Understanding B Corp

Purpose Is Not a Strapline – Why Businesses Must Walk the Talk

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“Purpose” has become one of the most overused and misunderstood words in business today. For some, it’s a shiny statement at the top of a website, or laminated posters in reception. A tagline for a campaign. A way to sound progressive.

But real purpose? It’s much harder, and much more powerful.

As the climate crisis accelerates, inequality deepens, and trust in business wavers, it’s no longer enough to claim you’re here to do good. The public, regulators, investors, and employees want you to prove that you are living your purpose – they want evidence. And if you can’t back up your purpose with action, expect to be called out.

The good news? There’s growing guidance for how to get it right, including PAS 808:2022 and the new B Corp Purpose & Stakeholder Governance standards.

The challenge? It takes courage, curiosity, compassion, and a deep commitment to do this authentically.

❌ When It Goes Wrong: The Greenwash Graveyard

In the past few years, we’ve seen a long list of companies make big, bold claims about their sustainability or purpose, only to be exposed for falling far short:

  • HSBC was banned from advertising its climate credentials without also acknowledging its financing of fossil fuels. 
  • Boohoo, along with ASOS and George at Asda, faced scrutiny over misleading environmental claims, leading to formal agreements to ensure accuracy in their green marketing. 
  • Shell UK had adverts banned for overstating its environmental friendliness, failing to disclose that most of its business relies on fossil fuels. 
  • Ryanair was reprimanded for misleading claims about being “Europe’s lowest emissions airline,” despite being one of the continent’s top emitters. 

These aren’t minor slip-ups. They are breaches of public trust. The consequence? Loss of reputation, regulatory fines, employee churn, and consumer backlash.

And rightly so. Because pretending to care while continuing to harm is worse than saying nothing at all.

Image of Guardian news headline - March 2024

🌟 When It Goes Right: Businesses That Walk the Talk

Thankfully, many businesses are getting it right. They’re embedding purpose into their governance, their operations, and their culture, and they’re thriving because of it.

A few standouts:

  • Elvis & Kresse – turn decommissioned fire hoses into luxury goods, donating 50% of profits to charity. Purpose is at the heart of their brand and supply chain.
  • Tony’s Chocolonely – fighting for 100% slave-free chocolate through transparency and fairer supply chains.
  • Y.O.U Underwear – a certified B Corp that gives back more than it takes, supporting ethical production and girls’ education.
  • Bates Wells – the first UK law firm to become a B Corp, embedding purpose into client work, governance, and pro bono services.
  • Triodos Bank – finance only what benefits people and planet, proving ethical banking is not only viable — it’s vital.
  • UK for Good – (yes, us) helping businesses across the UK lead with integrity and imagination, guided by purpose, not profit alone.

These organisations don’t treat purpose as a communications exercise. It’s not a separate strategy. It is the strategy.

📈 The Business Case for Purpose

Purpose isn’t just a moral imperative. It’s a commercial one.

Data consistently shows that purpose-led businesses outperform their peers:

  • 83% of Gen Z want to work for companies that align with their values (World Economic Forum)
  • Brands with a clear purpose grow twice as fast as those without (Kantar, 2020)
  • Purpose-driven companies outperform the market by 42% (Harvard Business Review)
  • Greenwashing damages trust — with real costs for customer retention, investor confidence, and employee loyalty

Purpose helps you attract better talent, build stronger customer relationships, and future-proof your business in a changing world.

People want to work for, buy from, and invest in businesses that are good for people and planet – not just profit.

🛠️ The Tools to Get It Right: From Purpose to Proof

So how do we embed purpose in a meaningful, credible way?

Enter PAS 808:2022, the BSI guide for purpose-driven organisations — and the updated B Corp Purpose & Stakeholder Governance standards, which bring even more rigour to certification.

Together, they provide a roadmap for leaders who are serious about change.

Key requirements include:

  • 📜 A publicly stated, meaningful purpose — not vague, not generic
  • 🧭 Stakeholder governance — making decisions that consider people, planet, and future generations
  • 📣 Transparent reporting — showing progress, not just promises
  • 🔍 Materiality assessments — engaging stakeholders to identify real issues and opportunities
  • 🔄 Cultural integration — ensuring purpose isn’t just set by leadership, but lived throughout the organisation

But having a purpose statement isn’t enough. It’s about delivering on that purpose through:

  • Policy: Embedding purpose into company policies that guide decision-making.
  • Process: Developing processes that operationalise purpose across all functions.
  • Proof: Demonstrating impact through measurable outcomes and transparent reporting.

