B Corp

Creating a ‘Speak Up’ culture in purpose-driven businesses: The benefits of an effective whistleblowing framework

Bates Wells convenes the Impact Counsels’ Forum, a space for senior counsel working within impact investors, B Corps, and other purpose-driven businesses. The forum discusses the ‘impact angles’ on legal and practical issues faced by in-house legal teams. Recently, the forum explored the benefits an effective whistleblowing framework and how that can support an open …
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Purpose & Impact: your roundup | June

Welcome to your roundup – a monthly selection of news hand-picked to keep you up to date with what’s going on for businesses and investors working to create positive impact. In this roundup you can find out what’s new in the B Corp, social enterprise, and impact investing spaces, amongst others, collated under helpful headings. …
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B Corp acquisitions: Preserving purpose through a change of ownership

For B Corps and other kinds of purpose-driven business, having an embedded purpose-beyond-profit provides a compass in times of change. However, some changes need to be considered carefully, to ensure the longevity of that purpose and, for B Corps, the maintenance of certification. This is most pronounced when a sale of the business is in …
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Getting granular about our science-based target

Greenwashing is a growing risk and these days everyone seems to be making claims about their environmental credentials. So, in this world of increasing misinformation and fake news, how can we (and others) be sure that claims about carbon reduction are legitimate? Being open and transparent about green claims will bring us very quickly to …
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Green claims, greenwashing and green hushing: Developing a strategy for purpose-driven businesses to talk about impact

Bates Wells convenes the Impact Counsels’ Forum, a regular meeting of senior lawyers and other leaders working at purpose-driven businesses including B Corps and impact investors. Recently, we were delighted to be joined by Debra Sobel, Co-Founder and CEO at Verity London, who set the frame for discussion of the regulatory framework around ‘green claims’ …
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Our B Corp recertification results: a commitment to being, and doing, better

In August we received the news from B Lab that their extensive verification checks had been completed and our third recertification as a B Corp was successful with a confirmed score of 140.2. This is an increase of more than 23 points since we last recertified in 2021 and puts us amongst the top scoring …
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Living out the B Corp commitment: Supporting the board through B Corp governance training

There are now more than 2,000 B Corps in the UK, currently the second biggest B Corp community in the world. This is no small achievement given the fundamental commitment these businesses must make to pursuing positive impact as well as profit: B Corp certification includes requiring UK businesses to amend their constitutions to adopt …
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Our Impact Counsels’ Forum

Bates Wells’ Impact Counsels’ Forum is for general counsel, senior lawyers and other leaders within B Corps, impact investors and purpose-driven businesses of different kinds in our network. The forum meets around 3 times a year, creating an informal peer-to-peer forum for sharing ideas and best practice and to discuss the ‘impact angles’ on key …
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Protected beliefs in the workplace

The Equality Act 2010 applies to many different life areas that affect B-Corps, particularly as employers and service providers. What can we learn from recent legal cases about how the Act prohibits direct and indirect discrimination, harassment and victimisation relating to philosophical beliefs? The law recognises an increasing number of philosophical beliefs as protected, and …
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Weaving the threads together: key insights from our panel discussion on sustainable fashion

On the 5 March, we were joined by Kresse Wessling (co-founder of Elvis & Kresse), Thea Cooper (Senior Business Manager of anti-slavery charity Unseen UK) and Safia Minney (founder of Fashion Declares) at our panel discussion exploring the potential for the fashion industry to be more sustainable as part of our B Corp month celebrations. …
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Setting our science-based target

We have been working hard to reduce our carbon footprint for over a decade now. As a city-based professional services firm, our direct emissions are relatively low, but we are determined to do our bit to reduce any negative impact that we have on the planet and to encourage others to do the same. In …
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B Corp Month UK: Our B Corp journey so far

Happy B Corp month! Next year will mark our 10th anniversary as a B Corp and we’re delighted to see how the movement in the UK has grown from the 60 founding B Corps in 2015 to more than 1,900 with over 81,000 employees. This year the theme is this way forward, highlighting the fact …
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