B CORP

WILD WEST’S GEORGIE UPTON FLIES THE FLAG FOR B CORP

iscovering B Corp was a eureka moment for Georgie Upton, MD of consumer PR and communications specialist Wild West. “It was late 2019, I was about to become MD and I wanted to bring something new to the business as we moved into the new decade, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it should be.” In a case of right place, right time Georgie recalls how everything fell into place upon meeting Matt Hocking of LEAP, a change-maker in the design industry who kick started her journey to the triple bottom line.

“Matt’s passionate about making a living whilst making a difference,” explains Georgie. “While I’m hugely proud to have spent most of my career making money for big brands, I knew there was a better way to do business and with Matt’s help discovering that you can absolutely put people and planet alongside profit was a huge turning point.” It’s a journey that with the support and commitment from Wild West founders, Kate Wild and Simon Holborow, Georgie has taken her whole team in Bristol and Truro on. She is now starting afresh with London-based Wild Card having recently merged the two agencies.

Described as ‘businesses that balance purpose and profit’, certified B Corps are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community and the environment. They must demonstrate a genuine and continuous commitment to meaningful purpose and use business as a force for good. And there are many businesspeople like Georgie that are embracing the phenomenon. Any business in the world can strive to become a certified B Corporation; there are approximately 4,000 businesses globally, and now around 500 certified in the UK with 13 in Cornwall including Finisterre, Made for Life Organics, Solve Web Media and Origin Coffee. Together they are accelerating a global culture shift to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy.

“The B Corp journey offers a moment to celebrate what you do but also challenge yourself as an individual, as a business and as a business community. Using the BIA (an online B Impact Assessment tool which is completely free to all businesses) you can delve into all areas of your business and see where there’s room for improvement. It is a 360-degree review,” explains Georgie.

“At Wild West we were doing a lot of great things already. We’ve always been a people business and are passionate about supporting the community through pro bono work for charities such as Young & Talented Cornwall and Cornwall Christmas Fair, so part of the process was fairly straightforward. I’m not going to lie though, it was also really challenging – and rightly so, it is a highly credible accreditation. You need to be dedicated and it requires a commitment from the whole team.”

On the flipside many businesses in the B Corp community credit the accreditation process with being hugely supportive. You don’t have to be perfect – the B Corporation assessors know that you’re on a journey and aren’t there to integrate you, it’s more about teasing out what you already do and moving at your own pace.

“It took us around one year to achieve accreditation, with a pause during Covid, and during that time it become integral to the strategy of the business. As a company everybody is behind it - to future proof the company but more generally, just to feel great about what we do.”

There were some easy-gain actions that Wild West implemented immediately to up their environmental and social game. “We introduced purpose days enabling team members to go off and do something good and changed energy provider. It doesn’t sound very revolutionary now but pre-covid we also increased our support for working from home and part-time working, and scrapped aeroplane travel.”

As part of the agency’s continual development, Wild Card is now developing initiatives to help tackle food poverty – something that is very close to the food and drink agency’s heart – and they are working hard to widen diversity and inclusion. THE BEAUTY OF B CORP IS THAT PROFIT ISN’T A DIRTY WORD, YOU NEED TO MAKE MONEY TO DO GOOD STUFF. PEOPLE, PLANET AND PROFIT COME TOGETHER BEAUTIFULLY

So why do it? “Because it makes us feel good as people and as an agency and to be completely honest, because it betters the agency and makes commercial sense. The beauty of B Corp is that profit isn’t a dirty word, you need to make money to do good stuff. People, planet and profit come together beautifully. B Corp allows us to speak confidentially and have conversations with brands that we would love to work with. It aligns passions and opens doors,” enthuses Georgie.

To inspire other businesspeople in the same way that he inspired Georgie back in the autumn of 2019, Matt Hocking has joined forces with Russel Cosway of Gydeline to create B Local Cornwall, one of only a handful of local B Corp groups in the country. Sharing knowledge and best practice, the group helps other businesses on the journey and Georgie encourages others to get in touch and follow in her footsteps: “For Wild West the benefit of attaining B Corp and also going through the process has been tenfold. It has touched and improved every part of the business – doing good business is the only way to do business, especially in Cornwall where there is such a strong sense of place.”

The LEAP team