B Corporation®
Proud to be a Certified ‘B’ Corporation business
We believe that society’s most challenging problems cannot be solved by the government and non-profits alone.
By harnessing the power of business, we seek to use our profits and growth to a greater end – to positively impact our partners, our communities and the environment. The B Corp™ community works toward reduced inequality, less poverty, a healthier environment, stronger communities, and the creation of employment that gives dignity and purpose.
Originally product manufacturers, such as Body Shop, Abel & Cole and Pukka Herbs obtained the certification as it was easier for them to manage the supply of raw materials from sustainable sources and control their environmental impact through packaging and distribution.
This isn’t a task to be undertaken lightly! Jamie Oliver described the experience of the B Corp assessment as making “the Inland Revenue look like pussycats”.
Becoming part of the community
Welcome to Paradigm Norton, an employee owned and Certified B Corporation®
Our journey to becoming a Certified B Corporation® status started in 2016 when Director, Richard Child, was made aware of the certification through his work on social impact investing.
After gaining a deeper understanding of the certification, we introduced several significant changes that the B Corp™ accreditation and status demands. The most significant was changing our corporate documents to ensure the governance of the business is focused on people and the planet, weighed alongside profit.
“Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others”
Plato
The assessment criteria are rigorous, and the questions are based upon the type and size of the business. We completed 180 questions focused on five areas:
- Governance: how the firm is run, led and managed
- Workers: how we look after our amazing team
- Community: how we relate to and engage with the wider world
- Environment: our relationships with our suppliers, and how we select them, as well as how environmentally focused we are
- Customers: our advice to clients.
On 25 September 2019, we became the 228th UK company to be a Certified B Corporation®, and the 21st financial services firm.
The way forward
The work doesn’t stop here, the ongoing B Corp™ process monitors the “triple bottom line” standards required by a social purpose business, relating to people, profit and planet. The Paradigm Norton team is constantly considering additional changes and we have a long list of achievable actions that will build on what we’ve already achieved.
Impact Report
We believe that business has a critical role to play in solving society’s most challenging problems. In our first Impact Report, we share how this vision has grown over our 20-year journey and explain some of the achievements that are helping us to edge closer to our goals.
