This roundup of our sustainability news covers B Corp events, Anthropy23, family-friendly policies, impact reporting, recycling and more.
Being a B Corp
Since becoming a Certified B Corporation (B Corp) in 2022, we’re continuing to build a sustainable business: one that operates as a force for good.
B Corps are a worldwide community of businesses that meet high standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.
B Lab, a US-based not-for-profit network, provides this certification. The B stands for Benefit for all.
The B Corp movement is so diverse in sizes, sectors, and backgrounds, but with a common drive, so it’s a pleasure to meet fellow B Corps in person. In November, we attended Octopus Investments’ B Corp Day; in December we were at B Lab UK’s London B Social at the Good Company café & taproom. It’s co-run by Change Please, who help homeless people into employment and whose charitable foundation we’ve donated to via our charitable foundation.
Our first impact report
We’re proud of how B Corp certification recognised our range of achievements as a Good business: one that does the right thing for people and the planet, not just for profit.
When we became a B Corp, we knew that it wasn’t job done. Being a verified member of this forward-thinking global community has given us not only a framework for continual improvement, but a higher level of accountability for our social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal governance.
As a significant stage on that journey, we published BKL’s first impact report in September. It covers our last full financial year (2022/23): what we’ve done and what we plan to do. You can read it here or by clicking below.
Anthropy23 and ICAEW Climate Summit
In November, our Head of Sustainability Myfanwy Neville was at the Eden Project in Cornwall for Anthropy23. It ‘focuses on facilitating public-private-non-profit understanding and partnerships, bringing together leaders from all sectors’ to inspire collective impact.
Myfanwy wrote:
‘Notable for me was learning more about PAS 808, the new standard for purpose driven business, hearing from organisations like Conscious Capitalism, A Blueprint for Better Business and B Lab UK on doing business but better. Great governance has been a constant staple of discussion, as well as enabling younger generations to problem solve with us as leaders.’
Myfanwy’s other reflections on Anthropy23 included:
‘Many boards, businesses and non-execs don’t understand the implications of climate risk on their businesses, not because there won’t be an impact, or that it doesn’t matter, but it’s become a blind spot – it’s not the way they have been trained to think, so they miss risks and opportunities. Climate literacy is now an essential for leaders, no longer a nice to have.
Delayism is the new denialism – but the outcome is the same.
Most people don’t believe in big ideas – they believe in the people who live by and demonstrate the values behind the big ideas. There is a huge premium on visible leadership on climate.’
After meeting Feargal Sharkey at the ICAEW Climate Summit later in November, Myfanwy wrote:
‘One of the takeaways for me was Feargal’s realisation that while his personal passion is protecting the chalk streams, he had to connect to why other people would care, in order to galvanise support and action. In his own words: “Sharkey, forget about the chalk streams – no one cares about those…talk about the sewage being dumped into them instead.” This shift in perspective created a movement overnight to call the water companies to account, spanning all media outlets, and started to create real change.
It’s interesting as a reminder that while leadership starts from a personal journey of belief in a cause and outcome, the mark of a leader is the ability to see how this connects and relates to the causes of others, and to speak to those causes, because it’s the individual choices and actions of all, in a specific direction, that creates organisational change. This is true whether it’s activist, or political or commercial leadership.’
Who cares wins
Thank you to everyone who joined Myfanwy Neville at the breakfast event she co-hosted in November on ESG (environmental, social and governance) for growing businesses.
Why breakfast? Because it’s never too early to start exploring the risks and opportunities: to recognise that we need to see business differently from before.
If your business is seeking practical advice and experience on embedding good business practices, Myfanwy would be pleased to chat with you. For companies on an ESG journey, including B Corps like BKL, there is so much we can learn from each other.
National Inclusion Week 2023 and family-friendly policies
The theme for National Inclusion Week 2023 (25 September to 1 October) was Take Action Make Impact. As an Inclusive Employer, we reflected on how our policies represent opportunities to do the right thing for people at BKL and their families.
In 2023 we extended paid parental leave and in September we added policies covering pregnancy loss, neonatal care, new grandparent leave and paid kinship leave. Our Chief People Officer Greg McCaw has more details in this article.
Recycle Week 2023
In our impact report, we set ourselves the target of raising our recycling rate beyond 50% by the end of the year. Recycle Week 2023 (16-22 October) was an opportunity to raise awareness among colleagues of the impact of avoidable waste.
Our Recycle Week steps included:
- A recycling quiz for colleagues with B Corp food & drink hampers as prizes
- A new BKL policy: any UK-based employee who uses the Mattress Recycling Service from Simba Sleep (a fellow B Corp) can get the cost reimbursed by BKL
We also upcycled three of BKL’s values:
- Think big became Think bin: remember that how we dispose of recyclables is important
- Do the right thing became Do the right bin: take a moment to check that you’re dropping stuff into the correct bin
- In it together became Bin it together: the more of us join in, the better we’ll do
As for our recycling rate: we’re ending 2023 at over 60%! We’re very pleased at this collective success and want to go further.
Continuing on the right path
2022/23 was a year where much of our focus was on strategic planning and putting foundations in place. As 2023/24 progresses, we’re already looking ahead and building on those foundations together. Our private equity investment from CBPE Capital in April 2023 has given us the ideal partner to help us grow and have an even greater impact. We’re already excited about the great things we’ll be able to share with you in 2024!
