On the final day of B Corp Month, 31st March 2023, I was absolutely thrilled to hear the news that UK for Good had been awarded B Corp Certification.
When I set up UK for Good in 2021, I used the B Impact Assessment (BIA) as the foundation of the new business. As a result, UK for Good (then Cheshire for Good) became a Pending B Corp.
Pending B Corp is a temporary status for start-ups with less than 12 months of operations who are looking to incorporate B Corp principles into their business before they can qualify for full B Corp Certification.
It’s a great way to start as you mean to go on, and to show your stakeholders that your new business is making a formal commitment to acting as a force for good.
Once awarded Pending B Corp status, a business has 12 months to apply for full B Corp Certification. And that’s what we did at UK for Good.
What does becoming a B Corp mean to us?
Right from the get go we were committed to walking the talk and embarking on our B Corp journey meant that we were leading by example.
The world is changing at a pace and there is an ever-increasing opportunity and responsibility for all businesses to step up and shape a better future for our children and future generations.
For me, the most important lessons I have learned from our B Corp journey so far are:
👉 B Corp Certification is NOT a simple tick-box exercise! The BIA is intentionally difficult, and considers the impact of your business across all areas of strategy and operations; that means governance, workers, communities (including supply chain), environment, and customers.
👉 B Corps are independently verified by Standards Analysts at B Lab (the not-for-profit governing body of B Corp) – this means that the evidence you provide to support your BIA is scrutinised independently, and for me this is why B Corp is so highly respected across the globe.
👉You can FEEL B Corp in the culture of the business – transparency, accountability and authenticity are at the core of our business, of our clients’ businesses, and of the B Corp Movement. B Corps amend their Articles of Association to demonstrate their legal accountability to ALL stakeholders as well as shareholders.
👉 The Movement matters – being part of the B Corp Movement matters in ways I don’t think I really fully understood. The B Corp Movement is inclusive, collaborative, supportive, and innovative. The #wegobeyond theme of B Corp Month in March really sums up the Movement. In my very long working career I haven’t really experienced anything quite so special.
👉 Points matter, and impact matters more – Scoring 109.8 for our first Certification felt incredible. Unless you have been through the B Impact Assessment it’s difficult to appreciate just how hard-won each and every one of those points are. However, it’s the challenge of continually improving our impact that is THE most important focus for us now.
So, as we begin the next chapter of our B Corp journey we will explore how we can further improve our impact on our people, communities and the environment. And that means thinking about ways we can best support our UK for Good members and clients to better understand and improve their impact.
The world needs business at its best more than ever before and our mantra at UK for Good will continue to be #wegobeyond.
It’s time to go beyond and be the change; we hope you’ll join us.