At UK for Good, we also encourage businesses to measure their success by moving from traditional Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to Impact Performance Indicators (IPIs), focusing on the broader impact a business has on people, communities, and the planet. Learn more in our insight: From KPIs to IPIs: Embracing a New Era of Business Success.

🚀 No Excuses: Now’s the Time to Walk the Talk

We’re entering an era where there are no excuses left. The knowledge, the frameworks, and the expectations are all clear.

You can no longer say “we didn’t know” or “we’re not ready.”

You are being watched — by your customers, your team, and your children. Purpose is no longer a strapline. It’s your licence to operate.

And the businesses that step up, with humility, clarity, and commitment, will be the ones shaping a cleaner, fairer, more compassionate future.

✨ Final Word: What Will You Be Known For?

Will you be the brand that said the right things?
Or the one that did the right things?

Let’s choose the second.

🙌 Call to Action

Are you ready to align your purpose with meaningful impact?

At UK for Good, we work with leaders who want to do more than say the right thing, they want to be the kind of business that shapes a better world for all their stakeholders.

📧 Let’s talk — whether you’re just starting out or looking to go deeper, we’re here to support curious, courageous, compassionate leadership.

Additional Resources:

No More Excuses

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Empowering UK Business Leaders to Take Climate and Social Action

Every week brings more evidence that the world is in trouble.
Record temperatures. Deepening inequality. Disrupted ecosystems. Stalled progress.

We know.

  • 2023 was the hottest year on record – and 2024 is on track to break it again.
  • More than 1 in 3 UK children now live in poverty; that’s over 4 million.
  • Over 5 million people die each year from climate-related extremes. (The Lancet, 2021)
  • And still, 90% of executives believe sustainability is important, yet only 60% have a clear strategy. (MIT Sloan, 2023)

We knew.
But what did we do?

The danger of excuses

I get it. I’ve made them too:

“It’s not the right time.”
“We’re too small to make a difference.”
“Let’s get the basics right first.”

“We’ll revisit this in Q4.”
“It’s not a priority for our board.”
“We don’t want to get political.”

But here’s the truth: excuses protect the status quo.
And the status quo is costing us everything.

We’re not lacking knowledge. We’re lacking action, courage, and leadership.

From real excuse → better question

We don’t need to shame ourselves.
But we do need to call out the stories we tell that keep us stuck, and ask better questions.

🔴 “We’re too small to make a difference.”
🟢 “What small action could we take this week that aligns with our values?”

🔴 “We can’t afford to change right now.”
🟢 “What is the long-term cost of doing nothing?”

🔴 “We don’t want to get political.”
🟢 “What kind of world do we want to help shape, and what’s stopping us?”

Why this matters

Because the truth is, future generations won’t remember what we meant to do.
They’ll remember what we actually did.

As Martin Luther King Jr. said:

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

Now is the time to speak up. To step forward. To show what good business leadership really looks like.

💡 Tools to help you take action right now

Let’s turn courage into action. Here are three ways to begin:

🎥 Watch:

#ClimateScam? – Cornwall Climate Care
A 40-minute documentary exploring the rise of climate misinformation and its impact on public perception and action. Join young presenter Jaz as she investigates various conspiracy theories and seeks to understand their origins and the threats they pose to addressing climate change effectively. This may be especially helpful if you have people in your business or networks who still don’t understand or accept the need for urgent action to address climate change.

📖 Read:

The Good Ancestor by Roman Krznaric
A must-read for any business leader who wants to shift from short-term thinking to long-term impact. Essential and empowering. This had a huge impact on me and I have recommended it widely. Learn more from Roman and buy the book here.

✅ Use:

Free Materiality Assessment Guide for SMEs 
Cut through the noise. Clarify what really matters to your business, your stakeholders, and the world.
Our recently published guide will help you focus on the issues that count, and take meaningful action.

Download our free guide here.

No more silence. No more excuses.

If you knew…
What will you do this week?

💬 I’d love to know:

What’s the most common excuse you hear in your business or network, and what better question could replace it?

Let’s gather and share the real conversations that will move us forward.

Foundations for a Better Future

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Introduction: A Shift in What Matters Most

What does it truly mean to be a purpose-led business in 2025? And how can companies help drive the kind of long-term, systemic change the world urgently needs?

These aren’t just questions for certified B Corps, they’re essential questions for every business that wants to remain relevant, resilient, and responsible in a rapidly changing world.

B Lab’s new B Corp standards sharpen the spotlight on two deeply connected impact areas:
Purpose & Stakeholder Governance and Government & Collective Action.

At UK for Good, we believe these are the foundations of transformational business. Where purpose isn’t just a slogan, but a clear, accountable commitment. Where governance is a tool for courage, not just compliance. And where collective action helps us achieve the scale of change we need.

