‘We’re committed to being a force for good’: Meet the ethical entrepreneurs doing business better

We know how bad business practice has a detrimental knock-on effect, from polluting the environment to contributing to keeping standards of living low. Good business practice, however, can produce endless ripples of positivity. That’s why ‘Generation B’ is doing things differently. A growing number of business leaders recognise that people and planet are just as important as profits. Meet some of these ethical entrepreneurs to find out how they are doing business better.

Sarah Jordan, Y.O.U. Underwear

Sarah Jordan got into underwear by mistake. “I’m definitely an accidental underwear ethical entrepreneur,” she says.

In 2016, she was having a “midlife running-a-marathon crisis” and was volunteering with the Uganda Marathon programme, supporting communities to set up small businesses to help grow the local economy.

“I was working with a group of female business owners, and they were making reusable sanitary pads and nappies from locally sourced materials for themselves, for the community and to sell,” she says. “It wasn’t working as a business and it turned out that was because so many of the local women and girls didn’t have underwear. You can’t use the product without something to put it in.”

Jordan understood the health implications but was shocked by the impact it had on education, with girls often missing a week of school each month just because, in Jordan’s words, “they didn’t have a pair of pants”.

“Though I’d worked for Oxfam and others, underwear just wasn’t on the radar in terms of the things that help long-term development,” she continues. “I thought, it can’t be that hard, so started to look at how you provide underwear, how you manufacture it, the supply chain, and discovered the problems with the fashion industry.”

Fashion is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions – as much as the whole of the EU – with 85% of textiles ending up in landfill.

“The more you unpack the fashion industry at every stage, the more destructive it is to people and planet,” Jordan says. “Cotton is better for you, particularly close to your skin, but conventional cotton is the world’s most polluting crop, requiring a huge amount of water and pesticides.”

Jordan didn’t want to be providing underwear while simultaneously making the world worse, so set up Y.O.U. Underwear, a company that only uses organic fair-trade cotton. They operate a buy-one give-one model for every pair sold. In recent years, instead of donations going abroad, they have been addressing an increasingly urgent need in the UK.

“The need here has definitely gone up,” Jordan says. “It’s gone up since Covid, since the cost of living crisis; it reflects all of these challenges in society. We now work with different organisations supporting refugees, women’s refuges, shelters and different homeless charities.”

The challenge for ethical entrepreneurs, Jordan says, is finding a balance between making a positive impact and running a business: “We can’t have impact if we don’t survive. You might buy a pair of pants from us because we’re donating a pair and that makes you feel good. But if they’re not well made you’re not going to buy another.”

In an industry that desperately needs to live by more sustainable standards, Y.O.U. Underwear is proud to be the highest rated fashion B Corp in the world. What does being part of the B Corp movement mean to Y.O.U.? “One of the biggest benefits is being part of the community,” Jordan says. “It’s very supportive. Everybody encourages each other, and it’s much more collaborative than competitive.”

It also helps vet potential suppliers. “Using B Corp as a kind of quality control is a bit like a first-date test – straight away you know they’re trying to be a good business. It makes for a really good intro.”

Cat Jones, Byway

Becoming a B Corp was essential for Cat Jones when she launched her own travel business.

“On day one I founded Byway, on day two I registered to be a B Corp,” she says. These two steps, taken at the start of lockdown in March 2020, were part of a much longer journey.

“I’ve never owned a car, so each year I take my family on a multi-stop holiday by train, bus, boat or bike, opting for locally owned accommodation and off-the-beaten-path locations.

“Friends would ask for my itineraries or join me on trips I’d planned, which left me with a nagging feeling that if only these trips were easier to plan and book, many more people would be holidaying flight-free.”

During her early career, Jones studied a sustainable development degree and became more aware of the climate crisis. When she later moved into investing in travel start-ups she identified a growing trend.

“I saw the rise of sustainability driving consumer decision-making; also the slow food movement, shop local, mindfulness – all sorts of themes that linked back to my own slower style of multi-stop travel,” she says.

“As the first Covid lockdown was announced and travel as we knew it went into freefall, I founded Byway to make the sorts of holidays I’d been doing for years, to share the joy of travelling by land and sea with the world once it opened back up. 

“We make it easy to discover and book personalised, sustainable trips, optimised for enjoyment and avoiding tourist hotspots.”

Travel makes up about 8% of global carbon emissions and overtourism is a growing concern as infrastructure strains under pressure and locals are priced out. The Byway mission to “make flight-free travel mainstream” fits naturally into the B Corp ethos.

“Many holiday bookers are looking for a way to enjoy seeing the world with a reduced environmental cost,” Jones says. “A B Corp certification is a great way for people to recognise a company that aligns with their beliefs.

“At Byway, we believe multi-stop, off-the-beaten-path holidays by land and sea are not only needed for the planet and the communities we travel to, but that they make for a deeper travel experience. We’re committed to using our business and product as a force for good in the world and we wanted to do that from the start.”

Cemal Ezel, Change Please

Big Issue knows Change Please has been a force for good since its inception. Back in 2015, it launched with a single coffee cart in Covent Garden. Its mission was to train people experiencing homelessness to become baristas. With backing from Big Issue Invest, the company grew. A decade on it supports hundreds of people to learn new skills, helping them turn their lives around. Founder and co-CEO Cemal Ezel has seen a rise in the number of businesses similarly motivated by creating a positive impact.

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen a marked shift in how businesses approach their role in society,” he says. “More and more companies are realising that they can’t just focus on growth. There’s a growing movement towards sustainability, ethical practices and social impact as businesses recognise these elements are deeply connected to long-term success. When businesses focus on positive impact, they often create more loyal customers and employees, which ultimately benefits their growth.”

As a community interest company (CIC), Change Please profits are directed to tackling homelessness, but that doesn’t mean they sacrifice success. “The key is aligning your business goals with a mission that resonates with customers and employees alike,” Ezel says.

Last summer Change Please became a certified B Corp. “It’s a powerful affirmation that what we’re doing is more than just a business model – it’s a movement,” Ezel says. 

“Joining the B Corp community has been an incredible experience. We’ve found a group of like-minded businesses who are all striving for the same goal: creating a better world through business. It’s refreshing to be part of a community that celebrates both success and impact.”

Over the last year, 214 people were welcomed into their barista training programme and Change Please offered over 11,000 hours of living-wage paid employment. Ezel has plans to celebrate the 10th anniversary of making ‘coffee that fuels change’ by reflecting on their progress so far.

“It’s an exciting milestone for us, and we’re looking forward to celebrating all that we’ve achieved over the last decade. We plan to mark the occasion by looking back on our journey and celebrating the lives we’ve impacted, but also by looking ahead at what more we can do.”

B Corp Month runs until 31 March.

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