What does B Corp mean and how do beauty businesses get certified?

Everyone’s talking about B Corp – but what exactly is it, and why should you care?

B Corp is a global business certification, based on a robust sustainability framework that measures the entire social and environmental performance of each certifying business.

Recently, the B Corp Beauty Coalition launched, to improve beauty industry's sustainability standards. It's members include professional brands Aromatherapy Associates, Elemis, and Evolve Organic Beauty.

What gives the B Corp certification teeth is the legal commitment businesses are asked to make. B Corps in the UK change their Articles of Association to adopt a stakeholder business model. That means B Corps are legally required to move from a shareholder model to a stakeholder model and consider people and planet equally alongside profit.

According to iCrossing Beauty Trends Research (March 2022) there has been a sharp upturn in consumer searches for sustainable beauty, with a 400% year-onyear increase in B Corp beauty brand searches.

Now, more than ever, people are determined to work for, buy from and invest in businesses with purpose. The B Corp logo is now globally recognised by consumers, investors and business leaders, and its reputation is escalating at a staggering rate.

To become a BCorp, businesses must go through a rigorous certification process that involves several stages:

• Completing the B Corp Impact Assessment (BIA). This tracks and measures a business’s impact on all its stakeholders. It’s an intensive assessment focused on actions (rather than promises), with points awarded for positive impact and improvements. You need to score 80+ points to submit

• Making the legal change. If your business achieves 80+ points you’ll be asked to amend your company’s Articles of Association to incorporate a commitment to all stakeholders, including the planet.

• Getting your certification and joining the community – if you pass the verification, make the legal change and pay the certification fee, you’ll be furnished with the B Corp logo and invited to join the B Corp community.

You must then recertify every three years to keep your B Corp credentials.

Not all businesses can get B Corp certification. Only for-profit businesses that have been operating for over one year can apply.

However, any business, non-profit or charity can use the B Corp framework without becoming a BCorp. In fact, over 50,000 businesses worldwide do.

Completing the assessment and verification process is not an easy task (nothing worthwhile ever is) but the concept is simple; B Corp is more than a tally of your business’s beliefs and ambitions; it is a measure of your actions and commitments.

B Corp isn’t about ticking ESG boxes, or being neutral, it’s for businesses that want to be a force for good and change the world for the better.

Aisling Connaughton is a sustainability solutionist and the co-founder of Cyd Connects, a women-led sustainability consultancy which has taken multiple beauty and wellness brands through the B Corp process. She previously worked for beauty brands including Clarins and Darphin.