What is a
B Corp?

Find out how businesses are becoming forces for good...

It’s important that everyone works together to do their best for the planet – that includes people at home, charities, governments, and businesses! A certified ‘B Corp’ business has gone through a complicated assessment, that proves they’re using business as a force for good. But what does that mean? Let’s find out more…

What does B Corp mean?

A certified B Corporation, commonly known as ‘B Corp’, is a business that cares about their local community, employees, and the environment – as well as their customers.

When you see the B Corp label (below) on a product or website, you know that the company has proved that they care about purpose and profit. Only qualified businesses are allowed to use the label, and it’s not an easy thing to get!

a B corp label on a package. The label has a capital B in a white circle, and says 'certified'. — The B Corp label shows that a product has been produced by a certified B Corp company.

Since the B Corp label was first introduced in 2006, more than 150,000 businesses around the world have signed up for an impact assessment – but only 4,900 have passed. This just shows how good B Corps have to be!

So, what do B Corps do?

To pass their impact assessment and become a B Corp, businesses have to show that they treat employees, the environment, and the local community well.

Here are some examples of things that B Corps might do…

– Pay their employees a Living Wage at minimum, to ensure they have enough money to cover all the everyday needs of themselves and their families.
– Offer their employees extra training opportunities, to help them learn and develop.
– Care about the environment as much as they care about profit, and run the company openly and honestly, so that everyone can see where money is being spent.
– Record their carbon footprint, so they can start trying to reduce it.
– Act sustainably by reducing their waste, reusing whatever they can.
– Work with partners and suppliers who treat their employees ethically and who also consider the environment in their business plans.
– Listen to feedback from their customers and act on this accordingly.
– Create products that help save water, reduce emissions, or work towards social problems by providing access to education or reducing food poverty.
– Give back to their local community by giving employees volunteer days or by donating money to charity.

As you can see, there are lots of things to consider! B Corps have to think hard about the impact of their business, and their influence on everything and everyone around them.

Is National Geographic Kids a B Corp?

National Geographic Kids isn’t a B Corp – but the business that publishes the magazine in the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand is! That’s Creature & Co., a certified B Corporation.

There are only around 1,500 B Corps in the UK, and we’re proud to be published by one of them. Their impact assessment score is an impressive 102 – that’s well above the pass mark of 80!

But the hard work doesn’t end there. From making the magazine plastic-free, to giving our employees volunteer days and donating 1000s of magazines to disadvantaged kids, we’re continuing to do everything we can to become a better business.