When Greenheart founder Thomas Bourne first discovered B Corp in 2015, it felt like a revelation – a model where business could thrive while upholding social and environmental values. From his days as MD of a quirky organic food business to founding Greenheart, his journey with B Corp has shaped his understanding of business responsibility. As the community grows, the question for many leaders now is: is B Corp still relevant? In this piece, he shares why the movement is more crucial than ever and why it’s worth every CEO’s attention.
Back in 2015, the year B Corp came to the UK, I was Managing Director of an organic meatbox business going by the rather comical name of the Well Hung Meat Company. One day I opened one of our trade magazines and saw an article that piqued my interest.
It led me to the B Corp website, a platform that advocates for leaders driving the global movement for business as a force for good. I read the homepage and was hooked. It gave a voice to everything I felt about what the role of business should be. I’d long struggled with the tension between the established capitalist economic model and the social and environmental degradation it caused. I couldn’t see how the two could be decoupled, but all of a sudden there was a possible answer: an answer in terms of a blueprint for businesses wanting to continue making profit, but in a way that was fair, inclusive and sustainable – and also a movement of people who felt and thought the same way as me. I had to get involved.
From kitchen table to B Corp trailblazer
Greenheart was born in December 2015, originally as an invoicing vehicle for my early foray into independent consulting. One long night at the kitchen table, with the encouragement of a bottle of wine, I completed and submitted the B Impact Assessment (BIA) and in August 2017 Greenheart became a certified B Corporation; about the 125th in the UK and the first in our home county of Devon. The following day I won my first new B Corp client, Ossa, with whom I had a rich and rewarding relationship for a long time.
I became a ‘B Leader’ (people trained by B Lab, the non-profit organisation that administers B Corp, to take companies through the certification process) and added that to my offering. Demand was sparse back then, and I had to push quite hard to persuade companies to give it a go. But a trickle of early adopters (Riverford, World of Books and Vegetarian Express) turned into a stream, then a torrent once Covid struck and businesses were looking for meaningful ways both to fill their time and ‘build back better’.
Challenging the status quo; business for good
What started as a niche movement championing responsible business practices has grown into a global force for change. What a journey it’s been. Since B Corp’s inception in 2006:
- The global B Corp community now numbers nearly 10,000 companies across 105 countries, together turning over USD150bn and employing nearly 1 million people
- The UK has seen the fastest growth in B Corps anywhere in the world and now includes nearly 2,500 companies and 153,000 employees
- one in four consumers across major markets now knows what B Corp is.
B Corp under fire
B Corp had started challenging the status quo long before Trump 2.0 hit our screens and, as the stats above show, it is doing so effectively and on a worldwide scale.
Yet to some, B Corp feels under fire like never before. This year, organic soap brand Dr Bronner’s made a very public exit from the community, citing the “increasing certification of multinationals” as evidence that the integrity of the certification had been compromised. Their statement finishes: “We have not seen adequate, transparent, and timely action from B Lab to update the standards or certification process to address our concerns.”
As one of the longest standing and highest scoring B Corps in the world, Dr Bronner’s announcement sent a shock through the community. Others have followed, including (to my sadness) my own dog food supplier, Scrumbles.
Why B Corp is more relevant than ever
Against that context, wider uncertainty and undermining of sustainability initiatives led by the new US administration, there is understandable concern from senior leadership teams who maybe don’t feel the same urge to spend time and resources on initiatives like B Corp as they might previously.
If that’s a conversation happening in your business right now, here are three messages I offer to you and your stakeholders.
1. The time for B Corp is now
The Trump administration is leading the most egregious rollback of social and environmental commitments ever seen. Those of us who thought it might stop with the US’s inevitable withdrawal (again) from the Paris Agreement have been deeply shocked to see the systematic dismantling of much of America’s federal ‘impact improvement’ architecture, from diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), to the effective shutdown of overseas aid, to the wholesale sacking of climate scientists at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Sadly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, others are following the lead: the EU has long been at the cutting edge of environmental regulation but many have bemoaned its watering down with the release of its Omnibus proposal (read what we have to say on the changes here). Corporates like BP and Wells Fargo – to name but two of many – have performed spectacular u-turns on their net zero commitments. Some feel that these were companies never truly committed to change for whom Trump has provided a convenient get-out-of-jail-free card, absolving them from their riskier and more awkward greenwashing activities.
But this should not be an excuse for the rest of us to stop fighting for change. In the past we have seen business step in to show leadership where policymakers have failed, and it is possible this is a reason for the very rapid growth of B Corp in the UK under successive Conservative governments.
