Building Legal Solutions
ESG, B-Corp and Social Responsibility
The world seems to be full of acronyms and it’s hard to keep up as new ones slip into the business lexicon. Up until relatively recently, ESG hadn’t featured in my personal glossary until it was raised with us by our PI insurers as the latest factor that was likely to be considered by them in the future when we renew our PI insurance.
ESG is short for Environmental, Social and Governance and is a set of standards measuring a business's impact on society, the environment, and how transparent and accountable it is.
Although I hadn’t been aware of the term, we had already been making strides as a business to improve these standards as we continue to grow.
We have started the process of scoring ourselves against the wide-ranging criteria set down to achieve B-Corp status and part of our strategic plan includes achieving this standard. B-Corp is a growing movement with the vision of making all businesses a force for good.
ESG and B Corp scoring criteria generally align, so if a company is or would qualify as a B Corp, they’re likely to be a strong ESG performer. One big difference between ESG ratings and B Corp certification standards though, is that there is one universal standard for measuring B Corp performance, whereas ESG rating systems are much more variable.
It's also important to us to make closer ties with our local community (especially in the context of our move to Warwick last year). This year we have brought more structure to that by nominating two charities who will benefit from our fundraising efforts.
Our nominated charities this year are Myton Hospice and Guide Dogs. We kicked off the year with a coffee morning in support of Guide Dogs and last week’s ‘Food and Fizz’ event focussed on local businesses raising money for Myton Hospice. Caroline Mann is undertaking our next event single-handed when she runs the London Marathon in support of Guide Dogs.
If you would like to help us support either or both of our chosen charities then look out for news of future events. You can also make a donation via our Just Giving pages here: