Congratulations to Stride Treglown for becoming the first architect in the AJ100 and one of only a handful of firms in the UK built environment sector to achieve the B Corp® certification and join a growing, inspiring community. They underwent a challenging six-month process to achieve their certification, which “[threw] up a few surprises”, as Director Pierre Wassenaar put it, but ultimately was very rewarding for the whole practice. 

Certified B corporations are businesses that meet the highest standard of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. The B Corp movement – which is overseen by the B Lab Global network – was founded in the US in 2006, and the UK is the fastest growing B Corp community in the world, with more than 450 certified businesses with a combined revenue of more than £4.3 billion. Other B Corps from the UK built environment sector include Kennedy Woods architects, Igloo Regeneration, FORE Partnership, Planit I.E, WWA, Urban Foundry, Sero Homes and Joseph Homes.

The community is united in the belief that society’s most challenging problems cannot be solved by government and nonprofits alone. By harnessing the power of business, B Corps use profits and growth to a greater end: positive impact for their employees, communities, and the environment.

David Hunter, Chair at Stride Treglown, explained the importance of becoming a Certified B Corp company in the current climate:

“The buzzword of the moment is “recovery” and we have an extraordinary opportunity to rebuild our economy and society in a more ethical and sustainable way. The need to balance the demands of people, planet and profit have never been more urgent against the backdrop of a world in the midst of a pandemic and an ever-increasing climate emergency.

“Whilst the industry has been taking steps in various areas, from environmental initiatives to diversity, and conversations about social value, we need to bring all these together and embed them into how we all run our businesses and how we work together to tackle the enormous challenges of the coming years.”

It’s really inspiring to see Stride Treglown leading the way in the industry with such an important initiative. To see more about their journey with Rapport3, read our case study here. To discover how they handled the impact of Covid on their staff when the pandemic began last year, check out the recording of our popular “Weathering the COVID Storm” webinar - hosted in collaboration with Stride’s Head of HR Sean Peacock.