Check out our 2023 impact report.
It’s true… smol had its own social and environmental aims right from launch.
BUT we STILL felt it was important to gain B Corp Certification. It was a way to affirm our efforts and plans and hopefully send a clear message to our customers that we remain committed to meeting high standards for both people and the planet PLUS it was a great way to help us clearly see where we can do more. We see B Corp Certification as a stepping stone on our journey towards the next stepping stone...
a fair assessment.
What’s unique about the B Corp assessment is the scoring system used to understand how a business is operating.
This B Impact Score is cleverly customised for each company, taking into account the fact that every business is unique, is a different size, operates in different sectors and in different geographies. And that makes sense. You wouldn’t assess a tiny startup in Indonesia with the same set of assessment criteria as a multinational based in Paris.
the scores are in!
The average UK business scores 50.9 which is NOT good enough to qualify. You need 80+.
And we are proud to say smol scored 99.3 which is a phenomenal score for our first assessment.
And no, it isn’t about collecting points BUT it feels good to gain recognition for the efforts and plans we have worked so hard on.
5 impact areas = 5 scores.
Our positive impact was assessed across 5 areas. And each area receives a score and THAT makes up the total score of 99.3. So how did each area fair?
This is where our overall mission, ethics, structure, transparency, and engagement around our impact is assessed. It’s all crucial to creating a better business. We scored a strong 13 in this area.
This area rates how smol contributes to our employees’ financial security, health, wellbeing, safety, career development, and engagement satisfaction. Nick, our co-founder, sums up our ambitions in this area:
“We continue to strive to be a leading employer of choice with an ambition to be at the forefront of best practice. We have a number of initiatives we are working on currently, and one I am particularly keen to advance is regarding work-life balance to support our team with a genuine focus on wellbeing.”
Our team is vital to our success so this is an important area and we scored 22.8.
The ‘Community’ score assesses our impact on the communities in which we operate (which essentially means YOU - our stakeholders). Points are given according to the ‘JEDI principles’ of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, PLUS any charitable giving and we received 14.8 points here.
Our overall environmental management practices and their impact on the air, climate, water, land and biodiversity are assessed here. Perhaps unsurprisingly for a business focused on sustainability, we received a super strong 45.1 points in this area.
What's more, we were super chuffed to be recognised as having two big impact areas in this sector - resource conservation (which means using less resources… and where we do use them, using wisely) and also reducing toxins in our products.
This area evaluates how we are looking after our customers. There are usually 5 operational points up for grabs here and we scored a healthy 3.4.
the good bits.
Our governance score was really strong and we’re pleased with that for sure. Committing to run smol in a way that promotes company success BUT also has a material positive impact on society and the environment is a key part of this achievement.
For the future, we have a number of improvement goals (around ethics, transparency and engagement) which makes the journey more rewarding. There’s always more to do!
the room for improvement bits.
Our workers score has our focussed attention. In fact we’ve already implemented engagement surveys, creating ways for people to express ideas and opinions etc. And whilst we scored really high on health and wellness, which we’ve always been passionate about, there’s still more work to do on career development and going that extra mile on employment support.
Want to know more about B Corp Certification and B Lab - the non-profit awarding organisation? Click here. And don’t forget our first impact assessment report here.
When you next see another of your favourite brands achieving B Corp certification, we hope the information above has given you a better idea about all the ways they’ll be doing good, just by taking a look at their B Impact Score!
LOG IN TO SEE YOUR IMPACT
