Awareness of B Corp Certification in the UK reaches 51%
New data from B Lab UK’s 2024 brand awareness survey revealed a high recognition of B Corp Certification across the UK. Meg Dacey, brand and creative manager, shares the key insights.
Nearly 20 years ago, the B Corp movement was founded on a bold idea: that business can be a vehicle for systems change. In today’s climate of shifting expectations and heightened scrutiny, trust must be earned through action and tangible evidence.
Certifying as a B Corp is a comprehensive and rigorous process — and it’s getting even harder. The launch of the new B Corp standards marks a pivotal shift. Embedding stronger requirements across areas like climate justice, human rights, and fair work, the new standards elevate the role of B Corps.
As the world around us evolves — and not always in expected ways — it’s right that our standards do too. In a politically polarised, environmentally urgent, and socially divided world, B Corps and purpose-driven businesses are navigating a landscape where standing for something can carry reputational risk — but not standing for anything carries far greater cost.
To understand public perceptions of B Corp, and the role of business in society, we’ve worked with B Corp research agency Fors Marsh for the last 3 years. Our November 2024 survey of 1,791 UK adults, weighted to represent the UK population*, offers new insights.
This blog explores the insights and makes the case for why, in a period of backlash and accountability, companies that lead with clarity will lead the change.
The public is looking for proof, not promises
At a time when consumers have reason to scrutinise corporate claims, the UK public is looking to certifications to guide their choices about businesses. 63% of the UK public use certifications to help them make decisions on which businesses to buy from or work for, up from 58% in 2023 and 56% in 2022.
The data also demonstrates a belief in the power of public influence: 74% of the UK public agree or strongly agree that consumers can impact environmental sustainability through their purchases. And 65% felt the same with regards to impacting social change.
Over half of the UK public are now aware of B Corp Certification
To understand public awareness of B Corp, Fors Marsh combined those who recall the logo and those who recall the term “B Corp” or “Certified B Corporation” to give us “aggregate awareness.”** In 2024, public awareness of B Corp in the UK reached 51%, the highest figure in any country surveyed. This figure also peaks in 25-34 year olds to 63% and 61% for those aged 35-44.
This is a significant increase compared to previous years: aggregate B Corp awareness was 34% in 2022 and 38% in 2023. This suggests a broader cultural shift. When exploring with Fors Marsh what the possible drivers for the considerable increase in awareness were, one hypothesis was the delayed impact of the dramatic growth of the community from 2020 to 2022.
From Belfast to Brighton: B Corp awareness is rising across the UK
In England, more than half (52%) of the public are now familiar with B Corp, with awareness also emerging in Scotland (45%), Wales (38%), and Northern Ireland (35%).
When digging into awareness in regions across England, the message is clear: business as a force for good has gained traction. London leads with 70% awareness, 57% in the South West (the two regions with the highest number of B Corps) followed by 53% in the North West, 52% in the North East, 49% in South East, 48% in East Midlands, and 46% in Yorkshire and the Humber, the West Midlands, and the East of England.
With B Corps operating in every part of the UK and 18 B Locals driving community-led engagement, the movement has built a strong, decentralised network of advocates. And the data shows these efforts are paying off.
B Corps are the driving force behind awareness
The UK B Corp community proudly champions the certification and visibility is paying off. When asking respondents who are aware of B Corp where they’ve seen the logo or heard “B Corp” they cited a wide range of touchpoints:
- On a product (45%)
- Company website or blog (34%)
- On social media (31%)
- In an advertisement (30%)
- In a shop (26%)
- On the news/in the media (25%)
In cities like London where there are over 1,000 B Corps, the logo has become a familiar sight—almost impossible to miss. This growing presence of the logo, coupled with B Corps being in every corner of the UK has undoubtedly driven awareness of the movement.
Do people truly understand what B Corps are?
When respondents self-reported their knowledge of B Corp Certification, 58% sit within the mid range of ‘some knowledge’***, with 15% reporting ‘extremely knowledgeable’. As seen in previous surveys, there’s a common perception that B Corp Certification evaluates “environmental practices” (84%) versus combined “social and environmental practices” (47%).
Where there are knowledge gaps, we know this can lead to misconceptions and criticism. Despite this, trust and sentiment towards B Corp remain solid as awareness has grown. 80% of respondents aware of B Corp reported “some”, “a lot”, or “a very high level” of trust in the certification, and 50% believe the standards to be very rigorous or extremely rigorous. While 26% felt more favourably towards B Corp, just 3% felt less favourably, and 70% recorded no change compared to 6 months ago. This is in line with our 2023 data.
Closing the knowledge gap is a priority. During B Corp Month, we focused on building a deeper understanding of what it means to be a B Corp—and that work continues through our partnership with Channel 4. With the introduction of new standards requiring B Corps to meet minimum expectations across all seven impact topics, the definition of what it means to be a B Corp will be clearer than ever before.
The public wants businesses to be a force for good
Despite the urgency of the climate crisis and widening social inequality, DEI (diversity, equity, inclusion) and ESG (environmental, social, governance) have become flashpoints in current political and cultural debates, embraced by some and rejected by others. This tension signals progress—systems don’t shift quietly. Our data shows strong public support for better business: after learning about B Corp Certification, 66% of people think the government should encourage all companies to behave like B Corps, and 62% are interested in buying from them.
Your role as a B Corp
B Corps sit at the heart of our strategy and 10-year goal to make every business a force for good. If these insights have compelled you to take action, here’s some ideas:
Get started with the new standards:
- Start your self-assessment on the new standards and determine where you’re excelling and where you have room to improve.
- Utilise the B Hive to collaborate with one another throughout the year, to drive collective action and transform sectors and industries at scale.
- We have a new standards training series coming soon, stay tuned
Improve the knowledge gap:
- Explore and experiment with ways to deepen understanding of what B Corp means amongst your stakeholders. You could host a team engagement session, a supplier breakfast, or invite your customers to an event.
- Engage with your B Local, driving awareness and understanding at a regional level.
- Make sure your team members are signed up to The Buzz for regular updates from us, and encourage them to attend B Social events.
- Leverage the tools available to you, including the brand book, the B Hive and the B Corp community communications circle (email media@bcorporation.uk to register your interest).
Get involved in our upcoming campaigns:
- Amplify the B Corp x Channel 4 ad takeover in late September.
- Make sure B Corp Month 2026 is in your calendar.
- Stay tuned for more information on how we’re celebrating 10 years of B Lab UK in November
*Read our 2023 brand awareness data
What’s the awareness of B Corp Certification in other countries surveyed?
About the data
*Methodology
A web-based survey of individuals based in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland was drawn from a pool of non-random panel members.
1,791 people responded to the survey and data were weighted to be generalisable to the UK population in terms of country, age (18+), gender, and education using UK census data.
Fielding Dates: 1/11/24-8/11/24
**Aggregate awareness
Respondents who indicated that they were aware of the B Corp Certification by selecting “yes” to the B Corp awareness question ("Have you heard of a “B Corp” or “Certified B Corporation?") OR respondents who selected the B Corp logo in the aided logo recall question ("Before taking this survey, which of the following logos, if any, have you seen before?"). Both are considered aware of B Corp Certification, giving us the final aggregate awareness measure.
***Knowledge
Respondents self-reported on a 1-7 point scale: 1 being “not at all knowledgeable” and 7 being “extremely knowledgeable”. Mid-range knowledge is considered to be 3-5.