11 London & B Corp

By Matthew Hunt

On 11th May 2022, after almost a full year of form-filling, document uploads, verification calls and providing metaphorical corporate inside leg measurements, 11 London became the first UK healthcare advertising agency to be B Corp certified. 

For those not in the know, certified B Corporations, or B Corps, are companies verified by B Lab (a US nonprofit organisation founded in 2006 that promotes business as a force for good) to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. B Lab’s strategy is rooted in the global Theory of Change, aiming to redefine the role of business within our economic system. Being B Corp is a bit like having a Fair Trade logo, Red Tractor stamp and a Neighbourhood Watch sticker on your brand, and a whole lot more. 

Nearly 3 years later, we’re going through the same process - this time more exacting - to re-certify. This takes a large amount of my personal time, as the process needs to be undertaken by someone with an overview of the whole company, our customers, supply chain, accreditations, policies, finances, salary packages, team structure, articles of association, board structure, shareholding structure - and so on. 

But is it worth it? That’s the question we had to ask ourselves before committing to all this time (and a not insignificant cost, too). 

In truth, it’s hard to answer as there’s no ‘control’ version of us that didn’t become B Corp certified at the same time, so we’ll never really know for sure. But this is why we decided, on balance, to go for it again…

First, the downsides - beyond cost and time. The movement has gained huge momentum in recent times - in the UK alone, we were one of around 900 companies to have met the criteria in 2022 - and now that figure stands at over 2,500. Whilst this is positive in many ways, in selfish terms it’s less of a USP for us as a business. 

We’re now part of a growing directory of businesses - many of whom are happy to email me on an almost daily basis asking to provide services or ‘have a chat’ given we’re all clearly of the same mindset. I replied to the first few, but it’s too many to deal with now so I’m afraid they go unread. It’s become a sales tool and a reason to approach, which is understandable, but so many of the approaches are just irrelevant to what we do. 

Very few of our commercial clients are B Corp certified, although there is now a small handful of pharma companies on the list it’s hard for them to join. Pharma is now described as a ‘controversial industry’ by B Lab, up there with debt collection agencies, mining and recreational marijuana. Whether this is fair is a topic for another day, but it has made working with this sector and still being B Corp certified quite a bit harder - we’ve had to put in place whistleblower policies, grievance procedures, and go in front of B Lab’s Risk Review Committee. 

But if those are the downsides, there are some clear upsides…

More of our clients - right across the board - are asking for our DE&I and supply chain credentials in order to prove that we’d be a good ethical fit for them. Not just charities but commercial organisations too as they themselves are put under more scrutiny. Waving a B Corp certificate under procurement’s nose hasn’t - as yet - made those admin boxes magically disappear, but it’s usually well appreciated as short hand for ‘yes, we could work with you’. I suspect that will increase over time as B Corp becomes more mainstream - both as an understood proxy, and as more ‘B Corp to B Corp’ business is done based on shared values. 

From a staff point of view, there’s no doubt that it’s improved recruitment and retention. The team really like the fact that we walk the sustainability walk, and we’ve had a huge increase in the number of speculative applications to work with us - citing this very reason. That’s made recruitment of good people a lot easier - in both our commercial and non-profit health sectors. Our employee turnover rate is also the lowest of any agency I’ve ever worked at, and - beyond our collective charm and good looks - I’m sure it’s had a role to play in that. 

The final benefit is the least cut and dried, but important nonetheless, and it goes to the heart of what we’re trying to build at 11 London. We absolutely believe that the work we do should be beneficial to all our stakeholders - from suppliers, clients, the team, our neighbourhood and the wider global ecosystem. Sure, we’re a small cog in a big machine - in the same way that the UK is in relation to the likes of USA and China - but reputation matters right now more than it ever did, and we want to create and be part of something that’s decent and here for the long-term - not a bunch of fly-by-night, immoral chancers. 

While some global players (nations and brands) are now behaving as though they can ride roughshod over all in their path, I personally think this is myopic and that goodwill and a clear vision are vital aspects of doing business beyond the pure financial transaction - it’s what makes people want to work with you and for you, after all. It’s not ‘woke’, political correctness-gone-mad, greenwashing or narcissistic, it’s just about being decent and thinking things through properly. 

And if the B Corp logo is increasingly recognised shorthand for this, then why wouldn’t we want to stay part of it?