September 2023: The UN General Assembly calls for an urgent shift in our lifestyles
B Corp Certification proves more businesses are using their resources to benefit people & the planet, announcing now 1,500 companies are certified in the UK alone
Why FF&M became a B Corp
Dennis Francis, President of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly, has called for a transition to a ‘mode of producing, consuming and living that is respectful of and in equilibrium with all people, species and ecosystems’. Against this backdrop, Fallow, Field and Mason has become B Corporation (B Corp) Certified.
B Corp is an international not-for-profit network supporting businesses to collectively reorient the global economy toward supporting people and the planet in addition to generating profit. Established in 2006, B Corp’s mission is to make business a force for good and empower businesses to address the pressing challenges humanity faces including the climate crisis. The certification is also legally binding, involving a change to a company’s Articles of Association, and requires recertification every three years.
With a 2021 survey finding that of those who had heard of B Corp, 70% would be more likely to buy from a B Corp business, clearly a growing number of consumers trust the certification to guide their spending decisions. To become B Corp Certified, businesses need to demonstrate genuine effort to reorient their operations towards social and environmental good rather than offer empty promises. The exacting environmental, social and governance standards that businesses must meet to achieve certification makes B Corp a credible and authoritative stamp of approval when it comes to responsible business.
At the UN General Assembly in 2022, UN Secretary-General António Guterres called out PR companies for masking the irresponsible activities of their clients, particularly those within the fossil fuel industry. As one of only 25 UK B Corp communication consultancies, FF&M joins a growing community of B Corp firms, a total of 1,500 in the UK, committed to making their businesses forces for good by supporting both people and the planet, while generating profit sustainably.
The UN’s position is shared by other multilateral organisations. In January 2023, the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Device was signed into law and requires EU companies with over 500 employees to publish an annual ESG report. By 2026, small and medium-sized companies selling goods and services in the EU will have to comply with this too. This is in support of the EU’s goal of making Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. While the EU isn’t requiring companies to become accredited B Corps, it’s clear however that policymakers are legislating to accommodate tangible environmental change while allowing businesses to make a profit in a more responsible way.
Commenting on FF&M’s B Corp journey, FF&M’s founder & MD Juliet Fallowfield said,
“Achieving B Corp Certification has given me reassurance that we’re building a business with ethical practice at the core and it isn’t just me saying we’re doing this: we’ve proved it through independent verification. Going through the process, I was proud of what we were already doing when it came to both our team and our clients. People make or break any job and given we scored 24 points in the Community element of the process, I am thrilled FF&M has been recognised for looking after all our different stakeholders.”
Within the wider media sector, there have been a number of recent B Corp certifications awarded. Respected luxury lifestyle magazine Country & Town House became the world’s first B Corp glossy magazine in August 2023, while business title Raconteur recently gained B Corp status too. National titles including The Guardian have also been accredited.
Lucy Cleland, founding editor of Country & Town House, comments, “doing our B Corp certification was a public way of showing our staff, our readers and our advertisers how seriously we take our responsibilities towards being an ethical business. Given the huge social and environmental issues that threaten us on a micro and a macro level, I really think businesses have a crucial role to play. We didn't think about it from our sector, we thought about it as a business that believed in doing better. And really, it's only just the start, but doing the certification has equipped us to look at things differently and thus make different decisions.
I really believe that that internal passion is beginning to show through in our magazines. Content has shifted accordingly and the stories we tell and the people we profile are different from those we might have chosen a few years ago. And it's resonating too. Our last issue was our bestselling issue ever! Print's value is in its trust and longevity – so many titles have folded that it is even more crucial than ever to keep offering people something that's tangible and, critically, offline. And we need that offline time more than ever.”
Aisling Connaughton, co-founder of Cyd Connects sustainability consultancy that guided FF&M through the B Corp process, notes, “as B Corp experts we are seeing a trend of media outlets and agencies becoming increasingly aware of who their clients are and wanting to work with businesses that are matching their values. That’s why when your business becomes a B Corp, one question is who are your clients? Because the purpose of PR, marketing and communications is to help drive awareness and growth, it’s important for those agencies to think about what industries they are helping to fuel. Promoting businesses that are ruining the planet has consequences and it’s time we start being accountable for our actions.”
When Juliet founded FF&M in 2020, she had no prior experience of starting a company and has learnt along the way what to do now, next or never. By embarking on the B Corp process, Juliet learnt so much from the programme’s framework which pointed out both what she had not considered and also what she was doing right. From supporting the team to minimising our environmental impact, Juliet discovered what she could be doing to make an even more positive impact on both people and planet while also growing her business.
In founding a new company, Juliet had a blank canvas with which to nurture a company culture of which she personally is proud. This is in contrast to larger organisations where it is often harder to innovate at pace and which have entrenched practices. Having worked for multinational companies for 20 years and experienced different working cultures, Juliet could cherry-pick the best elements of their practices and set higher standards in areas where they didn’t excel. Even though FF&M is still a small business, should the business scale in the future FF&M has a strong foundation upon which to grow a company that has ethical and environmental integrity built into its DNA.
Requiring over 70 hours of forensic examination of all aspects of our business, B Corp Certification demonstrates our commitment to helping build the next generation of responsible businesses, both in the UK and internationally. With business experts auditing FF&M from all different points across finance, human resources and environmental responsibility, Juliet was reassured that as a new business owner, she is doing right by all her stakeholders.
People don’t always realise that service-based businesses can become B Corp certified, given they are not creating products. However, they still have stakeholders and supply chains that they are working with which are important to consider. The B Corp process offers them a structure within which to assess their environmental, social and governance arrangements to ensure they are benefitting all those who come into contact with their business.
The FF&M team will be sharing learnings from their B Corp journey with all their clients and encouraging them to use their businesses as forces for environmental and social good. FF&M and the wider B Corp community believe it’s possible to make money while acting with social and environmental integrity. FF&M chooses to only work with clients who share this view.
About Fallow, Field & Mason:
Fallow, Field & Mason is a B Corp-certified PR, communications and podcast production consultancy working with clients to build the next generation of responsible businesses. Believing that a company's founder, creative director or internal team is their own best storyteller when it comes to PR, we enable them to own their PR in-house for the long-term.
FF&M also offers an end-to-end podcast production service to drive further brand awareness in an intelligent, approachable and engaging way.
Before launching FF&M, Founder and Managing Director Juliet Fallowfield built and led in-house global press offices for luxury brands including CHANEL, Burberry, Shangri-La Hotels and De Beers for over 20 years.
About B Corp:
B Corp is an international not-for-profit network supporting businesses to collectively reorient the global economy toward supporting people and the planet in addition to generating profit. Established in 2006, B Corp’s mission is to make business a force for good and empower businesses to address the pressing challenges humanity faces including the climate crisis. The certification is also legally binding, involving a change to a company’s Articles of Association, and requires recertification every three years.