1 year on: how B Corp has changed the way we work

Mar 16 2023

Skylark Media team photo

Since getting certified last March, we’ve made some significant changes in how we operate and do business. B Corp in itself has come a long way since the first 82 B Corps were certified in 2007. Year on year, an increasing number of companies globally have signed up to the movement. Today, there are currently over 6000 certified B Corps in more than 80 countries.

In the past year, joining us on the B Corp journey are the likes of dewerstone, POINT3 Wellbeing, ADLIB Recruitment, and Purplefish Agency. But achieving the very highest standard of social and environmental performance doesn’t stop once you become a B Corp. To maintain certification, a certified B Corp must update their B Impact Assessment and verify their updated B Impact score every three years. In this blog, we will highlight some of the main achievements and progresses we’ve made along the way – and what we’re looking to fulfil ahead of recertification. 
 
We’ve always been environmentally conscious (founder Jo Haywood used to make climate change documentaries in the 1990s!), so this has meant putting processes into place such as recycling props, hiring kit or catering vegan/veggie on shoots. But being B Corp also means a journey of continuous improvement. It’s holistic, not exclusively focused on a single social or environmental issue. Our journey to becoming a B Corp has meant significant and sustainable changes to the business – hear it from our team.

What is it like working for a B Corp?  

‘The opportunity to grow personally and professionally is a priority at Skylark. We are encouraged to train regularly and undertake paid professional development opportunities. I even got to do a mini-MBA last year! It’s not about just having a seat at the table – your voice is valued here too.’ – Nina Postans, Head of Marketing.  

‘Working in a B Corp company has been eye-opening. It has made me much more aware of not only my professional impact on the world but also my personal impact.’ – Nyles Hollister, Video Content Producer. 

‘I believe that Skylark vision and the entire B Corp network sits on the unique spot where the creativity meets social and environmental action to create a real positive impact in the world’ – Elsa Esteban, Video Content Creator. 

What’s the positive environmental outcome from the work you produce? 

‘We have helped organisations and companies raise awareness and secure funding for their solutions to global warming, greener approach and other issues, by using the videos we’ve created.’ – Iiris Maki, Animator and Editor. 

Has it changed the type of projects you work on and how you interact with clients?  

‘Becoming B Corp means we now have a strong reason to turn down clients that have messages or practices that we do not agree with. We only work with clients who we feel share a similar goal to us.’ – Sam Maxwell, Animator.

‘We were already working on great projects focused on social and environmental change, but B Corp has opened more doors for us to collaborate with other B Corp organisations, as it gives them the confidence that our values are aligned. So, I guess when we meet new potential clients there is already a sense of being on the same page, and an open way of working that comes from that.’ – James Sampson, Director. 

Skylark is committed to bettering our working practices. What changes have we achieved so far?   

  • Sustainable productions

We have been working on making some positive changes at Skylark for some time now. Our environmental practices include car sharing or cycling/walking to work, working remotely, catering vegan or vegetarian on shoots, using reusable cups, minimising plastic waste and running on renewable energy. Every year, we re-certify our Ad Green accreditation – sustainable production training to further improve our practices. If you are in advertising production, I would strongly recommend these helpful and free sessions to help lower your carbon footprint.

The materials that go into the manufacture of tech are extremely costly to the environment (we are so passionate about this that we made a video about it!), so we often rent rather than purchase new kit. As a commitment to supporting local businesses, and fostering a friendly local community (we avoid Amazon where possible), preferring to shop locally. 

On shoot for Future Leap.
  • Supporting mental health 

We are aware of the importance of our staff’s mental health and wellbeing, and have since appointed an internal Mental Health Champion for support and guidance. Improving our work/life balance is a priority. There’s Wellbeing Wednesdays at our co-sharing office every month too so we encourage the team to attend. 

