But what does it mean to be a Certified B Corporation?
Well, in short, B Corps are businesses that voluntarily meet the highest standards for social and environmental performance and The Wellbeing Farm is the first independent Weddings & Events venue in the UK to achieve B Corp!
Celia Gaze, founder of The Wellbeing Farm and Head Stable Maid for the Llamas, said:
“B Corporation certification is arguably the crème de la crème of eco credentials and for a small independent farm-based hospitality venue to achieve this is amazing. I think we are the first events and wedding venue in the UK! It has been a crazy journey which started with us installing a wind turbine to power the farm. We are proud to have been recognised for our commitment and values and delighted to be part of the global movement of people using business as a force for good. We hope we now pave the way for many more hospitality businesses to get involved in this important business movement”.
“We have joined some of the best companies in the world who have been certified as a B Corporate (or B Corp) and who are reinventing business by pursuing purpose as well as profit. The certification means that we have been independently verified by B Lab as having met rigorous social and environmental standards which represent our commitment to goals outside of shareholder profit. We are delighted to have achieved a verified score of 97.6 points.
We were independently assessed across five key impact areas of Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers. The certification process is rigorous, you have to achieve a minimum score of over 80 and as part of the process you have to provide evidence of socially and environmentally responsible practices relating to energy supplies, waste and water use, worker compensation, diversity and corporate transparency. We’ve also officially changed our company articles at Companies House to legally embed our commitment to purpose beyond profit.
And in case you were wondering what other companies are B Corps, these include well-known brands such as The Guardian, innocent, Patagonia, The Body Shop, Abel & Cole, Ben & Jerry’s, Graze, Nike, Café Direct, Danone, Toast Ale and other incredible brands.”
The story of The Wellbeing Farm was published as a book in 2020 ‘Why Put a Bowtie on a Llama? How a crazy idea can change your life and transform your business.’
Useful links:
There are currently over 670 B Corps in the UK and 4,600 worldwide. The Wellbeing Farm is one of the first events venues and wedding venues to become a B Corp certified business in the world.
