What is a B Corp?

B Corps are leading the shift in the systemic change to make businesses a force for good. The current economic system is focused on short-term profits and shareholder interests, which has resulted in a climate emergency, increasingly limited natural resources, and inequality. In contrast to what businesses have traditionally prioritised, B Corps aim to meet the interests of all stakeholders, not just shareholders. They focus on generating benefits for both people and the planet, rather than defining success as purely profit based.

B Corporations are verified by B Lab (non-profit organisation building the B Corp movement and certifying B Corps) as companies which meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. Not only does it prove a company has met these standards, but it also commits companies to continuously consider stakeholder impact in the long term by building it into the company's legal structure. The UK has become the fastest growing B Corp community in the world, having recently reached the milestone of 1,000 UK B Corps. Globally, there are over 6,000 B Corp accredited companies, across 159 industries in 87 countries.

How to become a B Corp certified business

One of the first steps to becoming a B Corp is to make the legal commitment by changing the corporate governance structure to be accountable to all stakeholders, not just shareholders. Businesses will need to amend their articles of association to treat all stakeholders equally and embed a triple bottom line approach.

Companies also need to complete a B Impact Assessment. This assesses performance across 5 different areas: governance, workers, customers, community, and environment. A scoring system is used to assign scores based on answers to each question, the majority of which are multiple choice. There are no costs or time limits involved in the initial impact assessment stage before submission.

A score of at least 80 points is required to become B Corp certified; once 80 points are achieved companies can submit their initial assessment for review (a submission fee will apply at this stage). The subsequent stages encompass evaluation, followed by the verification queue, and finally the actual verification process, which involves several review rounds lead by an assigned B Lab analyst. Each stage requires further input from the business, including provision of further information and documentation as required, as well as a review call during verification where companies are asked various questions about their submission.

If the final verified score is above 80 points, the company is asked to sign the B Corporation Agreement and Declaration of Interdependence and pay the annual certification fee. Transparency must be exhibited by allowing information about the company's B Impact performance to be made publicly available on their B Corp profile on the B Lab website.

Comply Direct's journey

At Comply Direct, we have always operated sustainably and are continually focused on being a business for good. Social responsibility to all our stakeholders, including our customers, suppliers, employees and the wider community is a key part of our business ethos, so certifying as a B Corp was a natural step to take.

Completing the B Impact Assessment helped to identify several areas where we could improve our performance. We used the report function on the B Impact Assessment portal to filter by the lower scoring questions and produced an action plan based on this. In preparation for the final submission and beyond, we subsequently implemented the following:

• Conducted a materiality assessment with all our stakeholders

• Accelerated our Net Zero ambition and undertook a project to move to a Net Zero office

• Introduced initiatives to incentivise employees to cycle to work and car share

• Increased our contributions to the local community via a charitable impact fund

• Reduced the pay gap between the highest and lowest paid employees

• Revised job descriptions to increase inclusivity

• Revised our supplier code of conduct to capture more requirements aligned with B Corp

A fundamental part of our journey was to reform our business vision, purpose, and values to align with the B Corp culture and aims:

• Vision – better, fairer, sustainable world for all

• Purpose – leads, inspires, and educates to positively impact society and environment

• Values – trust, commitment, respect, passion, and innovation

We're thrilled to have achieved certification in September 2022 and have already seen the benefits of being part of the B Corp community, from attending networking events with likeminded businesses, to receiving incoming business leads as a result of our B Corp status.

Author: Susanna Jackson PIEMA, Sustainability Consultant

Contact Comply Direct: marketing@complydirect.com / https://www.complydirect.com/