Hi everyone,
Well, we’re delighted to say that we officially celebrated our one-year anniversary last week. 365 days of driving forward better business: purpose, people, planet, and prosperity.
We’ve achieved some incredible things, truly remarkable (if we do say so ourselves), here are just some of them:
I completed the B Leaders Programme with B Lab, and we became B Corp Pending. We also welcomed our first four Founding Members: Sykes Holiday Cottages, NatWest, University of Chester and Holroyd Foundation.
We setup our small, but perfectly formed, Advisory Board; became a founding member of the Better Business Act coalition; and hosted our first Better Business Festival at Sykes Holiday Cottages HQ (next one in 2023).
We built a very special membership community of forward-thinking leaders (which is growing like topsy) and, as a result, rebranded from Cheshire for Good to UK for Good.
We also launched Shropshire For Good as our first ‘Region for Good’ led by Caroline Hall.
Along the way, we’ve collaborated with and been inspired by so many brilliant people, organisations and B Corp UK businesses that we’ve lost count; each one fully committed – like us – to shaping a better future.
Thank you to everyone who has supported, contributed, helped and championed us over the last year, we can’t tell you how much it means.
Here’s to the year ahead!
Best wishes,
Donna
Founder of UK for Good
WHY PURPOSE EQUALS PROSPERITY
Lead with purpose: win hearts, trust and clients
Did you know?!
If consumers believe that a brand has a strong purpose, they are:
– 4 times more likely to buy from the company
– 6 times more likely to protect it in the face of a misstep/public criticism
– 4.5 times more likely to champion and recommend it
– 4.1 times more likely to trust it
Source: Zeno
Purpose is a winner, in life and in business.
Clearly defining ‘why we do this’ gives us a head start against those who are driven solely by profit.
As you can see from the results of Zeno’s Strength of Purpose Study (above), purpose attracts the hearts, minds and trust of your clients – and clients-to-be – so much so that they are willing to stand up to criticism of your brand.
Now that’s powerful.
FIND YOUR PURPOSE AND RUN WITH IT
Define, shape and deliver
Now’s the time to define your purpose – if you haven’t already – and lead with it. If you’re still not convinced, or are but you’re not too sure how to begin, these articles should do the trick:
1. ‘Purpose is everything’ – Deloitte
The ‘nature of business’ is being changed by ‘brands that authentically lead with purpose.’ These ‘companies witness higher market share gains and grow three times faster on average than their competitors, all while achieving higher workforce and customer satisfaction.’
2. ‘Creating a purpose-driven organisation’ – Harvard Business Review
Encourage ’employees to bring their smarts and energy to work’ and embrace the bigger picture: a framework to build the brand you want.
3. ‘Y2Y – a better class of business’ – Donna Okell
Why to Why (Y2Y): clients, employees, businesses, and investors are actively seeking out businesses that have a clear purpose. How is this influencing the business and charity sectors?
OUR SOLUTION
Change is coming. Change is happening.
Our purpose is clear:
Inspire, inform, and enable businesses to better understand and improve their impact on people and planet so that they can grow successfully and sustainably.
We put purpose, people, planet, and prosperity at the heart of everything we do: share our passion, share our members’ ingenuity, and be part of something bigger than any of us. We’ve achieved so much already and we’re just getting started.
And that’s not all…
We plant 10 trees for every new member who joins UK for Good; our way of saying thank you for your commitment to shaping a cleaner, greener, fairer future for all.
Please join us and help us make a difference
What our members say:
“Donna is a B Leader and a role model whose vision has ignited a change in how I see the world of work. The focus of the principles of the triple bottom line and using business as a force for good is an inspiration and completely on point to the wider challenges we are facing today.
“Via Cheshire For Good, Accelerator programmes and inspired festivals, Donna has created pathways that make it easy for us all to do much better in business and its impact on the world.”
Caroline Hall, eKal Solutions and Shropshire for Good
UPCOMING PROGRAMMES
Dates for your diary
1 September – UK for Good Members’ Meeting
Expert speaker Donald Moore, CEO of One+All – a 100% employee-owned UK B Corp – will share his B Corp journey to inspire, inform and enable us to better understand and improve our impact. Expect some fabulous ideas!
Our thriving membership community meets once a month online. It’s a great way to connect with and learn from like-minded business leaders.
Apply to join us here.
6 September – B Corp Accelerator
You may have noticed more Bs around the place…no, not the stripy ones 🐝 B stands for B Corp, and we are experiencing much higher demand from businesses who want to embark on their B Corp journey.
Yes it’s intentionally difficult, but it is very achievable, especially with the right support. Our B Corp Accelerator is a cost- and time-effective way to help you navigate your B Corp journey from the very beginning all the way through to submitting your Assessment.
Registration is now open for our next cohort.
Learn more here.
“It’s been a fascinating exercise for us all. It turns out we are already doing many of the right things, but we can also do so much more (and Kathy has been brilliant in driving the whole thing).”
Richard Burnett, Commercial Director, H M Legal, speaking on our B Corp Accelerator Programme