Throughout March, Fluid has been joining a global community of almost 4000 businesses to talk about what it means to be a B Corp and share the story of Better Business. We've been celebrating businesses (just like us) who are doing things differently and are driving change.
If you’ve missed what’s been going on, here’s our handy roundup of a busy B Corp month.
As the UK’s first promotional products company to gain B Corporation certification. We're super proud to be part of this movement to redefine success in business and build a more inclusive and sustainable economy, meeting higher standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability.
Week 1 - Workers: What does it mean to be a better employee?
This week focused on the work of our Family Pillar Group and how the group helps support the wellbeing of our Fluid family. Senior Marketing Assistant Mat Appleton talked about being part of the Fluid Family pillar group and the work it does. We also had a discussion throughout the business about what Diversity and Inclusion mean to us, and following a review of the feedback, we’ll work to address the feedback from the discussion.
Week 2 - Customers: What does it mean to be a better steward to our customers?
We like to consider our customers as our friends, building mutually valuable relationships that will bring both commercial success and positive industry change. It’s about valuing partnerships over transactional relationships and being successful together over simply making a profit. With that in mind, our Procurement Director Peter Murdoch talked in-depth about the work of the Fluid Friends pillar group. We gave a big shout-out to one of our supplier friends, The Pen Warehouse, and the good work they do in partnership with us.
Our product spotlight was the bottle you may have seen all over Instagram Stories - Ocean Bottle. The work this fellow B Corp does is AMAZING, for every Ocean Bottle sold the equivalent of 1000 plastic bottles are collected, sorted, and recycled into new products. Ocean Bottle also has everything you’d expect from a reusable bottle, such as 5 different colourways inspired by the natural world, keeping drinks hot or cold to last the working day, plus it's easy to clean, thanks to being dishwasher safe. It’s 100% recyclable and comes in recyclable kraft packaging. It’s the ultimate, sustainable lifetime gift for your employees or customers.
Our BrandNew Start Business grant was also launched. After a tough twelve months for business due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to give a helping hand in the post lockdown world. It's £10,000 worth of merchandise, branded to your requirements, giving business a boost when coming out of lockdown.
Week 3 - Environment: What does it mean to be a better steward of the planet?
Back in July we joined over 700 certified B Corporations in a commitment to being Net Carbon Zero by 2030! You can read more about our journey and how we’ll get there here. Our Marketing & Sustainability Director Jon Birrell talked about the work of our Fluid Futures pillar group. This group is dedicated to finding ways to do things better - listening to new ideas, starting conversations, and encouraging small changes that make our industry a better place.
What about another cool new product made from something everyone is using right now? The disposable facemask! Thanks to The De Graaf Groep, a large waste processor in the Netherlands for coming up with a solution. They collect used masks from supermarket drop-off points and nursing homes. They then shred these masks and turn them into plates, which we use to create handy, sustainable products like laptop sleeves, phone cases, book covers, bookends, and more!
We understand that when it comes to environmental and sustainability terminology it can be quite difficult to get a grasp on what everything means. What exactly is the difference between carbon footprint and carbon emissions? So our handy guide to sustainability will hopefully make it that little less daunting.
Week 4 - Community: What does it mean to be a better steward to communities?
Also within the remit of the Futures pillar is giving back to the communities and to projects, as part of our commitment to our wider communities. We encourage the team to get involved in various charitable works to highlight issues and help where we can. We've also set up a Charity & Community Project Match Funding scheme, since starting the scheme we have raised over £18,000 for good and worthy causes. Read more about who and what we’ve raised here. There’s also a handy blog from our marketing team on how you can make your merchandise more meaningful with hints and tips on how to brand eco products to make them more impactful.
Week 5 - Governance: What does it mean to be a better business?
A jam-packed B Corp Month comes to an end with us talking about the G-word - Governance. Unlike traditional corporations, certified B corporations are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions not only on their shareholders but also on their workers, suppliers, communities, consumers, and the environment.
Being a certified B Corporation totally fits with our business ethos and is a manifestation of our ethics, values, and vision: Meaningful Merchandise Encouraging customers to make informed product choices, as well as giving the best brand impact, and Exceptional People: Giving everyone who works for us and with us, the opportunity to be the best they can be.
It’s really heartening to be talked about in the same breath, with brands such as, Patagonia, Innocent, Finisterre, Ben & Jerry’s, Danone, Method, and The Body Shop who are also a part of the B Corp movement.
Find out more about what this all means from Jon Birrell our Marketing & Sustainability Director who talks about B Corp, our recent commitment to the UN Global Compact, thoughts around being a better business, and reshaping capitalism for people and the planet.
