This year, we’ve been at the centre of two significant announcements, from our first acquisition of Tenet & You to our B Corp certification! Both announcements have been important in shaping My Pension Expert’s growth, and we’re thrilled about our achievements we’ve accomplished this year so far.
In this week’s blog, we thought we’d highlight on our B Corp journey and speak to the team members that made it possible!
What is B Corp?
A certification such as B Corp is something we have strived to gain which strongly connects with our business. We aim to incorporate with Environment and Social Governance (ESG) into everything we do. Whether it be our carbon literacy or the firms we use for printing, ESG is at the heart of everything we do.
According to B Corp’s website, the certification is a “designation that a business is meeting high standards of verified performance, accountability, and transparency on factors from employee benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials”. Obtaining the certification requires meeting several, including a demonstration of high social and environmental performance.
The team behind it all
Like other gains we’ve accumulated as a business, B Corp is a project that was operated by hard-working members of our team. A process started in April 2023 and the application was fronted by myself and our and Marketing and Communications Executive, Natalie Rowe.
As the driving force behind the application, we spoke to Natalie about her experience managing the process!
When did you start the B Corp application?
We started applying for B Corp in April 2023, but the research began in June 2022. That summer, we had a team of summer interns who helped gather the information we thought we might need for the application. When I started on the project the following April, I looked through what they had pulled together and started formulating a plan for how we were going to attack the seemingly endless questions!
What did you enjoy most about the process?
I really enjoyed directly corresponding with B Corp and the suggestions they made to us throughout the process on how we could better ourselves as a company, to make more of an impact in our area and the whole world! It was cool seeing that simple projects can affect such a big area.
What sort of information did you need to gather for the application?
For the applications, there were five main areas that they asked us questions about governance, workers, community, environment and customers! Each area varied in how much information was needed. For example, for the workers section, we needed to send an entire spreadsheet with the information of our employees. This was everything ranging from gender to whether they were office-based, how many hours they worked and showcased the diversity in our workplace.
Why is B Corp important?
I think the B Corp certification is important because it shows our commitment to the planet and everyone in it. As a company so focused on doing our bit to make the world a better place, it’s crucial that we have something that signifies this. B Corp shows that we want to be better and give back to our clients who come to us for help and support. I think it’s a massive movement, and I’m glad to be a part of it.