Could every business be a force for good within 10 years?

B Lab UK’s strategy has been developed and piloted over more than a year. It’s a year that has ushered in profound change to the context in which we work. We’ve seen new governments in the UK and the USA, with the latter accelerating headwinds against business progress on environmental and social issues, and against diversity and inclusion in particular. These pressures reinforce our belief in the change that is necessary,and they must strengthen our commitment to bold goals in the face of resistance. They also remind us that, among the many competing meta narratives of our age, constant change is the common theme. It is a theme we must embrace.

To be introducing a five year strategy for B Lab UK as we navigate these changes, we must acknowledge the necessary hubris behind any multi-year plan: we can set a destination, but we would be foolish to believe that we know what lies around the corner. 

This strategy then, like any good strategy, does not promise all the answers. Instead it tells a story — and it is a story about changing the world. However, this story is open-ended. We are at the beginning, setting the scene.

In the coming months, we will take a major step forward with a new set of standards for B Corp Certification, due to be published imminently. These standards, developed globally in consultation with thousands of academics and business leaders across the world, present a moment of transformation for our movement. They offer very tangible proof of concept of the way that good business can be done, in a way that is both ambitious and attainable. And this in turn helps to bring clarity to B Lab UK’s goal as stewards of that movement: how can we use this proof of concept to change the wider system and culture of business, so that rather than being an outlier, business as a force for good becomes the norm?  

Equipped with these new standards, and navigating this uncertainty, what fuels our vision and animates our strategy is its humanity. Just like any good story, this strategy is about people. It is about the kind of work we all want to do, the kind of organisations we want to be part of, and the kind of world we want to live in.

This is a challenge we embrace. We welcome it because, as John F. Kennedy would say 'it is hard', and also because it reflects the fundamental challenge of business and the economy in the 21st century: how to scale, to build a resilient economy, while also reconnecting with people and the planet; taking true ownership over this impact and turning its enormous power to solving profound problems.

We've captured this challenge in an ambitious 10-year goal: for all UK businesses to be a force for good within the next ten years. Yet crucially, we don't yet know what this future will look like — we will build it together with a wider movement of individuals and organisations who share our vision. We will need to learn every step of the way.

And the people we will learn from are of course those already using business as a force for good — those working in, for, or with B Corps and other purposeful businesses — the leaders without which we could not dream of such ambition. The UK B Corp community has created momentum for a different kind of business.  In this strategy you'll read about how we see our role to unlock their ability to influence change at scale.