B Corps – A force for Good
We were joined by Paul Hargreaves, MD of Cotswold Fayre and one of the founding B Corps in the UK.
Paul has long believed in using his business to create a better world both at home and abroad both for his people, other people and the planet. He has, for many years, invested his own time and resources into a children’s centre, schools and orphanage in one of the poorest parts of the world, Western Kenya.
In 2015 Cotswold Fayre became one of the 60 or so founding UK B Corporation. B Corps are companies that meet the highest standards of overall social and environmental performance and are the voice of business for the future as businesses realise more that their purpose is to be a force for good. Paul is currently a UK B Corp Ambassador and will use this book to spread this important message far and wide.
Certifying as a B Corporation goes beyond a product or service certification. It is the only certification that measures a company’s entire social and environmental performance.
The B Impact Assessment is rigorous. It evaluates how your company’s operations and business model impact your workers, community, environment, and customers. From your supply chain and input materials to your charitable giving and employee benefits, B Corp Certification proves your business is meeting the highest standards of verified performance.
Positive impact is supported by transparency and accountability requirements. B Corp Certification doesn’t just prove where your company excels now—it commits you to consider your impact on stakeholders now and in the future by building it into your company’s legal structure.
B Corps set the gold standard for good business and inspire a race to the top, creating performance standards and legal structures being used by thousands of other businesses around the world.
The B Corp movement is one of the most important of our lifetime, built on the simple fact that business impacts and serves more than just shareholders — it has an equal responsibility to the community and to the planet.
Rose Marcario, CEO, Patagonia WorksWhat to know more: https://bcorporation.net/about-b-corps
Paul also talked about the UNs Sustainable Development Goals
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries – developed and developing – in a global partnership. They recognise that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.
The SDGs build on decades of work by countries and the UN, including the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
The B Corp website provides guidance and an Action Manager to help you know where you are:
https://bcorporation.uk/welcome-sdg-action-manager-uk
