Last week I had the pleasure of hosting the B Corp Community bi-monthly meet-up at The Conduit in London — for a rich and inspiring conversation with two incredible business leaders from different ends of the spectrum of scale.
👩🍳 Ashleigh Horn, Head of Sustainable Food at COOK, a founding UK B Corp with over 1,000 employees and four certifications under their belt.
🌱 Rachael Carley, Founder of Carley Coaching — an independent sustainability consultant and coach who started her business and certified in 2023.
🎤 Together, we explored:
🔍 Here are my Key Takeaways from our conversation:
1. Certification Isn’t One-Size-Fits-All
👉 For COOK, certification involved answering 200+ extra questions due to their size - this has required serious systems thinking and deep staff engagement.
👉 For Rachael, as a solopreneur, the challenge was feeling confident in the value of certification when your impact feels small. But the B Impact Assessment (BIA) offered credibility and clarity.
2. The BIA is Your Strategic Compass 🧭
Whether you’re one person working alone or a team of 1,000 colleagues, the B Impact Assessment provides a powerful framework to identify gaps, build systems, and measure what matters.
Rachael described it as an education tool and Ashleigh talked about it being a trusted critical friend to help share and improve a business.
3. Don’t Go It Alone 🤝
Both speakers shared the importance of community — from creating internal champions – what COOK call their “B Keepers” to connecting with other businesses who’ve walked the path. The B Corp community is generous, open, and ready to help.
Ashleigh noted how vital it is to clarify your “why” upfront — especially in large organisations where getting buy-in takes time.
4. Progress > Perfection
💡 Treat certification as a journey. Be kind to yourself.
🧮 Design impact measurement systems that work for your business.
🎯 Stay outcome-focused and take regular small steps forward.
🔥 What’s Next for B Corps?
With the rise of greenwashing, growing investor scrutiny, and conversations around recertification, the B Corp movement is entering a new chapter. The bar is getting higher — and that’s a good thing. As one attendee put it, the BIA might just be the most rigorous standard out there for social impact.
Through our discussions I also mentioned the following resources:
📚 The Purpose Dividend - the business case that shows how B Corps are proven to be more resilient in challenging economic circumstances such as the pandemic - published by Demos and B Lab UK
🎧 Beyond the B podcast - interviews with people involved with the B Corp movement on current developments.
📖 The Dream Manager book - great to hear how COOK have applied this visionary approach within their organisation.
I hope you find these useful if you decide to check them out.
✨ Final Thought
Becoming (and staying) a B Corp isn’t easy — but at Thrivall we believe it's worth it. Whether you’re scaling impact in a large business like COOK or building meaningful change as a solo founder like Carley Coaching, the B Corp framework helps us blend purpose and profit, measure what matters, and build a better future.
Are you thinking about becoming a B Corp? Get in touch if you'd like to find out more or would like an invitation to join our next meet-up. 🌍💛
