In September, the largest-ever gathering of B Corps took place at the inaugural Than Words Festival in Oxford. The organisers' aim was to harness the power of people using business as a force for good, put ideas into action and tackle the issues that matter.
Hoping to bring together like-minded changemakers, attendees included well known and respected brands like Cook, Octopus, Tony’s Chocolonely, The Living Wage Foundation, Elemis, House of Hackney and Finisterre. Mainstage speakers included Patrick Grant (Sewing Bee and founder of Community Clothing) Cynthia Davies (Co-Founder and CEO of Diversifying Group) and the fabulous Mary Portas who pulled no punches in telling her audience of ethical businesses: “Taking the moral high ground doesn’t work”.
Ethical business needs to become “desirable and sexy as well as deeply trusted”, Mary Portas told the gathering of 1,200 B Corps. “That’s what makes a Beautiful Business”. Certified B Corporations (B Corps) are companies verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. To achieve certification, companies must meet a score of at least 80 points in the B Impact Assessment which measures and manages the impact of a business on its workers, community, customers and the environment.
Additionally, to qualify, businesses have to ensure their corporate governance structure makes them accountable to all stakeholders and demonstrates transparency by publicly sharing their impact via their B Corp profile which is reevaluated every three years to ensure it meets evolving standards. Companies are expected to increase their score as they progress.
Amongst the other points made in her speech, Portas pointed out that the shift toward pre-owned items becoming more desirable had started in part because charity shops were stealing the ideas of luxury brands: “We are now seeing charity shop revenue surge 300% faster than fast fashion. It is starting from a low base, but it is only getting faster. Owning pre-owned is becoming a badge of honour.” She went on to caution, “But we need to make this bigger. Desire, sexy, doing good, trust and integrity together…Around the world, we are concentrating much more on what divides us than what brings us together.”
Other speakers over the course of a very busy two days included Chris Turner, executive director of B Lab UK and campaign director of the Better Business Act, and co-founder of the UK B Corp movement, Char Love. Together, they highlighted the continuing momentum of the purposeful business movement in the UK and revealed that the goal is that within 10 years, B Lab UK wants to see every business acting as a force for good.
New figures from B Lab UK demonstrate how the appetite for B Corp Certification has grown. A quarter of the 9.000 B Corps worldwide are based in the UK. These businesses span every size, sector and corner of the nation. Further, prioritising people and the planet alongside profit and financial interest is proven to benefit businesses for the better. B Corps are twice as likely to be carbon neutral than ordinary businesses and are almost two times as likely to perform pay equity analysis based on gender/race/ethnicity. Plus, polling commissioned by B Lab UK also detailed the increasing number of business names across the UK who believe that ethical business practices have had a positive effect on their company.
Welcoming the festival to the city of Oxford, Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, declared: “I am delighted that B Lab UK has chosen Oxford as the location for its very first Louder Than Words festival. Oxford is known internationally for its contribution to academia, but it is also a city focused on changing business for the better. A number of Certified B Corporations have their home in Oxford and are showing what’s possible when businesses are empowered to put people, the planet and profit on a more equal footing. It is a privilege to welcome some of the UK's most progressive business leaders to the city for what is an incredibly engaging event.”
For more information on the Louder Than Words, visit festival.bcorporation.uk/
