In February 2021, we proudly achieved B Corp® certification, becoming the first architect in the AJ100 and one of only a handful of firms in the UK built environment sector to join a growing, purpose-driven community.
Here, we breakdown what that means.
What is a B Corp?
Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet high standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose.
The B Corp movement is underpinned by the belief that society’s most challenging problems cannot be solved by governments and non-profits alone. By harnessing the power of business, B Corps use profits and growth to a greater end: positive impact for their employees, communities, and the environment.
We’ve always prided ourselves on being ethical and responsible as a practice, looking after our staff and designing in a responsible, human-centric way.
Since we became an employee-owned organisation, we’d been seeking a tool that would help us to measure how we are doing socially and environmentally. The B Corp process forced us to take a deep breath on everything we do.
Pierre Wassenaar, Chair
Our B Impact Assessment Score is 101.5
Based on the B Impact assessment, Stride Treglown earned an overall score of 101.5. The median score for ordinary businesses who complete the assessment is currently 50.9.
Certification wasn’t easy. It took us 6 months to achieve, going through a rigorous points-based assessment that looks in detail at the way we run the business across five distinct impact areas: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers.
Most businesses that pass the certification process tend to achieve a score between 80-90 on first assessment. Scoring 101.5 out of 200 shows us we’re doing very well, but there’s also room for growth and improvement.
Certification is an out-in-the-open process. Our B Impact Assessment Score is public information, and this will be re-assessed and re-published every three years.
It’s a real badge of honour, and a responsibility to continually improve.
Our B Team
Here are the people at Stride Treglown who make sure we remain true to our B Corp values and push for continual improvement.
Pierre Wassenaar
Chair
John Wright
Director for ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance)
Sean Peacock
B Team lead for Workers
Karyn Williams
B Team lead for Community
Steve Dolphin
B Team lead for Governance
Rachel Bell
B Team lead for Customers
Robert Delius
B Team lead for Environment
Why did we choose to certify?
Culturally, it’s a good fit
For years, we’ve placed long-term human and environmental interests at the heart of our decision-making – from transitioning to employee ownership to becoming carbon neutral.
B Corp requires us to legally embed the balance of profit and purpose into our articles of association.
It serves our clients
Clients need advisors that can demonstrate they have attained certifiable levels of social and environmental performance.
B Corp gives our clients confidence we’ll help them to deliver their sustainable goals.
It’s not charity, it’s better business
Pierre Wassenaar, Chair
It’s relational, not transactional
We see design as a collaborative enterprise. Our social and environmental challenges need us all to work together.
Being a B Corp makes us part of a fast-growing network of like-minded companies that we can work with and learn from.
It’s about constant improvement
We’re a learning organisation. B Corp certification helps us to measure what we’re doing well, what we could do better, and helps us plan how to improve.
We’re in great company
There are now over 6,000 B Corps in 86 countries and covering 158 industries. There are over 1,000 in the UK. Big names include companies such as Patagonia, Innocent, Triodos Bank and Finisterre.
We’re part of a growing group of companies in the Built Environment sector, including developers, consultants and funders: Igloo Regeneration, Joseph Homes, Ward Williams Associates, Bridges Fund Management, Newcore Capital, Kennedy Woods Architects, FORE Partnership, Planit I.E and Urban Foundry.
