Welcome to your roundup – a monthly selection of news hand-picked to keep you up to date with what’s going on for businesses wanting 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. We’ll also share links to resources and information that our expert lawyers have selected as being useful to you and your networks.
Jump to:
Corporate purpose
The Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL) has published a new tool, Place-based Doughnut Design for Business, for running workshops that bring local businesses together to engage collectively with the ‘Doughnut Economics’ model, focusing on a particular place. The workshops aim to help local business communities identify ways to become regenerative and distributive in their strategies, practices and impacts, and the necessary changes to implement those ideas. For more, DEAL has also published some new case studies of businesses that have implemented regenerative and distributive strategies, such as UK and Netherlands-based circular economy business United Repair Centre (here) and steward-owned German business Stapelstein (here).
Why Startups Are Better Businesses. Andy Fishburn, Managing Director of Virgin StartUp, speaks to Forbes about the business case for purposeful business, what big corporations could learn from purpose-driven businesses, how Virgin StartUp is supporting founders, and Virgin’s support for the Better Business Act campaign.
The pandemic slowed the world to a crawl – but social enterprise sped up. Professor Richard Hazenberg and Dr Claire Paterson-Young from the University of Northampton wrote for Social Enterprise UK to outline their research, which indicates that UK social enterprise thrived during the pandemic, despite its challenges (full research paper). The research analysed the financial performance and social impact of 1,507 social enterprises, both before and during the peak years of the pandemic. The authors found that the inherent focus on both financial and social missions aided social enterprises’ responses during the pandemic.
B Corps
B Lab UK reported that B Corps are outperforming ordinary businesses, including across measures of revenue growth, talent acquisition and social and environmental impact. The article notes that increases in average turnover and employee headcount were higher for SME B Corps than the national average in 2023-2024, and that the UK B Corp community is now the largest in the world, up 40% on last year with over 2,400 certified businesses. For more, B Lab UK has also published a delicious short case study outlining UK business Divine Chocolate’s co-ownership model.
For a European perspective on the growth of the B Corp movement, B Lab Europe announced the beginning of B Corp Month and shared that the European B Corp community has grown 24% in 12 months, with over 2,100 certified B Corps operating across 31 countries and employing more than 370,000 people.
When the professional becomes personal: balancing expectations for the incoming workplace generation. For B Corp month, Bates Wells’ Paul Seath and Thérèse Rankin consider how expectations for the workplace are changing and share some examples of progressive workplace policies, as well as highlighting how these can intersect with regulation in areas such as equality law.
Climate & biodiversity
Too Hot to Think Straight, Too Cold to Panic: Landing the Economic Case for Climate Action with Decision Makers. Boston Consulting Group, in collaboration with Cambridge Judge Business School and the University of Cambridge’s climaTraces Lab, has published a new report finding that a 3°C warming scenario could reduce global cumulative economic output by 15%-34% by 2100 (press release). However, the research also found that investing just 1-2% of global GDP by 2100 could limit warming to below 2°C, and that the net cost of inaction is 11-27% of cumulative GDP. The report considers the key barriers to action for a 2°C limit and 5 key areas for engagement.
Angela Terry, CEO of environmental education charity One Home, wrote for the Aldersgate Group, a sustainability-focused network of UK businesses, NGOs, professional institutes and academic institutions, about the urgent need for a public information campaign on mitigating climate change, as the missing piece in increasing resilience and reaching net zero. Terry notes that, according to the government’s Independent Review of Net Zero, 32% of emissions reductions up to 2035 require decisions by individuals in favour of low-carbon products and services, but that 73% of the public feel they are not well-informed, and Terry argues that business has a role in providing the necessary consumer education.
The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has published for consultation an initial draft of its revised Corporate Net-Zero Standard V2 (consultation page). The consultation draft contains several proposed amendments to the existing standard, including new options for addressing scope 3 emissions reductions, and aims to encourage more businesses to adopt net zero targets.
The deadline for the government to publish its new climate action plan, on how the UK will meet its legally binding climate targets, has been pushed to October 2025. Last year, the High Court ruled that the UK’s Carbon Budget Delivery Plan did not meet the relevant legal obligations, following claims by Friends of the Earth and Client Earth, and ordered that the government publishes a new plan.
Having continued negotiations in Rome, the parties of COP16 (which began last year in Cali, Columbia) have reached agreement on a strategy of mobilizing at least $200bn a year by 2030 to help close the biodiversity finance gap, and on other matters such as monitoring processes for tracking progress in meeting global nature targets. The negotiations in Rome also saw the launch of the Cali Fund that aims to leverage funding from the private sector, with companies that make commercial use of data from genetic resources in nature being expected to contribute to the fund. For more, the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership commented on the negotiation’s outcomes.
Impact investing
The City of London Corporation, in collaboration the with British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (BVCA), Impact Investing Institute and Better Society Capital, has published Delivering Government missions using impact-led venture capital and private equity, a report highlighting how impact-led investment could play a central role in achieving the UK Government’s five key missions of economic growth, NHS improvement, clean energy, safer streets and breaking down barriers (press release). The report provides case studies and 10 targeted recommendations covering measures for capacity building, deal flow and embedding social impact into decision-making.
The Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth at the University of Zurich has published an Investor’s Guide to Systemic Investing, an approach to investment that uses systems thinking to create value through portfolios of ‘synergistic’ investments, in coordination with other investors and stakeholders, and bridging between impact investing, philanthropy, and sustainable finance. The guide introduces the concepts of systemic investing, with case studies and recommendations on how to get started with this investment approach. For more, Impact Europe reflected on discussions at the Systemic Investing Summit this month in London, drawing on insights from Sarah Teacher, Co-CEO of the Impact Investing Institute, and Laura Boyle, Principal of Snowball Impact Investment, on systemic investing and the role of private wealth in systems change.
