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 that B Corp certification is a journey to better business and not a destination. Like all other B Corps that we know, we’re in this to continuously improve and because being a B Corp aligns with our pre-existing values.
We first became interested in B Corp certification in 2014 when we were asked to set up B Lab in the UK and Luke Fletcher helped write the legal test for UK B Corps. We knew this was a great way for us work within a framework that aligned not only with our values, but encouraged us to go further and work harder to create a better way of doing business. We were the first UK law firm to certify as a B Corp and we’re currently waiting to hear the outcome of our 4th recertification. We have always been a firm focused on having a wider positive impact from our early days working with grassroots organisations like London Gay Switchboard to secure charitable status for the LGBT+ community in 1974, to more recent work supporting charities and others to divest from fossil fuels via the Butler-Sloss judgement.
We’ve always wanted to go beyond business as usual, that’s why we are mindful of the clients that we work with, keep a track of our own social and environmental impacts, and actively seek out innovative legal work. We’re a business that cares about people, profit and the planet equally.
If you are too, check out our B Corp month activities and events and talk to us if you want to find out more about how to go beyond business as usual.