  • Accountability as individuals 

Nina gives an insight into the changes in her work life since becoming a B Corp, ‘I am consciously reassessing the services and products I use – are they B Corp? Are they ethical or sustainable? Are they a local business? When we certified as B Corp, we all took a Giki Zero test to calculate our carbon footprint. A Giki Zero planner was then created to help us improve on our score.’  

  • Community and the environment 

We continue to build our own forest garden to increase the tree cover and the biodiversity in fields along south Bristol. Here’s our CEO Jo Haywood planting trees in the Skylark forest garden. This year we’ll be putting on the wellies and planting trees for Avon Needs Trees on a volunteering day. As a commitment to communities beyond Bristol, we’ve now switched our search engines to Ecosia for planting trees and have raised funds for communities in Nepal and India to have access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene (Frank Water).

Jo planting trees in our forest garden.
  • Increased staff training  

Our interns are given opportunities for training and additional support so that they can get the most out of their time at Skylark as possible. We pride ourselves on our entrepreneurial spirit at Skylark – upskilling the team to work on other disciplines out their remit. We’ll provide cross-skills training for career development to benefit from.  The team completed Screen Skills training courses which helps those in the industry around many topics from DE&I, mental health, wellbeing to understanding the different key roles in the creative industry. 

  • Working with like-minded businesses  

We’ve taken a stance to work with businesses and those within our supply chain that do not have a negative environmental impact or are transitioning into green/sustainable practices. It’s not uncommon for us to take a vote on working with clients! In the past year, we’ve reviewed all our policies and processes, and have supported other businesses in the creative industry in their journey to B Corp.

Skylark’s Jo presenting the Communicating Climate Change and Ecological Emergency Award to Up Our Street at last year’s Sustainable Business Awards.
  • Employing locally  

All our staff at Skylark live in Bristol and the surrounding areas – while our freelancers work remotely with limited travel to the office. We also run a graduate intern scheme to take on creative students from UWE Bristol with the view to offering them a full-time role.

  • Volunteering days  

We took part in the ‘Stand Up For Safe Water’ event by Frank Water this summer, raising funds for the charity and helping to raise awareness of its projects. All the funds raised from this event will help bring safe and clean water to most marginalized communities across India and Nepal.

Frank Water Paddleboarding winners 2022, Skylark Media!

At last year’s volunteering day, we headed to Aid Box Community Centre (ABC), a Bristol-based humanitarian organisation set up by group of ordinary people in response to the continuing refugee crisis. We now have a planned tree volunteering day coming up! 

  • Introducing our self-funded environmental series 

Skylark Originals is an opportunity for the team to talk about the issues we consider important and get them out into the world for people to see – and hopefully act on. Some of our topics that we have worked on include: ‘Is our digital addiction destroying our planet?’ and ‘The environmental impact of pets’.  

Other amazing B Corps out there that are also making a positive change: 

ADLIB is a recruitment agency with purpose. Since becoming B Corp, ADLIB has transformed into 100% employee-owned business. ‘Gifting share options for all employees with a clear route to realisation created a trust board and employee council with direct input to ensure the business values are upheld at all times.’

Team ADLIB

Nick Dean, CEO of ADLIB, also shares that they have turned MotherBoard, a not-for-profit community initiative to create change for mums working in the tech industry, to an impact-based business model that supports employers to better understand the impact of female reproductive health in the workplace, from menstruation to menopause. Through paid consultancy and insight, we will sponsor the training of female refugees into the tech industry and provide career long support for their employers. 

As for advice for other businesses on their way to B Corp, Nick has shared some key advice: ‘Be accountable, publish an annual impact report and commit to achieving the advancements you set out.’ 