So my message to senior leaders here is clear: if you see your role as caring about anything beyond short-term profit: get on board. If you are thinking beyond the next four years (after which things will change back again): get on board If you want a better and more resilient business that is investing in the solutions of the future, not backing yesterday’s technology: get on board.
The community of businesses committed to sustainability needs to pull together in the face of some significant headwinds and B Corp is the best platform for those businesses.
2. B Corp isn’t perfect, but it’s still the best show in town
Much of the criticism levelled at B Corp, including by Dr Bronner’s, is that the standards aren’t strict enough. If companies like Nespresso can be allowed in, producing tons of unnecessary plastic waste a year, how can these possibly be ‘the highest standards of social and environmental impact’?
This is not a new argument; it’s been rumbling on for a couple of years now.
It is an argument for which I have some (well, a lot of) sympathy. I’ve worked with some of the most progressive, ethical businesses in the UK taking on risk and cost in order to pursue their purpose. They deserve to be differentiated from those who are still, fundamentally, doing bad.
But in response I’d say a few things:
- B Corp imperfection drives action: the B Corp standards aren’t perfect (show me a framework that is) and they are outdated (last reviewed in 2019). However, they engage businesses on sustainability efforts that they might never have considered otherwise. If not B Corp, then what? Who else will be marking your homework?
- Robust upgrade incoming: the framework is also about to get much more robust: those following B Corp even remotely closely will know that new standards are on the verge of being released. They represent a complete reboot that will raise the bar significantly and answer a lot of the criticism being levelled by the likes of Dr Bronner’s and Scrumbles.
- Inclusivity fosters change: this can’t be about large vs small, or pure vs impure; we cannot change the economic system by shutting anyone out and running an exclusive club. B Corp has cleverly and brilliantly built a framework that is adaptable to businesses across all sizes, sectors and markets. Show me another that does. We need EVERY business to be working to the highest standards of social and environmental performance while still delivering value returns for all stakeholders.
3. Make your own mind up
We are seeing a natural, healthy and necessary – albeit rapid and unpredictable – phase of evolution in the world of B Corp and positive impact right now. But this too will pass.
In the same way that the US is bigger than Trump, and the world is bigger than the US, B Corp is bigger than the small number of companies that have fallen out of love with it.
Don’t be swayed by a vocal minority, regardless of motive: this is not an exodus. There is no groundswell of anti-B Corp sentiment. In fact, quite the opposite: if you tune out the noise, B Corp Month is full of incredible stories of collaboration and opportunity.
I invite you to reflect on your own motivations and ambitions on impact.
No framework is the ultimate key to sustainable change and you probably know that already; what’s key is your leadership and commitment to a more resilient and future-fit business.
B Corp is an incredibly powerful framework to support that journey, and it’s about to get so much more powerful with the new standards (read our article about how to prepare for the transition). But this will only happen if it’s used together with strong leadership, clear vision and adequate resources.
Now is the time for unity, not division
As I’ve already said, I have sympathy for some of the arguments put forward by those leaving the B Corp community. I also respect, of course, any business who decides that it’s not for them – provided that decision is made in full possession of the facts and executed graciously and without malice.
But this is not the time to create or amplify rifts. It is the time to double down on the spirit of collaboration and interdependence for which B Corp is so well known and to back a movement that, even if imperfect, represents the type of business the world – and all its inhabitants – need to see.
Views from a CEO:
“There are a bunch of companies out there that have both the will and the way to be shining examples of what a B Corp certified company can aspire to be. We salute you. Then there is the middle majority, including companies with big footprints and reach. If each of these embraced the principles of B Corp, imperfect as they may be, the net gain for people and planet is sizable. Current B Corp principles shouldn’t be the exception, they should be the norm for business but with a built in imperative to continue to do better. To that end an inclusive environment that encourages big business to hold themselves accountable to 3rd party scrutiny of their sustainability credentials feels like the gateway to enduring change. To exclude them feels like a vote for maintaining the status quo.
giffgaff is in the connectivity business for the long term, creating a more sustainable strategy to achieve this is good business, good for people, planet and profit. As we always say at giffgaff, success is rooted in harnessing the power of people, challenging the established way and improving it. We don’t need B Corp certification to do this but it helps and gives me the confidence that we are hardwiring responsible decision making into the business for the long term.”
Let’s start the conversation!
What are your thoughts on B Corp’s role in today’s business world? Join the discussion over on LinkedIn.
