What’s a B Corp?

Before we get into the juicy details of how we’re feeling, and what it mean to us, we thought it’d be wise to give a quick refresh of what B Corporations are – as defined by B Lab, the certifying body for B Corporations:

“Certified B Corporations are a new kind of business that balances purpose and profit. They are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. This is a community of leaders, driving a global movement of people using business as a force for good.”

It’s the final line that we really resonated with us; ‘business as a force for good’. It’s punchy and it summarises what we want StudioXAG to be.

What it means to us

Being a B Corp is much more than just ticking boxes and filling in forms; it’s a way we behave, how we see the world, and what we aim to achieve.

We chose to get certified because our people, our planet and our prosperity have been integral to how we run StudioXAG. In fact, people and the planet are now measured as part of our ‘triple bottom line’ – a way to measure our environmental and social impact, alongside our financial performance. People, planet, prosperity. The three p’s.

We want to make being a ‘good’ business the default, not the goal. With our certification in hand, we can help accelerate the change we need to see, and set an example for others to follow.

What it means for our clients

B Corp values made sense to us from the start – we found we already shared much of the same ethos, but we’ve taken the time in the past few years to align ourselves even further. Our journey to certifying as a B Corp has allowed us to deepen our impact, and ensure we are always acting as a force for good. It means we have an extra level of responsibility to our clients and projects we work on, an accountability that can underpin every project we work on.

The work we create with our clients and our collaborators has got us to this point, so being certified is really a moment of celebration of everyone and everything we’ve achieved together. Now it’s time to look to the future, to propel forward with a renewed sense of purpose.

The future looks bright(er)

So what’s next?

We’re on our road to Net Zero – adding no more greenhouse gases to the Earth’s atmosphere than the amount we’re taking out – which, like becoming a B Corp, will take some time. It’s a key objective for us to achieve, and we’ll post updates as we move forward.

We’re lucky that our London and Amsterdam studios are amongst a buzzing mix of other exciting businesses, in areas that have a lot to offer. We’re exploring ways in which we can build new relationships with our neighbours, and support innovation to help our community thrive.

As a rule of thumb; transparency is key. Especially to how a business is run. We’re working to increase our transparency and give access to how we operate, why we make decisions and what those decisions mean. This also applies to projects, where we’re looking to measure and improve the sustainability of our work, and provide a transparent view into our efforts.

Being a B Corp shows that we’re facing forward, and that the path we’ve followed that has got us to this point was the right one to choose. We haven’t had to change our values, or drastically alter our approach. We’ve just refocussed, realigned and re-energised.

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It turns out we were always a B Corp, we just didn’t know it yet.