We’re B Corp Certified – Here’s What It Means For Us Going Forward

Over the past two years, we’ve been going through an assessment to become a Certified B Corporation™. As we join the B Corp ™ community, we’re reflecting on the journey and sharing what it means to us to become part of the movement.

B Corp™ was created in 2006 with a mission to inspire and enable people to use business as a force for good. In practice, being part of B Corp™ means treating your customers fairly, investing in the well-being of your employees, uplifting your community and being conscious of your impact on the environment.

There are B Labs across the world, and the B Lab UK is a charity that launched in 2015. B Corp™ requires businesses to go through an assessment and pass with at least 80 points to become a Certified B Corporation™.

Once certified, businesses can use the B Corp™ logo on their products and websites to show their commitment to the B Corp™ movement, and every three years, businesses will recertify to refresh their membership.

(Last year, the B Corp™ assessment was updated to a new system, but as we were already in the assessment process, we certified using the original assessment.)

The B Corp™ assessment contains five topic areas: Governance, Workers, Community, Customers and Environment. Each topic area includes a set of multiple-choice questions, which gains the company points. Ordinary companies usually sit at around 50 total points, with a company needing 80 points or over to pass.

This assessment evaluates five areas and focuses on;

• The company’s overall mission, ethics and transparency
• The company’s contributions to every worker’s well-being
• How the company interacts and engages with the local community
• The company’s environmental practices and impact
• How the company interacts with and cares for its customers

Once the assessment is completed, it’s analysed by the B Lab team before the company becomes certified. The time from submission to certification can take between 2 and 6 months, depending on the business.

B Corp™ helps businesses to thrive and have a positive impact on both people and the planet. The B Corp™ assessment provides the gold standard for businesses and hands them the tools to make a difference.

B Corp™ states that certification can help businesses to:

• Lead a movement by being part of the gold standard for good business practice
• Build relationships with a community of like-minded business leaders
• Attract employees through the positive impact the business has
• Improve their impact continuously and evolve with B Corp™
• Amplify the business voice through the B Corp™ seal
• Protect the business mission and keep it aligned

In 2024, we began our B Corp™ journey with a dedicated team of four people from different areas of the business. We asked our Managing Director (Ged), Finance Controller (Chris), Marketing Manager (Annabel) and Production Coordinator (Raisa) to lead the way with the certification.

The assessment invited us to reflect on every part of the business, from our employee holiday entitlement to our environmental impact. Some topics were already aligned with our policies, while others were a new area for us.

We were grateful to have Future Shift, a sustainability consultancy, on board to assist us with areas like calculating our carbon footprint and measuring our environmental impact. With their support, they handed us the tools to map our B Corp™ journey and together we worked hard to achieve B Corp™ status.

Sustainability has always been incredibly important to us. We continuously innovate our cards, reduce waste and invest in taking real climate action. Our B Corp™ journey so far has helped us to define our sustainability mission and set clear goals for the future.

Becoming a Certified B Corporation™ is a huge milestone for us, and we’ve found the process has enriched every area of our business. B Corp™ is not just a certification; it’s a movement and a promise from businesses to always try to do their best. We’re incredibly grateful to count ourselves among the B Corp™ community now, and we’re excited to see what the future brings.

Ged Mace, Managing Director of The Art File said: “As we grow as a company, we’re always looking at ways of how we can improve everything we do. B Corp™  seemed the ideal opportunity for The Art File to review how we nurture our team, how we look after our customers, the closeness of our relationships with our supply chain, the nature of what we produce and its impact on our community and our sustainability. It’s been an extraordinary journey and we have all learned so much.

“I am absolutely delighted that we have gained this status and I’d like to thank our project team, Annabel Easton, Raisa Jendriks-Whyatt and Chris Wilson and their tireless dedication throughout our journey to B Corp™  status.”

Becoming a Certified B Corporation™ is the first big step in our sustainability journey and we’ll be using the B Corp™ framework to help shape our business for the future.

As part of becoming a Certified B Corporation™, we’ll soon be publishing our 2026 Impact Report, which will look back on everything we’ve achieved in 2025 and the goals we’ve set ourselves for 2026. Keep an eye out for this, which will be available on our B Corp™ profile and on our website very soon.

If you'd like to learn more about B Corp™ and what it means to be part of the movement, find out more at www.bcorp.com