“Businesses have the power to solve the world’s biggest problems — if they choose to.”
— John Elkington, author of Green Swans and founder of Volans

1. Purpose and Stakeholder Governance: Walking the Talk

In recent years, ‘purpose’ has become a popular label, but often without substance. Many businesses say they are purpose-driven, but is that purpose clearly defined, transparently governed, and visible in their decisions?

The new B Corp standards ask businesses to go deeper – to define a purpose that’s more than profit, to embed that purpose in their governance structures, and to be held accountable for delivering it.

Some UK businesses are already setting a powerful example.

Elvis & Kresse exists to solve the problem of waste, starting with London’s decommissioned fire hoses. Their purpose:

“To rescue materials, transform them into luxury lifestyle accessories, and donate 50% of profits to charities related to those materials.”

This purpose shapes their products, partners, and profit distribution – and has rescued over 300 tonnes of material from landfill.

Y.O.U. Underwear’s mission is crystal clear:

“To improve access to education by donating underwear to vulnerable women and girls.”

They’ve donated over 34,000 pairs through their “Buy One, Give Two” model, proving that ethical fashion can be a force for dignity and empowerment.

Seacourt, a service business in the historically unsustainable printing industry, transformed itself around a bold purpose:

“To lead the world in sustainable printing.”

They now operate a net-positive business model, powered entirely by renewable energy, using waterless printing techniques and a closed-loop system that avoids landfill altogether.

Bates Wells, a UK law firm, was the first in the country to become a B Corp. Their commitment to stakeholder governance is written into their legal structure, aligning with a purpose to:

“Make a positive impact on people, society and the environment through our work, our people and our profit.”

And Volans, the sustainability think tank founded by John Elkington (credited with coining the “Triple Bottom Line”) exists:

“To catalyse systemic change to address the world’s biggest challenges – using the power of business as a force for regeneration.”

These businesses aren’t just compliant. They are deliberate – showing that good governance and authentic purpose provide the clarity, courage and consistency required in a complex world.

What the standards say:
The new standards require that companies govern for impact, including:

  • Align the company’s purpose with the intent of the B Corp legal requirement; contribute to a material positive impact on society and the environment.
  • Conduct regular stakeholder engagement and define what stakeholder governance mechanism fits well for your organization.
  • Ensure there is oversight of the company’s purpose, social and environmental impact and stakeholder considerations at the highest level of governance (sustainability embedded in incentive schemes, and performance targets). 
  • Identify any risk of greenwashing in the company’s marketing and communication and implement a responsible marketing and communication strategy.
  • Regularly and transparently communicate about the company’s social and environmental impact.
    More here: Purpose & Stakeholder Governance

2. Materiality: Knowing What Matters Most

Purpose and governance should be grounded in what matters most to the business and its stakeholders. The B Corp standards now require businesses to identify and prioritise their most material issues.

That doesn’t mean doing everything. It means doing the right things – with clarity, consistency and impact.

At UK for Good, we’ve recently published a free, practical Materiality Assessment Guide for SMEs. It helps leaders move from confusion to clarity, and from assumptions to action – building stronger strategies based on the values and impacts that truly matter.

3. Government and Collective Action: From Purpose to Power

Even the most purposeful business can’t change the world alone.

That’s why collective action – previously a gap in many ESG strategies – is now a vital part of the new B Corp standards. This area encourages businesses to move beyond individual sustainability efforts and take part in shaping the systems that define the rules of the game.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
– Margaret Mead

Tony’s Chocolonely doesn’t just sell ethical chocolate. It campaigns for systemic change in cocoa supply chains – advocating for EU legislation to eliminate child labour, and publishing an annual “Fair Report” to hold itself and others accountable.

Finisterre, the pioneering outdoor brand, works with scientists, fishers and fibre farmers to help shape regenerative supply chains and ocean-first policies. Their purpose, to inspire a love of the sea, translates into direct action and advocacy.

Volans again deserves mention here. Through their work on innovation and imagination, they collaborate with business leaders, policymakers and investors to catalyse bold, cross-sector change.

These are companies that understand their influence. They choose to engage with government, campaign for better policies, and collaborate with others, because the stakes are too high to go it alone.

What the standards say:
B Corps will be expected to:

  • Align internal values with external policy positions
  • Participate in coalitions and partnerships
  • Support policies and systems that benefit people and planet
    Explore this impact area here

Conclusion: Leadership for a Living Future

If we want a better future, one where business helps restore the health of people, communities and the planet, we need leaders willing to do things differently.

Leaders who understand that purpose isn’t a marketing strategy – it’s a responsibility.
That governance isn’t red tape, it’s a roadmap for meaningful accountability.
And that collective action isn’t a ‘nice to have’, it’s the only way we scale change.

