B Corp
The B Corp community is a group of companies that want to use business as a force for good. It’s a great way for any company to baseline their impact and operations against others within their sector, and put in place a framework for improving their sustainability activities. We’re proud to have been a certified B Corp since 2019, contributing to the collective action of this fast growing movement.
The journey
Certifying as a BCorp isn’t a box ticking exercise. It takes commitment, time and buy in from the whole team. Thankfully, we have incredible support from B Leader Alice Elliott and the team at Junxion as we continue our journey.
Using the B Impact Assessment tool we carry out a detailed measurement of our impact on workers, community, environment and customers. Starting from a baseline score around 50 in 2017, it took another 18 months to put in place the changes that we needed to certify. After changing our articles of association, formalising our parental leave and employee ownership, and plenty more, we certified with a respectable 84 points in 2019.
Despite the global challenges many businesses have felt in recent years, at our first re-certification our score jumped a massive 12.7 points from 84.0 to 96.7. By connecting our homegrown initiatives with the expert advice built into the B Impact Assessment we will improve our impact each year.
Using the B Impact Assessment tool we carry out a detailed measurement of our impact on workers, community, environment and customers. Starting from a baseline score around 50 in 2017, it took another 18 months to put in place the changes that we needed to certify. After changing our articles of association, formalising our parental leave and employee ownership, and plenty more, we certified with a respectable 84 points in 2019.
Despite the global challenges many businesses have felt in recent years, at our first re-certification our score jumped a massive 12.7 points from 84.0 to 96.7. By connecting our homegrown initiatives with the expert advice built into the B Impact Assessment we will improve our impact each year.
How we score
Every business will score differently and the type of organisation you are is a big factor. Unless environmental or societal benefit are at the core of your business, you’ll need to work hard to pass the threshold.
We do particularly well in Governance and Workers where our engagement with programmes for chronically underemployed people helped us to diversify where we find talented people to join our team. Our salvage scheme which keeps waste out of landfill and supports community organisations added to our Environment score but there’s plenty of opportunity to improve it along with formalising our advocacy work to boost our Community score.
We do particularly well in Governance and Workers where our engagement with programmes for chronically underemployed people helped us to diversify where we find talented people to join our team. Our salvage scheme which keeps waste out of landfill and supports community organisations added to our Environment score but there’s plenty of opportunity to improve it along with formalising our advocacy work to boost our Community score.
What’s next?
Certifying as a B Corp isn’t the end point: we’re on a long ride. It’s a way of structuring your business, continually setting goals, monitoring your impacts and adjusting.
Our 10-strong sustainability team represent each of Bikmo’s teams from finance to engineering. Focussing on where we can have the biggest impact we meet bi-weekly with actions passed out across the whole business. Sustainability is a set agenda point at board meetings.
Dave became a B Corp CEO ambassador in 2021 to help spread the word about B Corp and support other businesses in certifying. Get in touch if you’re interested in becoming a B Corp.
Our 10-strong sustainability team represent each of Bikmo’s teams from finance to engineering. Focussing on where we can have the biggest impact we meet bi-weekly with actions passed out across the whole business. Sustainability is a set agenda point at board meetings.
Dave became a B Corp CEO ambassador in 2021 to help spread the word about B Corp and support other businesses in certifying. Get in touch if you’re interested in becoming a B Corp.
