What Is B Corp Certification? (& Why Does It Matter?)

From dinner parties to corporate conferences, everyone’s talking about B Corp – it is B Corp Month, after all. But what does it actually mean? As part of the B Corp community, C&TH is a hub for all things B Corp. But first up: here’s an explainer.

What Is B Corp?

The B Corp Certification is a legal designation for businesses that show a high level of social and environmental performance. In other words: it’s today’s seal of approval for the brands that are excelling in making a sustainable and ethical impact. As Lucy Johnson, founder of ethical department store Lovebrook & Green, puts it: ‘B Corp is the new kid on the block in terms of certifications that are designed to tell us whether a brand is careful about its impact. It builds on certificates like Fair Trade and Soil Association but B Corp is a much broader idea. It looks at the whole of a company and checks if it’s serious about taking action to protect the planet and the people that work for it.’

From Chloé to Patagonia, Aesop to Sipsmith and, as of July 2023, Country & Town House, more and more aspirational brands are going B Corp. But it’s not as easy as it looks. To be B-Corp certified, companies must meet social sustainability and environmental performance standards, while being accountable and transparent across the entire company, its product lines and its issue areas.

British model and environmental activist Lily Cole was the 2024 cover star for C&TH’s annual Regeneration issue.

To apply for B-Corp certification, a business must answer 300 questions that span labour, environmental impact, ethics and governance, their social initiatives and what their goalposts are for the next few years. Then, once a brand’s completed the questions (plus backed it up with supporting evidence), B Lab (that’s B Corp’s non-profit offshoot) will scrutinise, assess and give the brand a score out of 200. If a brand reaches 80 or above then they’re B Corp Certified – but any lower and they miss the mark.

‘To get B Corp certified a company must answer a lengthy set of questions about things like how they treat their workers, what they’re doing to improve their impact on the planet and how transparent they are about the work they do,’ Lucy explains. ‘If a brand scores over 80, it gets certified. The logo is handy as [most of us] don’t have the time to ask these sorts of questions every time you go into a shop or buy something online. It’s designed to be a useful shortcut to the information we need so we can choose how to use the voting power in our wallets.’

What Does B Corp Stand For?

B Corp is short for ‘B Corporation’, with the ‘B’ standing for ‘benefit for all’. This means that Certified B Corporations benefit all stakeholders, according to B Lab. Stakeholders include anyone who has an interest in the company’s performance and outcomes, with three categories all placed on equal footing with profit. These are:

• People (workers, customers, suppliers, investors, regulators)
• The wider community
• The environment

The Sept/Oct ’24 issue of Country & Town House was a glorious celebration of the Great British countryside.

How Many Companies Are B Corp Certified?

As of 2026, there are more than 10,300 Certified B Corporations in 103 countries and over 160 industries. Sounds like a lot, but it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the circa 200,000 companies that have inputted their data to the free B Impact Assessment tool – and a tinier drop still compared to the 300 million plus companies in the world.

And the story doesn’t end with accreditation. Even if you’ve passed the 80 points mark, your work isn’t over. Your business will be required to report annually using an external third party to show consistent progress towards your social and environmental goals.

How Many B Corps Are There In The UK?

There are now more than 2,700 B Corp certified companies in the UK, with more than 1,000 based in London, making it the B Corp capital of the world.

Alongside Country & Town House, London-based B Corps include fellow media brand The Guardian as well as Lucky Saint, Chilly’s, DASH Water, Pizza Pilgrims and plenty more across various sectors.

You can learn more about Country & Town House‘s road to B Corp certification here.