B Corp accreditation has long been seen as a benchmark for environmental and ethical business practices, but with all the economic and geo-political upheaval in recent years, is there still a place for it in the new world order?
The chief executive of B Lab UK, Chris Turner, said that while some businesses may be tempted to roll back on issues like sustainability, B Corps have made clear commitments on issues like climate change.
Turner added that there are now over 2,600 B Corps in the U.K., which is the largest and fastest-growing B Corp community in the world, in an interview.
He said recently published data from B Lab UK’s 2024 brand awareness survey revealed a high recognition across the U.K.
The survey also found almost two-thirds (63%) of respondents saying they use the certifications to help them make decisions on which businesses to buy from or work for, up from 58% in 2023 and 56% in 2022.
The survey also found nearly three-quarters (74%) of the public agree or strongly agree that consumers can impact environmental sustainability through their purchases.
And around two-thirds (65%) felt the same about impacting social change.
“We also have more than 3,000 companies backing our Better Business Act campaign,” he added.
“Momentum in the U.K. is still very strong, which is clearly a positive sign.”
Turner said B Corps can act as a “counter-narrative” because they have a clear purpose and are likelier to stay the course, while others roll back on some initiatives.
“There are also some businesses out there who are still doing the same work, but not talking about it as much, or changing some of the language they use,” he told me.
“I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing,” he added. “The most important thing is the work gets done and the positive impact gets delivered.”
Turner said the B Corp movement has seen rapid growth in the last few years, with many brands telling a compelling story about why they are adopting business models with a purpose.
“At the same time, the story that’s been playing out alongside that momentum is the need to raise the bar for purposeful business,” said Turner.
“The urgency of the challenges we face means our whole mission as a movement is about how B Corps can lead the way and show what businesses can, and should, be doing.”
“What’s really exciting about where we are now as a movement is how those things are coming together. It will be vital over the next couple of years, as all B Corps move on to B Lab’s new standards and we bring new businesses into the movement, to continue going forward and making the progress needed.”
Tribe Impact Capital’s co-founder and chief impact officer, Amy Clarke, said that sustainability has always faced a certain degree of resistance and has previously had to pivot and adapt as circumstances change.
Clarke added that it feels like sustainability is in another “adaptation phase” at the moment, but one that she hopes will address the root of the world’s challenges.
“This is only going to further help sustainability evolve into what it really should be about, which is the common good,” she told me.
“And what the B Corp standards have done is say ‘we have this incredible program of assessment in place that has really helped us communicate to the broader world what businesses which trade in the currency of forces for change look like’.”
“This is fundamentally about who you are. It has turbo-charged our credibility and enabled us to attract new employees and clients, who have seen we have not bowed at the first sign of trouble and, if anything, we have stood up even taller.”
And the global B Corp impact manager at Intrepid Travel, Rochelle Turner, said the B Corp movement helps create a framework for businesses and identify opportunities to make improvements, in an interview.
Turner added that it also gives businesses like Intrepid Travel the opportunity to be part of a wider community, highlight how you can be a successful business and positively create purpose and impact.
She said a recent staff survey showed that more than four-fifths (80%) of its staff say they like working for a company with a purpose, adding that happy staff mean higher retention rates and happy customers.
“We are a better business because we have followed many of the principles of the B Corp framework, and also through thinking about how we operate in all the different aspects we do to create positive impact in our business,” Turner told me.
