What is a B Corp, and what does it mean to be part of the movement?

Written by Marketing

Next month is B Corp Month, a month that celebrates the work of certified organisations and what it means to be part of the movement. Despite there now being over 900 B Corps in the UK, across 58 industries with over 50,000 employees [1], many people still don’t know what a B Corp is and what it means to align with the B Corp status.

Certified B Corporations are a new kind of business that balances purpose and profit and considers the impact of their decisions on their workers, clients, suppliers, community, and the environment.

Being a B Corp is a clear sign to all internal and external stakeholders that your business is an ethical enterprise. Gaining B Corp status means that you are committed to treating people, communities, and the environment as they should be treated: respectfully, sustainably, and ethically. It is also about showing more than just a keen sense of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) but proving this via credible means that can be trusted.

Josh Matthews, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, said of MASECO’s motivations for becoming B Corp certified, “we wanted to become a B Corp because we wanted our values to shine through in what we did every day (including in business) as opposed to just in our personal lives. It was also a signal to clients and the broader world that we strive to manage and operate ethically and sustainably and demonstrate that this is at the heart of what we do. In addition, it influenced the way we invested and gave money to charities while promoting the standards of accountability that being a B Corp member represents. For example, for every client we take on, we make charitable donations to help feed orphans in Africa, buy mosquito nets for people in at-risk areas and help inoculate people from river blindness and other diseases.
Before becoming a B-Corp, we were already big believers in the philosophy of doing well by doing good. Rather than saying, ‘we should become a B Corp because it seems the right thing to do, let’s make all these changes to fit that,’ it was more like we said, ‘we are already aligned with these values, this is who we are, and it makes sense that we are a part of the movement.'”

MASECO will be holding its first Balancing Purpose and Profit webinar for clients and staff in celebration of B Corp month. The topic of the conversation for the webinar is around ESG factors, specifically with businesses and government sectors’ setting the direction for the future. We will also be promoting environmental awareness days throughout the month, both internally and externally, including Global Recycling Day and World Water Day.

[1] https://bcorporation.uk/