6 years as a B Corp – completing our third certification

Written by Tom Greenwood - May 5, 2023

I’m excited to announce that six years after we first became a certified B Corp, Wholegrain Digital has now completed its third B Corp certification process. What’s more, we’ve achieved our highest score ever, with 122.1 points, which is a real testament to the work our team has been doing in recent years to continuously improve Wholegrain as a business.

When we first certified in 2017, we achieved a score of 84.2 and then in 2020, we recertified with 108.4 points. So we’ve managed to maintain an upward trajectory and far exceed the average score of companies completing the B impact Assessment, which is 50.9 points, so I think we’re doing pretty well in achieving our ambition of creating a model of a socially and environmentally responsible business.

In large part, the improvements in our B Corp score this time have been thanks to the work that we’ve been doing serving purpose led clients, reducing the environmental impact of websites and consulting with other organisations to help them reduce the environmental impact of their own digital technology. We qualified for three Impact Business Models (IBMs) under Mission Lock, Resource Conservation and Customer Stewardship.

While it’s great to be recognised with a high score, I’ve always taken the approach that we don’t do it for the points and I actually went into this recertification with a mindset that we should just fill it in and see what happens, even if we don’t score as highly as last time. Thankfully that turned out pretty good!

The B Impact Assessment can be a great guide and inspiration to support improvement but when it comes down to it, we never want to do things just for the sake of earning extra points. I believe that we should always run the company in the way that we feel is right, regardless of whether or not it earns us points. If it does, then that’s a bonus. In fact, some of the things that I’m most proud of at Wholegrain are things that don’t get any recognition in the B Impact Assessment, such as our incentive for using renewable energy at home, or vegetarian food policy, and our Climate Perks travel scheme.

The B Corp assessment, together with its fantastic community, is one of many things that help us to continuously improve and be a better company, but it doesn’t define who we are and should never dictate how we do what we do. I’m proud to have re-certified and look forward to see what boundaries we can push between now and our next recertification in 2026.