March is B Corp month, where B Lab, the company behind the B Corp certification, celebrates the achievements and commitments its members have undertaken as part of their B Corp status. POC’s own roster of B Corp members includes Dayrize, Gibson Games, Pure Table Top, Talking Tables, and Creature & Co.

Heidi Florence, Products of Change B Corp advisor shares the latest from B Lab:

“B Corp month is a time to celebrate the thousands of B Corp businesses around the world, the people who lead those businesses, and all of their employees. Everyone who is leading or employed by a B Corp business is leading the way for a new generation of business. That’s what this B Corp Month theme #GenB is all about. 

“In addition, it’s an exciting time for B Lab UK, which has just published a new five-year strategy with ambitious changes to our economic system. The goal is that within 10 years, all UK businesses act as a ‘force for good’ by default. This means they operate for the benefit of all their stakeholders. B Lab UK has recognised that to drive change at the scale we need, we can’t wait for individual businesses to certify as B Corps. We need every business in the UK on this journey. That means pulling cultural and structural levers that have the potential to affect system change. 

“Every B Corp business, leader and employee of a B Corp business is modelling a better economic system in action. B Corp businesses are proof that business as a force for good works by adopting different attitudes, norms and behaviours around the way we do business. 

B Lab UK recently released stats that show that between 2023 – 2024, Small and Medium sized UK B Corps saw a 9.6% increase in employee headcount compared to a national decrease of 0.5% for SMEs and a 23.2% increase in revenue compared to a national increase of 16.81% for SMEs. (Ref: Pg 16 pardot.bcorporation.net/blukstrategy)

“Every B Corp business is helping strengthen the case for the structural levers we need to be pulled to make systemic change to laws, rules and regulations. B Lab UK is pushing for this through the Better Business Act. The Better Business Act would transform the way Britain does business; it’s backed by a coalition of over 2,900 businesses with a mission to change UK law to ensure every company in the UK aligns the interests of their shareholders with that of wider society and the environment. The objective is to amend section 172 of the Companies Act in line with these principles. All certified B Corp businesses have already made this change within their company articles of association.

“This is something that all businesses can sign up to support, you don’t have to be a B Corp business already.

“And, B Lab Global will be publishing new standards in April 2025. The new standards will outline specific requirements across seven impact topics, including human rights, climate action, and stakeholder governance. This will remove the flexible approach of scoring a minimum of 80 points across five impact topics, raising the bar for B Corp businesses and meeting the need of updating the certification process to match the sudden growth the movement experienced in recent years.   

“For anyone curious about B Corp, the impact assessment tool is free to access and is used by thousands of businesses to help shape best practice examples and is a great tool for gap analysis across the five pillars of governance, workers, community, environment and customers.”