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Is it time to join the B Corps?

10 May 2024

Created in 2006 with the mission to inspire and enable people to use business as a force for good, B Lab is a non-profit network that aims to transform the global economy to benefit all people, communities and the planet.

Certified B Corporations, or B Corps, are companies that have been verified by B Lab as meeting high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. There are now over 5,000 B Corps in 84 countries and covering 157 industries. It is said to demonstrate a willingness to measure impacts, identify opportunities for improvement, and implement changes to drive incremental change over time. 

Recent research undertaken by B Labs UK showed that B Corps out-perform their UK peers across several business metrics. Compared to data from surveys of UK SMEs, it found that B Corp SMEs have, on average faster growth in turnover and employee headcount and higher expectations about future growth; greater levels of employee retention, engagement and diversity; more robust governance processes; greater focus on civic and community engagement; and higher levels of innovation. 

The goal is for B Corps companies to keep improving their impact over time. Throughout 2022, when it was time to renew their B Corp Certification, 63% increased their impact score. Today there are over 1,700 B Corp certified businesses in the UK. Sustainable and ethical chocolate brand, PLAYin CHOC, is one of the most recent to join the ranks. 
PLAYin CHOC is one of the few chocolate brands to manufacture in its own Salsa-certified artisan facility in the UK. The chocolate is made from fairly traded, organic, single-origin Peruvian cacao criollo beans and sourced from small family farms. Due to the origin of the cacao that PLAYin CHOC sources, its supply chain is slave free, child labour free and animal labour free. 
 
Commenting on its B Corp certification, Dominic Simler, Managing Director at PLAYin CHOC, said: “People increasingly want reassurance that ethical businesses really are practising what they preach. It’s a measure of how businesses care about the people that work within their ecosystem as well as the whole planet.”

British soft drinks brand, Cawston Press has also recently announced its certification as a B-Corporation, achieving the status with a score of 85.3. The certification builds on the company’s commitment to do further good for people and the planet, which has been the driving force behind the brand’s 'Pressing for Better' sustainability strategy. 

Steve Kearns, Managing Director at Cawston Press, said: “We began our journey to B-Corp certification two years ago, driven by a team-wide desire to demonstrate our impact in a structured and quantifiable way, and are proud to now be part of a broader community of like-minded businesses that recognise and act on the need to increase efforts to be better for people and the planet.”


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