Newly certified B Corp POINT3 Wellbeing is an employee wellbeing company empowering people in the workplace to think, feel and behave to their fullest potential. Co-Founder, Siôn Stansfield shares with us some of the key changes they have made since becoming certified: 

  • We’ve reviewed our policies, processes and benefits to support, empower and develop our team and our partners. 
  • We’ve pledged to provide 8 free of charge Mental Health First Aid places to not-for-profit organisations and charities. 
  • We’ve committed to 3 days of time per person per annum volunteering to support the local communities near where our founders live. 
  • We’ve chosen to work with ethical suppliers – and where possible those that are B Corp certified. 
  • We’re committed to supporting the next generation of underserved workers by providing training and development opportunities to support their wellbeing and mental health and ensure they are as equipped as possible to thrive in the workplace. 
Team POINT3 Wellbeing

Advice from POINT3 Wellbeing to others: ‘Be curious – what are your blind spots when it comes to being a better business for your people and planet. Don’t be afraid of small steps – Commit to constantly making small and sustainable changes – over time these add up to a big positive impact. Listen to your people and partners – and be inspired by their ideas for supporting your community. And ask yourself – What’s the impact of this decision? Am I making it for the right reasons? Whilst profit keeps businesses afloat, we need to hold ourselves accountable to our purpose and the planet.’

dewerstone is an outdoor clothing and accessories brand that has been certified B Corp since Jan 2021. They are also members of 1% for the Planet. Founder Rory Atton said, ‘Certifying as a B Corp gave us a home among businesses the world over that see things as we do.’

Team dewerstone

‘Becoming part of the B Corp community creates opportunities for collaboration, it creates avenues for learning, and opens us up to inspirational people and businesses that are leading their industries. The last year has been about embracing that.’

Purplefish Agency is a creative communications agency with purpose, delivering pervasive communications that drives your business and evolves with you. Account manager Mallika Jhaveri gives us an insight to the changes in their company since becoming B Corp certified: 

‘Since becoming a B Corp, we’ve adopted an approach of continuous improvement when it comes the social and environmental impact of our work.  Meeting monthly for a team lunch focused on our progress against B Corp goals, we use the B Corp framework to help inform business decisions and focus the activity we give back to our community.’

Team Purplefish Agency

‘Everyone at Purplefish has a role to play and we have three teams dedicated across social and community, sustainability & environment, and diversity & inclusion. During each meeting we lay out our plan of action for the month ahead and review successes and challenges from the previous one. We discuss our company goals for each area, opportunities, community activities and organisational changes.’

Successes in Purplefish Agency’s first year include:  

  • Supporting Babbasa and the Our City Office to launch OurCity2030 – a city-wide initiative to close the ethnic inequality gap here in Bristol.  
  • We’ve partnered with Leukaemia Care to provide PR support for Unicornfest, a public arts trail of unicorn sculptures, painted by Bristol artists, due to hit the streets of Bristol this July.   
  • We’ve provided brand and profile-raising advice and support to musicians, A&Rs and managers at Born2Be records (a record label to support artists that create music of black origin). 

Advice from Purplefish Agency: 

The B Corp principles are a great way to start thinking in a more sustainable way about how you run your business even if you’re not on the path to getting the full certification just yet. The Business Impact Report is a free and brilliant framework for any business aiming to become more sustainable, transparent, and inclusive.    

Pursuing the path to certification is long, but definitely worth it! Becoming a B Corp opens up opportunities for new business as a large number of clients prefer working with B Corps. Most importantly, becoming a B Corp allows your company to network, engage and collaborate with a large and growing community of other B Corps, ensuring a great influx of sustainable and inclusive business relations.   

Our commitment, what are we going to do next at Skylark Media?   

This is a journey of continuous improvement! B Corp is holistic, and not exclusively focused on a single social or environmental issue – there’s still a lot for us to learn. This month, we attended Bristol & Bath B Local’s inaugural Purposefest to learn about doughnut economics and corporate activism from the likes of Verel Rodrigues, Maria Wood and Erinch Sahan. One of the next steps is to explore a transition into employee ownership so we can focus on challenging traditional ways of doing business and improving employee engagement as well as the impact we have on communities in the long term.

Ezo Yildiz

Ezo is a Digital Marketing Assistant at Skylark Media.