Why we became a B Corp: An interview with Business West member, Triodos Bank

To celebrate one year of Business West becoming a B Corp, we’re speaking to a handful of other B Corps in the region who are part of our membership community. We spoke to Phill Bate, Business Banking Team Leader at Triodos Bank UK about the company’s B Corp journey.

Business West Initiative Member, Triodos Bank, is a sustainable bank established in 1980 which believes that the flow of money and where money is directed can have a real impact on society and can be used to address some of the wider issues that we face.

Phil said: “We are very selective in terms of where we invest money. And we're always looking for organisations that are delivering positive social, cultural, or environmental change.”

Why did you become a B Corp?

As a sustainable organisation becoming a B Corp was the next logical step for us. There are two great frameworks that B Corp offers. Firstly, there are organisations delivering a great service but who  want to go on their sustainable journey. B Corp gives that framework for them to measure and to progress sustainability within what they do. Other organisations have sustainability at their core, which is, Triodos through and through. So, for us, it was about gaining that external validation for what we're doing and being able to measure ourselves against that framework.

We’re proud to have a score of over 130, which reflects the broad range of sustainable measures that Triodos takes.

Which types of companies do you support?

We support a wide range of businesses and organisations from national charities to local small organisations. But they all have in common that they're working for something more than just maximising profit. They're delivering impact in the sector that they operate. From a lending perspective, we supported Riverford Organics with their transition to an employee ownership model. We've also most recently supported Bristol based organisation Autonomous Investments, with their retrofits and environmental work.  We’ve also worked with another local B Corp, Stroud brewery to raise £300,000 to develop a new brewery and bar through our crowdfunding platform.

Why would you recommend that other companies become a B Corp?

There are three key reasons I think organisations should look into becoming a B Corp. One is that external verification that the work you're doing is compatible with your sustainability goals. Secondly, it gives you access to a group of likeminded organisations, who are all working on similar themes. And finally, it gives that framework for constant improvement. So, it's not about just getting your score. You can then build on that as the years go on.

What are the company's sustainability priorities over the next 12 months?

In 2021, we announced our net zero plans to have our lending portfolio and our investment portfolio net zero as soon as we possibly can, but no later than 2035. Now the easiest way for us to get there would be to say, ‘at the moment we lend to social and environmental organisations, if we just lend to environmental organisations, it'd be much quicker and easier.’ But actually, as a social lender, supporting social organisations just transition to net zero, is really important to us. So, we’re working with those organisations to reduce their carbon footprint and get them into the best shape that they can be - appreciating that they might not all get to net zero. But at the same time we’re also supporting organisations pioneering with carbon with nature based solutions, which will allow us to have a portfolio that balances out as a whole to be net zero

How has Business West supported you as a B Corp?

For us, it's about being part of a local network of likeminded organisations, where we can share the progress and the learnings we've made from over 40 years of focusing on sustainability with other organisations who are looking to make similar changes.

How your business can get started on its sustainability journey

As a B Corp, we want to help firms get started on their journey to Net Zero. 

Since starting the Net Zero workshops in 2020, we’ve supported over 200 businesses to get started on their net zero journey. Find out more about these events here.  

In Feburary, we’ll also be holding an Aiming for Net Zero workshop which will cover topics such as how much carbon your business emits and how to reduce it and how to incorporate Net Zero into business operations and planning.  You can book onto the event here.