Embracing a kinder economy: the transformative power of B Corps

Businesses play a huge role in all our daily lives. They provide the goods and services that we rely on, and they pay the wages we need to purchase them. In turn, citizens wield power over these businesses – every time we move jobs, save, spend money or recommend products, the influence of our collective choices can determine the fortune of a business.

Despite this, most people won’t feel business is there to serve us or nurture the communities and environments that we value. Indeed, far from expecting business to do the right thing, when we read the headlines, it’s hard to see business as anything other than a problem. Instead of contributing to solving the issues of climate breakdown and social inequality, business is often the main character in stories without happy endings.

… ‘Business as usual’ is failing us. This is not what we want, and businesses know it’s not what we want.

And the reminders keep coming. Take the Post Office, which prioritised the needs of its main shareholder (the government) at the expense of its employees. Then there’s P&O firing 800 employees and BP and Shell failing to meet climate pledges. Examples such as these show that ‘business as usual’ is failing us. This is not what we want, and businesses know it’s not what we want.

So more and more businesses are making promises. They may be promises about a specific product, or simply be promises to care. This intention should be applauded. Not only are they attempts to do better, but they mirror a reflection of what we all want – a shift in culture to a world where business plays a more positive role in our society.

The question we must all answer is how to translate this desire, and our influence as employees, consumers, savers and investors, into deliberate and informed action. And the first step in this journey is to understand which businesses really mean it. How do we identify the businesses that really care, those that are walking the talk when it comes to positive impact?

There are now over 8,000 B Corps spread across 92 countries – and the UK has one of the largest and fastest-growing communities of B Corps in the world with 1,900 certified businesses.

That’s where B Corps come in. B Corps are businesses that balance purpose with profit. They are certified for having a positive impact on their employees, customers, local communities and the environment. This doesn’t mean B Corps are perfect – no business has no negative impacts – but by committing to continuous improvement and recertifying against B Lab’s evolving standards every three years, they are striving to make progress on the journey to redefining business norms. B Corps are held accountable to this by the fact each one is required to change their legal articles – also known as their corporate governance – so that an expanded duty of care to consider the interests of all stakeholders is embedded in decision making.

There are now over 8,000 B Corps spread across 92 countries – and the UK has one of the largest and fastest-growing communities of B Corps in the world with 1,900 certified businesses. B Corps you might have heard of include Ton’y Chocolate, Patagonia, Jude’s Ice Cream, Emma Bridgewater, Finisterre, and Chloé. You can get to know some others in the B Corp community on the following pages. B Corp Month is a moment to celebrate these businesses. Every March, the global B Corp community comes together to tell the world about their successes, failures, ideas and inspiration on the journey to better business.

Under the campaign theme “This Way Forward” B Corps will mark the month by highlighting how they’re continuously improving to create more inclusive workplaces, deliver more ambitious climate strategies, and respond to the world’s ever-changing issues.

And we’ve seen some brilliant examples of B Corps doing just that. Whether it’s Faith in Nature or House of Hackney appointing Mother Nature to their board of directors, Ace & Tate taking accountability for their mishaps on the journey to purpose-led business or ADLIB Recruitment drastically increasing their B Corp score at recertification by introducing an initiative to ensure the tech industry is inclusive to working mothers and women, it is these stories and actions that remind us why the change we are creating is so meaningful, and so needed.

B Corp Certification isn’t a destination. It’s just the beginning. We’ll never stop looking for new ways to grow our impact.

B Corp Certification isn’t a destination. It’s just the beginning. We’ll never stop looking for new ways to grow our impact. For us, there’s one direction and one direction only. And that’s forward. We want every business to step up and become a part of the solution. That’s why we’re campaigning for the Better Business Act – a change to the Companies Act that would see all businesses in the UK align their interests with those of wider society and the environment.

So use B Corp Month as an opportunity to look for and engage with businesses that are demonstrating an authentic and meaningful commitment to improve. By supporting B Corps, you are calling for the change you want to see in the world; one in which we hold businesses to a higher bar of accountability for their impact. You are paving the way towards a kinder economy one purchase, job application, and investment at a time.