Sealand is most excited to announce that we have officially become a Certified B Corporation - one of our highest honours to date and the culmination of years of hard work! But what does the beautiful B stand for, and how did we get here? The B Corp system certifies businesses that meet high standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. It is recognised worldwide as a mark of responsible business, and we are overjoyed to be joining this global network of businesses working for a better world for all!
Since we first heard about the B Corp system, we knew that this was for us - after all, Sealand is based on the idea of creating value through values, and making our planet better for all. With upcycling, recycling and a responsible ethos at our core - driving impact across every stakeholder we interact with - we have been subconsciously embodying the very values the B Corp certification is based on since our inception. What we lacked was the formal structure to express this, and this is what B Corp so brilliantly provides!
B Corps are driven by a vision of a global economy that uses business as a force for good. They prioritise all stakeholders, including workers, customers, the community, and the environment, alongside shareholders. Key principles include accountability, transparency, high social and environmental performance, and continuous improvement.
To become a B Corp, a company must complete the B Impact Assessment (BIA), an evaluation of its impact across many metrics. The company must also meet the legal requirement to amend its governing documents - in our case, the Memorandum of Incorporation - so that the board of directors balances profit and purpose. Stringent verification of the BIA follows, requiring companies to provide extensive documentation to support their answers and engage with certifying bodies such as B Lab Africa to discuss potential areas of improvement. This process is lengthy and very in-depth, but it provides an accurate picture of the business and direction for future growth.
B Corps aim to create a more inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy. They seek to shift the paradigm from prioritising profit maximisation to considering the broader impact of business on society and the planet. This includes the crucial step of transforming shareholder primacy to stakeholder primacy.
As part of the certification, B Corp provides a framework for businesses to measure and improve their social and environmental performance. By publicly committing to B Corp values, we signal our ongoing commitment to stakeholders and differentiate ourselves in the market. The B Corp community also fosters collaboration and knowledge sharing among like-minded businesses.
Our personal B Corp journey started years back when we started with the BIA for the very first time. On this occasion, we did not achieve the required 80 points needed for certification, and we took some very valuable learnings from this. Although we were doing the right things, we did not have strong tracking systems in place and as such could not verify some of our highest point scoring areas. We left with learnings and decided that instead of trying to redo it immediately, we regrouped and implemented the required changes and mechanisms over 2 years. This allowed us to try again in a better position, and when we redid our BIA this time, we had solid, documented structures in place that aligned with the requirements, ethos and recommendations of B Corp. Even so, certification is not easy, and as the fashion and gear industry is often associated with potentially harmful industries, we had to go above and beyond with our disclosures to ensure we had proven that we were acting responsibly beyond all doubt. This is important and gave us confidence in the certification and team at B Lab Africa - after all, things really worth doing are rarely easy!
We achieved a very respectable 86.8 points and thus are certified, but another important aspect is the learnings we take and the weaknesses we have identified. These points and areas will become focus points for the next few years and include implementing stronger internal tracking systems for metrics we had previously struggled to nail down, looking even deeper into our provision of extra support and services for our staff, and thinking again about employee ownership and profit-sharing structures. For now, though, we are simply happy to be able to share this incredible news and to share our celebration with our main beneficiary, Sentinel Ocean Alliance.
Our announcement images were formed by joining in with a learning session hosted by SOA, where underprivileged local schoolchildren were having a surfing and ocean stewardship lesson with the SOA team after school. We joined hands to form a big B and moved to the waves - linked together across different age groups and demographics - straddling the line between sea and land. Warm hands and shouts of joy and excitement ensured that even the icy Atlantic that lapped around our toes was greeted with a smile, and even our beach custodian, David (supported by our ever-growing Protect Our Paths Foundation), was on hand to ensure that his beach was looking fabulous.
Viva, B Corp, and viva Sealand! Together we make our planet better.
