We're a Certified B Corporation
B-Corp
In December 2021, skinflint became a Certified B Corporation™
At skinflint, doing business the right way is embedded in our ethos - it’s a value system we share with B Lab and B Corp UK, making becoming a Certified B Corp a natural next step for us as a business. After a lengthy assessment process, we officially certified as a B Corporation in December 2021, and we’ll never look back. It means the world to us - metaphorically and literally, because we’ve always put our planet, our people, our communities and the environment above profit, but now we’ve got a certificate to prove it.
What does being a Certified B Corporation mean?
B Corporations, or ‘B Corps’, for short, are companies that are legally required to ‘make business a force for good’. They commit to transforming the global economy to benefit all people, communities and the planet. Making business a ‘force for good’ can sound vague at first glance, but the high standards and legal requirements needed to certify ensure it’s an incredibly tough test to pass!
How did we get certified?
In 2021, we elected to go through a rigorous assessment process, scrutinising the way we do business. We worked with a specialist consultant to formally evaluate our approach and create a report on our governance, workers, communities, the environment and our customers. Going into granular levels of detail, the report honed in on specifics within our ethics policies and practices, our leaders, our diversity and inclusion performance, our supply chain management, and more - even down to how and where we source our office biscuits. This lengthy but essential process is one of the many reasons we’re very excited to no longer be a ‘Pending B Corp’ - we’re now officially certified, which means we have a B Impact Score detailing how we’re performing. It’s proven invaluable in helping us take stock of the things we’re doing well, and in acknowledging areas for improvement.
What’s a B Impact Score?
A B Impact Score marks performance. This overall score is made up of lots of smaller scores from the impact assessment areas, added up to make one big score.
What’s our B Impact Score?
The B Corp team awarded us a B Impact Score of 82.6, meaning that we reached the standards to certify on our first application, which we’re really proud of.
Does becoming a B Corp change anything?
Alongside the performance requirement measured by the B Impact Score, companies must meet a legal and transparency requirement to certify.
What’s the legal requirement?
The legalities require that all Certified B Corps, like us, must update their structures to allow them to consider the impact of their decisions on all of their stakeholders.
What’s the transparency requirement?
B Corp transparency requirements state that all B Corps must share their B Impact Assessment scores on B Lab’s Global website. You can find ours here, in the B Corp Directory. It leaves nothing to the imagination, so you’ll know we’re always being truthful about the way we do business. We’ll also share it across website, our social channels, and on our blog, because we have nothing to hide.
What happens now?
skinflint joins the B Corp Movement which aims to galvanise other businesses into rethinking how they operate. The movement’s principles are based around theTheory of Change which, in short, ask us to imagine a world where all stakeholders, not just shareholders, are valued and prioritised.
What happens next?
We’re elated to have certified as a B Corp, but we also recognize that it signifies the start of a new challenge - maintaining and improving our standards, ready for a reassessment in three years time. We’ve made a commitment to bettering our B Impact Score, and will need to substantiate this by creating real, tangible progress, holding ourselves accountable as we continue to be the change we seek in the world.
More questions?
You can read all about our Sustaunability Policy here. If you have any other questions, big or small, please do get in touch with us.