What a journey we have all been on at Neverbland across the last twelve months getting our B Corp certification application done, and finally receiving the confirmation email in August from our B Lab Business Sustainability Analyst that we were approved.

A year ago we had just completed a company wide audit and workshops by specialist consultants Purpose Done Right to better define and enhance our purpose as an organisation. We introduced B Corporation thinking and vision to everyone, and while in some ways it was just a formalised extension of values which already existed we could equally see it was clear that the journey to certification was going to play a transformative role in our future as a business.

The B Corp certification addresses the entirety of a business’ operations and covers five key impact areas of Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers. The certification process is rigorous, and you are required to reach a benchmark score of over 80 while providing evidence of socially and environmentally responsible practices relating to energy supplies, waste and water use, worker compensation, diversity and corporate transparency. To complete the certification companies legally embed their commitment to purpose beyond profit in their company articles.

Neverbland is now part of a community of 4,000 businesses globally who have certified as B Corps. The B Corp community in the UK, representing a broad cross section of industries and sizes, comprises over 400 companies and include well-known brands such as The Guardian, innocent, Patagonia, The Body Shop and organic food pioneers Abel & Cole.

B Corporation holds us accountable for our strategy and impact on the world, as well as guides us through the future. It helps keep us on the right path and demonstrates to the rest of the world that we are balancing purpose and profit in all that we do.

B Corporation Certification has already allowed us to have conversations with more purpose led digital startups than we were having before, and be more integrated with purpose led organisations. Currently, over 50% of business partners we work with are positively purpose driven and we intend to grow that to 70% in the next three years.

And doing good needn’t come at the expense of commercial success. What was fantastic about the certification process is that as well as enabling great purpose process it also helps generate better commercial process and strategic thinking. We’re convinced that those businesses most attuned to addressing our most pressing challenges whilst also benefiting society will be the ones that thrive. Balancing purpose and profit can be a blueprint for success.

As we look to the future we are excited to see how we will evolve along our purpose driven model, but today we are enjoying our certification. There are only a few digital product design studios with BCorp status and we are chuffed to be one of them.