At UK for Good, we support leaders who are curious, courageous, collaborative, committed and compassionate, and who are ready to create businesses that serve future generations.

Whether you’re a B Corp, on the journey, or just starting to question the status quo – we’d love to explore how we can support you.

Let’s build something worth inheriting.

Further reading and resources

Business NOT as Usual

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Business Not as Usual How to Future-Proof Your Business by Focusing on What Really Matters

What does it really take to lead a business in today’s world?

We’re living through an era of polycrisis: climate and nature emergency, rising inequality, shifting expectations, and economic uncertainty. According to recent research, almost half of business leaders doubt whether their organisations will still be viable in a decade. That’s a sobering thought.

But it’s also a powerful call to lead differently.

Because business as usual isn’t working. For people. For planet. Or for the long-term success of most companies.

On this Earth Day 2025, there’s no better time to pause, reflect, and begin. We believe the future belongs to those willing to step into Business Not as Usual – leading with courage, compassion, and clarity, and shaping businesses that genuinely serve future generations.

💡 So, where do you start?

When everything feels urgent, it’s tempting to try to fix everything. But that often leads to overwhelm, greenwashing, or wasted time and effort.

Instead, we encourage leaders to start by getting clear on what really matters – to their stakeholders, their strategy, and the world around them.

That’s where a materiality assessment comes in.

📍 What is a Materiality Assessment?

A materiality assessment is probably the most helpful tool you may never have used. Done well, it helps you identify which environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are most relevant to your business, and most important to your stakeholders.

It gives you clarity. It helps you focus. And it ensures your impact efforts are grounded in what truly matters.

It’s also now essential for SMEs working towards B Corp certification.

🧭 Purpose and Stakeholder Governance: A New Standard for Leadership

The updated B Corp standards place a much stronger emphasis on Purpose and Stakeholder Governance, and rightly so.

These changes reflect a growing recognition that business has a critical role to play in addressing today’s most pressing challenges. As B Lab puts it:

“A central requirement for companies is to consider their impacts on stakeholders when making decisions.”

This goes far beyond performative purpose statements. The new standards introduce practical, measurable requirements that aim to hardwire purpose into the way all businesses are led. They have been designed to ensure that businesses are ‘walking the talk’ – this is not a tick box exercise.

🔎 Key updates include:

✅ Materiality Assessments

Companies are now expected to regularly engage stakeholders in a materiality assessment process. If a business identifies issues beyond those already covered by the B Corp standards, it must define specific goals to address them.

This aligns with global frameworks such as:

✅ Responsible Marketing and Communication

With sustainability now a must, the risk of greenwashing is real. The new standards require businesses to develop a responsible marketing and communications policy, and a system to implement it.

This existing and upcoming changes such as:

✅ Purpose-Aligned Financial Decisions

The standards now also highlight the need for financial decisions like dividends or stock buybacks to reflect your commitments to people and planet.

This principle is reflected in PAS 808:2022, the British Standards Institution guide for purpose-driven organisations.

🌱 Why This Matters Now

The time for incremental change has past. We don’t have time for token gestures. The climate crisis is accelerating. Inequality is growing. Trust in business is fragile.

And businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, have a real opportunity to be part of the solution. To listen. To lead. And to shape a future that’s fairer, greener, and more resilient.

The leaders we love working with are already asking: 

“What legacy will we leave? What kind of ancestors are we becoming?”

📘 A Practical Guide to Get Started

If you’re ready to lead with more focus and impact, our new guide can help.

It’s written specifically for SMEs and walks you through how to conduct a meaningful materiality assessment – one that supports strategy, strengthens relationships, and aims to help future-proof your business.

👉 Download your free copy here

Let’s move beyond business as usual.
Let’s build businesses that matter.

Impact Leadership Programme

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Excited to announce the launch of the UK for Good Impact Leadership Programme (ILP).

The ILP is an interactive and inclusive in-person programme for leaders, consultants, strategists, and in-business sustainability advocates looking to advise on and apply the principles of good business.

Building on the success of our Leadership for Good Programme, ILP has been designed and delivered by me and Louisa Burman; two experienced Impact Consultants and B Leaders, and underpinned by the B Corp principles.

Whether you aspire to support a business to become B Corp certified or not, you will leave the programme with an understanding of how business can lead the change we need to achieve a sustainable future, and the skills to support your clients or business to drive that change.

We champion inclusivity and empowerment to those who face systemic barriers to business so we offer an equity discount of 40% to women and marginalised groups.

Places are strictly limited.

Priority applications open today.

Learn more and apply