UK social impact investor Better Society Capital and Thrive Renewables plc, a renewable energy investment company, have announced Community Energy Catalyst, a new initiative to mobilise £40 million for community renewable energy projects. The initiative will make investments ranging between £0.5 million and £30 million, targeting individual late-stage development projects, supporting them to advance through to construction, commissioning and operation.
Social impact investor Resonance has published an annual impact report on its homelessness property funds, outlining the impacts on the people housed and recommendations for future work with housing partners, but also the role of institutional investors, such as pension funds and Local Authorities, in tackling a regional housing crisis.
NextEnergy Capital, a renewable energy investor, has announced that its biggest private UK fund focussed on UK solar projects, ‘NextPower UK ESG’, has reached a final close at £733 million, surpassing its target of £500 million set in 2021. Investors in the fund include local UK government pension pools and international investors, and the National Wealth Fund was a cornerstone investor with £250 million of match-funding. The fund is described as an Article 9 Fund under the EU SFDR, aiming to provide measurable impact and transparent reporting.
Social enterprise
Stephen Lloyd Awards – Fuelling Innovative Change. The 2025 Stephen Lloyd Awards are now open! The Awards are on the lookout for bold changemakers with creative solutions to everyday societal or environmental challenges. If you, or someone you know, has an early-stage project tackling a current issue in a new and impactful way, this is the perfect opportunity to bring it to life. Finalists receive £2,500 and winners are awarded £25,000 to accelerate their idea, alongside practical support. Open to charities, social enterprises, and social entrepreneurs, apply today or encourage someone in your network to take this opportunity. Entries close at midnight on 14 May. Please visit www.stephenlloydawards.org or get in touch with Mona Rahman at [email protected]. The Stephen Lloyd Awards are an initiative of the Bates Wells Foundation, Char Reg No 1150321.
Social Enterprise UK describes the newly-formed All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for the Social, Cooperative and Community Economy (registration page and list of members), a cross-party group run by and made up of members of the House of Commons and the Lords. The new APPG aims to support a more inclusive economy and influence legislative change in support of mission-led businesses. Social Enterprise UK is the Secretariat for the group. The APPG is expected to run two inquiries in the coming months, on how Labour’s manifesto commitment to grow diverse business models is being delivered and on the role of social, cooperative and community business within public services provision.
The government has announced plans to merge the Office of The Regulator of Community Interest Companies (the CIC Regulator) into Companies House, as part of plans to reduce the complexity of UK regulation. A press release from the CIC Regulator notes that it will be providing its usual services for the time being, and that the obligations and duties of CICs remain the same.
Social Investment Business (SIB) has announced the new Community Builders Fund, in partnership with Homeless Link, Groundwork, Co-operative and Community Finance, Fredericks Foundation and the Architectural Heritage. The fund will provide £17 million of funding to charities, social enterprises and community organisations across England, Wales and Scotland, offering loans from £100,000 to £1.5 million to organisations working to improve people’s lives or the environments they live in. There will also be an additional £1 million of grant funding for Black and racially minoritised charities and social enterprises.
Co-operatives and community businesses given boost by new funding for community shares sector. Co-operatives UK announced that the Community Shares Booster Fund has extended its offer due to an additional £560,000 of support from Access – the Foundation for Social Investment. The new funds will be used for development grants (funding for organisations to prepare and launch a share offer) and matched equity incentives, to encourage others to invest through building trust and confidence in share offers. Announced at the same time, Co-operatives UK has extended the deadline to apply to the £250,000 Energy Efficiency Sharematch Fund, which is designed to support co-operatives and community benefit societies raising finance for measures that reduce their energy bills and carbon footprint.
ESG
The Home Office has launched updated guidance on modern slavery, Transparency in Supply Chains, which describes a framework for tackling and reporting on modern slavery, including the statements required of certain businesses under s.54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (‘MSA’). For more, the House of Lords Library has published a summary of the House of Lords committee post-legislative review of the MSA and the government’s response. The summary sets out key aspects of the legislation and subsequent reviews and recommendations, notes that the committee found the MSA to be falling behind compared to other jurisdictions and, among other points, recommends that the government introduce more rigorous requirements in relation to supply chains.
While the Employment Rights Bill (here) has been making its way through the legislative process this month, Bates Wells’ Paul Jennings and Thérèse Rankin have provided an Employment Rights Bill update. We considered the headline points in the government’s responses to five consultations on aspects of the Bill, including in relation to proposals to strengthen workers’ rights regarding zero hours contracts, collective redundancy consultation, Statutory Sick Pay, and industrial relations and Trade Unions.
The non-profit think-tank InfluenceMap has published the key findings from its analysis of the lobbying activities of 165 of the world’s largest companies assessing their alignment with the goals of the Paris Agreement, which was carried out in connection with the Climate Action 100+ (CA100+) Net Zero Company Benchmark. Among other points, InfluenceMap found that, in 2024, investor pressure encouraged some improvements among CA100+ target companies and that there was a 5% reduction in companies identified as misaligned with the Paris Agreement goals in their real-world climate policy engagement activities.
The government has published a consultation on implementing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap reporting for large employers (250 or more employees) in Great Britain, led by the Office for Equality and Opportunity, the Race Equality Unit and the Disability Unit. The consultation seeks feedback from a range of stakeholders, and states that responses will help shape measures included in the anticipated Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. The consultation closes on 10 June 2025.
Want to receive the roundup?
To receive the monthly roundup direct to your inbox, sign up here.
Our team of expert lawyers can walk you through small and efficient steps to ensure your goals are achieved and that embedding Purpose & Impact into your business aligns directly with your strategy, creating a ripple effect of positive impact throughout your organisation. View our Be a better business hub to learn more.