The UK launch of B Corps, a certification for socially and environmentally responsible businesses, was attended by over 600 people. Several speeches were given by leaders of certified B Corps on their journey to making their organizations more sustainable. The founder of B Lab announced a new advisory panel to help large companies adopt B Corp standards. The event highlighted the growing B Corp community in the UK and the potential for more major companies to join.

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B Corp UK Launch Event #BTheChangeUK
by Suzy Barber (Http://Benefacto.org/Author/Suzy/) on 01/10/2015 (2015-10-01T09:27:32+0000) in News
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B-Proud
The UK launch of B Corps was a night to remember. Businesses, entrepreneurs, investors
and policy-makers were among those who shared their inspirational stories and brilliant
ideas for the future of responsible business ( and we hope the salvation of capitalism)
Around 600 people attended the B Corps UK launch at the Proud Gallery in North London
last week and Team Benefacto, as a newly certified B Corps company, was among them.
B Corps certification is awarded to businesses that meet a tight set of standards in
transparency, commitment to their people and communities, and environmental impact.
Benefacto, as one of only 57 UK businesses awarded certification, was at the event along
with other founding companies including law firm Bates Wells Braithwaite, fund manager
EQ Investors and upmarket frozen meals company, Cook.
Speeches came from Sacha Romanovitch, CEO of accountancy firm Grant Thornton,
Michele Giddens of hedge fund Bridge Ventures and Bibi Bleekemolen from ethical mobile
manufacturers, Fairphone. Their stories gave an interesting overview of the journey that
companies make to become a B-Corp and the challenges of aligning complex
organisations to the rigorous credentials.
Romanovitch highlighted that it’s a long road for large international companies (Grant

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Thornton is on the way) and set the scene for Bart Houlahan, B-Labs Co-founder, to take
the stage. We were delighted to hear him announce the formation of a new ‘multi-national
advisory panel’ to help steer big public companies towards B reinvention.
Exciting stuff we say: although it’s great for small companies like Benefacto to join the B
movement, real progress will be signaled by the arrival of significant global concerns.
Houlahan’s words particularly chimed with us when he observed that people want to bring
‘their whole selves to work’, citing that companies with higher levels of employee
engagement outperformed the stock market by nearly 20 per cent. Certainly we’ll be keen
to talk to all aspiring B-Corps about how corporate volunteering can contribute to that.
After the speeches came food, drinks aplenty and a chance to meet our peers from the
new B-Corps family.
Guests continued to mingle as the live band started up, and even a bit of dancing was
spotted. The evening encapsulated what makes B Corps work – a desire to do well, to feel
proud of creating truly sustainable companies and to connect with people to make the
force for ethical business stronger.
Click here (http://benefacto.org/benefacto-gains-b-corp-status/) to learn more about B
Corp Status.
For further info on how to become a B Corp visit: http://bcorporation.uk/
(http://bcorporation.uk/)
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