March is B Corp Month!

Today’s March Meet The Maker prompt is supposed to be about colour, but I’m going to do my own thing…

March is B Corp month, and yesterday, I found that that I’m currently the only B Corp in the Forest of Dean, which I’m really quite shocked about.

There are over 2400 (and growing) B Corps in the UK and around 50 in Gloucestershire, but just little old me in the Forest of Dean!!

It means that I’m also the “first” Forest B Corp, which I guess is something to celebrate, but being the only one really isn’t! So come on Forest businesses, you need to pull your socks up and get working on your certification.

For those of you that are reading this and wondering what a B Corp actually is, here’s a short explanation (taken from B Corp’s website)

“…B Corps are for-profit companies that have committed to use their business as a force for good. To qualify, they have to meet high standards for social and environmental impact; make a legal commitment to be accountable to all workers, customers, and the planet and demonstrate transparency by sharing information publicly.

B Corp Certification is a designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and materials. B Corp Certification is holistic, not exclusively focused on a single social or environmental issue…”

I certified back in 2023, and will soon be working through B Corps new standards ready to re-certify in 2026.

Now nothing is ever perfect, and I know there are some B Corps that just see certification as some kind of business brownie point that’ll make them more profit, but hopefully the new standards that are coming in in April will put that right.

I’m really proud of my B Corp certification, and I’d love to see more micro businesses like me working through the impact assessment and committing to look after people and planet.

I’m going to be speaking about my B Corp journey at an event at Gloucestershire Growth Hub next week. I’ll be talking about how I got there all by myself, without the need to employ any kind of outside agency or consultancy, and hopefully I can inspire other Forest businesses to start on their own B Corp journey too!