Northamptonshire B Corp's Assemble at Bambini Mio HQ in Brixworth

On 21st April February 2023, all 11 B Corporation certified businesses in Northamptonshire will gather for the first time at Bambino Mio HQ in Brixworth Northampton.

Historically famed for its shoe and leather industry, from a business point of view Northamptonshire clearly has much more to offer, particularly when it comes to purposeful companies.

Reusable nappy revolutionaries, Bambino Mio, were the most recent Northamptonshire business to receive an official B Corporation (B Corp) certification, joining a growing group of companies reinventing business by pursuing purpose as well as profit.

The group of 11 Northamptonshire based B Corp businesses plan to gather at Bambino Mio HQ to share learnings and develop this purposeful business movement in the local community. The businesses attending include:

• Bambino Mio – Reusable nappy experts• Fill Refill Co – Zero waste, closed loop household refill company• QSA partners – Circular economy business model change consultancy• Warners Distillery - Independent craft gin distillery• The People Experience Hub – Tech lead employee engagement survey platform• People & Transformational HR – Northamptonshire based consulting firm• Honeywell Bakes – Artisanal bakery• Averil Phillips & Family - Independent Funeral Directors• Jelly Distilleries – Northamptonshire based distillery• Akerlof – UK construction consultancy• New England Financial Solutions – Insurance company

Rosalind Holley, B Lab UK’s Director of Communications & Marketing, explains:“The UK B Corp community is one of the fastest growing in the world and represents a passionate group of people using business as a force for good. Yet historically much of this growth has been concentrated around London and the south east. There are amazing businesses going beyond in all corners of the UK.”

The B Corp Certification addresses the entirety of a business’ operations and covers five key impact areas of Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers. The certification process is rigorous, with applicants required to reach a benchmark score of over 80 while providing evidence of socially and environmentally responsible practices relating to energy supplies, waste and water use, worker compensation, diversity and corporate transparency.

Guy Schanschieff, Founder of Bambino Mio, comments:“Like our fellow Northamptonshire B Corps, we opened up every area of our business for scrutiny and a rigorous independent assessment to ensure we are committed to having the best positive impact on our people, our planet, and future generations.”

“We’re delighted to join together and collaborate with fellow B Corp businesses. We want to be a powerful force for change and hope that our accountability to sustainability and our commitment to doing business differently will be an inspiration to others.”

Bambino Mio was certified by B Lab, the not-for-profit behind the B Corp movement, as having met the highest social and environmental standards which represent its commitment to goals outside of shareholder profit. The nappy experts achieved an impressive score of 93.4 (average company score is 50) and gained two Impact Business Models, one for Resource Conservation and another for Toxin Reduction – this is an uncommon accomplishment.

Areas such as the brand’s campaigning work and Bambino Mio’s support of local community projects was assessed to meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency and legal accountability.

Chris Turner, Executive Director of B Lab UK, comments:“Business is a powerful force and B Corps demonstrate that you can do good in any sector. Welcoming Bambino Mio is an exciting moment because they have an opportunity to lead the way within the nappy industry. We and the rest of the B Corp community are really pleased to support Bambino Mio in paving the way for a new way of doing things.”

There are 6,279 businesses globally who have certified as B Corps. The B Corp community in the UK, representing a broad cross section of industries and sizes, comprises over 1,100 companies and include well-known brands such as innocent, Patagonia, The Body Shop and organic food pioneers Abel & Cole.

Bambino Mio are a business where purpose and commercial goals are intrinsically linked. Sustainability has been at the root of the brands products for over 25 years. The more parents that adopt the reusable lifestyle, the fewer single-use nappies are produced and dumped in landfill.

Schanschieff continues:“I believe that all businesses should feel a responsibility to consider people and our planet rather than making decisions just based on profit, we believe that this fundamental component can have a lasting significance, for generations to come.”