge of social and environmental purpose. I certainly see the B Corp logo more and more on products and websites.
This March marked B Corp Month, an entire month dedicated to celebrating the certification and inspiring people globally to shop more sustainably. The theme of this year’s B Corp Month? ‘This Way Forward‘, encouraging others to look to B Corp businesses and the changes they are making to better both business and the planet.
Companies gain B Corp status through a legal commitment to stakeholder, rather than just shareholder purpose. To gain the accreditation, they undergo a thorough sustainability assessment across governance, treatment of workers, community and the environment whilst committing to improve over time.
Evolving with best practice, this assessment structure is changing to recognise even higher standards of sustainability and offer greater opportunities for B Corps to show how impact is baked into their core business models. We welcome improvement to the ‘B Impact Assessment’ as we understand sustainability is a moving goal post and want it to remain an ambitious standard.
With a mass public awakening to issues such as climate change, equality and wellbeing, B Corp has never felt so relevant. There has certainly not been a more critical time for greater action from responsible businesses. And more than ever, people want to buy from, work for, invest in and partner with businesses they trust to make a positive impact.
Despite notable growth in B Corps across the world, it is still a self-elected standard for doing business. EQ also supports the Better Business Act coalition which proposes top-down changes to company law that would instil the B Corp essence to all corporations.
As a Certified B Corp, we are proud to continue our commitment to using our business as a force for good. We continue to see opportunity to do things better, for our people and through our services. One way we achieve this is by working with other B Corps, be it our suppliers or investment peers.
We recently organised a B Corp month event ‘B-Fest’ with our local B Corp partners, exploring what it means to be a purposeful business, and turning it into commercial success too. This was a great way to connect with like-minded people and spread the B Corp message.
We’ve always wanted to go beyond business as usual. That’s why we keep a track of our own social and environmental impacts, and only ever invest in sustainable ways so that you can be confident that your money is having a positive impact on the world as well as generating a good return. We’re a business that cares about people, profit, and the planet equally.
