The PR Network earns B Corp certification.
As published in PRovoke, we're delighted to announce our certification as a B Corporation (or B Corp), joining a growing group of companies reinventing business by pursuing purpose as well as profit. We've been certified by B Lab, the not-for-profit behind the B Corp movement, as having met rigorous social and environmental standards which represent our commitment to goals outside of shareholder profit.
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 (it's taken us about eight months of actively working to change our legal documents and prepare all the supporting evidence). Applicants 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, we've legally embedded our commitment to purpose beyond profit in our company articles.
We're now part of a community of 6,900 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 1,400 companies and include well-known brands such as The Guardian, innocent, Patagonia, The Body Shop and organic food pioneers Abel & Cole.
Recent attention on the PR industry due to its role consulting companies on their ESG commitments makes our B Corp certification a notable step, and signals a shift towards greater accountability and transparency in the sector.
Chris Turner, Executive Director of B Lab UK, says, “Being able to welcome The PR Network to the B Corp community is hugely exciting. Its commitment to doing business differently will be an inspiration to others, and really help spread the idea that we can redefine success in business to be as much about people and planet as it is about profit.”
Our co-founder Nicky Regazzoni says, When George and I set up in 2005 we wanted to disrupt industry norms by 1) challenging traditional ways of working and 2) delivering services to clients. We believed there was a better way of doing things for the benefit of our team and our customers. Our B Corp certification is proof that we’ve accomplished what we set out to achieve, with scores of 77% for Workers and 90% for Customers."
There are currently over 1,400 B Corps in the UK, and 6,900 worldwide. Other industry B Corps include Greenhouse Communications, Don’t Cry Wolf, Little Red Rooster, Empower, Milk and Honey, Third City, Clearly, Manifest and Fanclub PR.
About B Lab UK:
B Lab UK is transforming the economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. A leader in economic systems change, our global network creates standards, policies, and tools for business, and we certify companies—known as B Corps—who are leading the way.
To date, our global community includes over 6,900 B Corps in 90 countries and 161 industries, and over 150,000 companies manage their impact with the B Impact Assessment and the SDG Action Manager.
http://bcorporation.uk/
@BCorpUK
PRN's journey to becoming certified as a B Corp has taken over four years. It's rightly an intense and rigorous process. We'll share the story of our journey and some hints for anyone considering becoming a B Corp in a future post.