Week 12: Going beyond the bottom line

The failure to align the interests of shareholders with those of wider society and the environment has contributed to a set of enormous challenges that threaten peoples’ health, wealth and the natural world.

Research from the Better Business Act shows that UK voters and consumers want business to do better. Three quarters of the public want businesses to be legally responsible for their impact and the majority favour brands that do good in the world.

Certified B Corporations (or B Corps) make a legal commitment to consider their impact on the environment, their communities, customers and employees. This stakeholder-focused mindset separates B Corps from other businesses.

But Certification alone will not change the system. We need to change the behaviour, culture and outdated structural underpinnings that the current system is based on , and fight for the policy changes that will enable us to do this.We need commitment to people and the planet to be adopted across the wider economy.

The best way to do this is to change the law that governs how businesses act. It can no longer be a choice to align the long-term interests of people, planet and profit. That’s why the Better Business Act is urging all of Britain’s business leaders to call on the government to amend Section 172 of the Companies Act to ensure businesses are legally responsible for benefiting workers, customers, communities and the environment while delivering profit.

To achieve this the Better Business Act is bringing together a broad and growing coalition of over 1800  leaders from across all sectors and all regions of the UK to help deliver this new contract between business and society.

Take action: 

• If your business wants to learn more about the B Corp Legal Requirement, read here.

• If your business wants to sign up to the Better Business Act coalition, click here.

• To write to your MP to tell them about the Better Business Act and support the amendment to the Companies Act, click here.

For individuals: 

• You can also write to your MP to tell them you’re supporting the Better Business Act - click here

• Is your employer signed up for the Better Business Act coalition? If not, ask them if it’s something they could support. 

• Ask yourself, ‘What do I expect of companies that I do business with with regard to environmental and social issues? How many of the companies I do business with meet this expectation?’

A note on this months actions:

‘Go Beyond’ is a 4-part article series, exploring the ways people within a business can use their own influence to make meaningful changes in their everyday life. Drawing on tools and stories from across the B Corp movement, the series will explore how we can all go beyond expectations to make a positive mark on the world.