B Corp Certification in the UK: What is it?

Making a positive contribution to society by being, not the best in the world, but the best for the world, is the main mission of the 4,400 B Corp certified companies. Since 2006, the B Corp movement has carried out important work in raising awareness such as the importance of social and environmental action for businesses, and highlighting that companies don’t just focus on profits but can collectively do good for the planet.

What is the B Corp Certification meaning?

Awarded by the B Lab association, B Corp is an international certification aimed at companies with sustainable environmental and social practices. The main mission of the certification, business for good, is to certify companies that integrate extra-financial, social, and environmental objectives into their business model - which are often incorporated into their corporate social responsibility policies.

B Corp companies follow rigorous standards in five areas:

• Corporate governance;
• The environmental protection policy;
• Attention to workers;
• The relationship with its community and interest groups (stakeholders);
• The evaluation and guarantee that the purpose of the company is social.

How many B Corp companies are there?There are 4,400 B Corp certified companies in 77 countries around the world. More than 500 of those are based in the UK.

What are the advantages of being a B Corp company?

In addition to gaining international recognition, the B Corp certification has many advantages. According to B Corporation UK, theses are just some of the benefits a company can enjoy once it is certified:

• Improving impact through participation in working groups, and sharing best practice with other businesses in the B Corp network;
• Collaborating with other B Corps around the UK and worldwide and working together to find solutions to challenges such as how to combat climate change;
• Networking and attending exclusive events, all of which helps a company gain more visibility and promote its work;
• Alignment with the B Corp Community on global issues and a chance to work together on changing business practices that contribute to global warming and collectively reducing carbon emissions;
• Attracting and retaining talent, and engaging with employees on best practices for social and environmental solutions;
• Articulating the company’s mission externally to gain greater presence– to investors, clients, customers and suppliers.

Are there any disadvantages to being B Corp?The two main disadvantages of gaining the B Corp certification are the time and cost of doing so. For the certification to be approved, 5 areas of the business need to be analysed and scored - with 80 out of a maximum of 200 being the basic requirement. The areas are: Governance, Community, Workers, Environment and Customers. In addition to the £250 subscription fee, companies also have to pay an annual certification fee. That amount depends on annual sales. For those in the top bracket, they can expect to pay £50,000.

How to get the B Corp certification in the UK?

There is a five-step process to gain B Corp accreditation. The key steps are as follows:

1. Complete the B Impact Assessment (BIA): an online questionnaire in which the company’s social and environmental performance is assessed. The BIA includes around 200 questions and focuses on what the company does to have a positive impact on the environment, community, employees, and suppliers. A company needs to achieve a minimum score of 80 to progress to the next stage - which is very rare;
2. Improve the BIA score: because it is unusual to gain a score of 80 the first time a company completes the BIA, the next stage is to try and improve that score according to the feedback given. Measures to implement include adding team members, focusing on priorities and targets, and ensuring employees within the company have a solid knowledge of key issues through tools such as best practice guides;
3. Meeting legal requirements: Once approved, the company needs to amend and update legal documents such as the Articles of Association to reflect a commitment to make a positive impact on society and the environment. The legal documents then need to be filed with Companies House;
4. Evaluation and verification: Working alongside experts from B Lab, the next stage is to ensure all paperwork is in order and the company has taken the necessary steps within the organisation to meet the criteria to gain accreditation. The verification process can take up to three months;
5. Approval and fee payment: The final step is to be approved by B Lab and pay the annual certification fee.

Can any company apply to be B Corp?No. Companies can only apply to be B Corp certified if they are for-profit businesses and have been active for at least 12 months.

B Corp companies in the UK

B Corp first arrived in the UK in 2015. Since then, there has been a huge growth in companies looking to get certified. In just three years, more than 150 companies had been accredited, and since 2018, that number has risen to more than 500.

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According to B Lab UK’s Executive Director, Chris Turner, consumers are demanding companies take more responsibility for their actions not just on climate change but how society is shaped as a whole - something that could explain the increase in the number of businesses looking to get B Corp certification.

In an interview with thisismoney.co.uk, he said:

This is just the way we're going, the direction in which we're heading as a society and an economy. You look across the board and you've got consumers demanding a kind of purpose-led business, employees demanding the business they work is really clear about their values and they are as driven by that as much as they are by anything else. B Corp offers a way for them to do it in their own way.

Companies that have already gained B Corp certification in the UK come from a wide range of sectors and include all sizes, from large organisations to small. These are just some examples of those to call themselves B Corp companies:

• Coutts Bank: known as the Queen’s bank for having served every member of the royal family since George VI, Coutts gained B Corp status and has started carbon credits and green mortgages to its ultra wealthy clients;
• Brewdog: the Scottish drinks maker is the first carbon negative brewery in the world and donates 10% of its profits to its workers every year;
• Proper Snacks: became the first snack brand in the UK to become B Corp certified and source all their vegan snacks from 100% natural ingredients;
• Ocean Bottle: a company that makes sustainable and eco-friendly water bottles from plastic waste and recycling to prevent it ending up in our oceans;
• Bates and Wells: The first UK law firm to get B Corp accreditation due to its pro bono and status as a Living Wage employer.

The list of all B Corp certified companies is regularly updated on the certification website.