"We were a B Corp in waiting": How Ergo Creative made it official

As a company, we’ve always wanted to do things better. Sustainable practices, giving back to the community, and employee wellbeing have been unspoken core values of ours since day dot.

So we decided, why not apply for B Corp Certification and make it official? And would you believe it… we only went and bloody did it!!!

Here’s Neil and Charlotte, interviewed by Louisa, sharing their reflections on the long road to becoming B Corp certified.

So first of all, congratulations! How does it feel to be B Corp certified and how did it feel when you first found out?

Neil: It feels really good! It's almost a relief because we've been waiting and waiting for the assessment to go through. And obviously they need to be thorough with it - there's no point in them just rushing through. They wanted to do a lot of checking. So yeah, it's a relief that we've definitely got everything aligned. We are on the right track and doing things right, so it's really good.
 

What does it mean to you personally and to Ergo Creative as a company to become B Corp certified?

Neil: Tom and I have always wanted to have a business that people enjoy working at and that was one of the core things that drove us in the early days. Workers are one of the five impact area pillars of the B Corp assessment; making sure that they're being looked after properly, that they're getting proper pay, they've got support where they need it, there's healthcare, things like that. All that stuff helps improve your score.

Looking after our people is something that's always been at the core. So that's really where it initially struck a chord with us, but also we do want to be working with great customers and get customer feedback. We want to be an extension of our customers effectively, which is another B Corp impact area - Customers, and how you work with them.

And then very importantly is the environment. We are all doing our bit for the environment these days, and the more we can do the better. As the B Corp website says, there is no Plan B for the planet! 
 

What was it that inspired the decision to start applying for B Corp certification?

Neil: It was really about Patagonia, who were one of the early B Corps. It's been on our radar for a long time, and we initially signed up in 2023 and started to go through the process, but then one thing or another meant we just didn't have the time to put into it and make sure we could get the documentation right.

So, it was reading their story and then looking into other companies that did it, and realising how much it did align with what we do, that made us want to get on board with it. I think what really pushed us then was there was a webinar from the WOW company, who are accountants, with Andy from a company called Business on Purpose, who assist businesses running through the process.

He’s helped lots of companies and he gave us that much more confidence to realise, actually, we had a lot of the processes already there. As he said, we were a B Corp in waiting. He asked us questions that made us realise actually, we were already basically there, and just had a few things to improve on. So, a lot of things aligning got us to the point we were going to go and do it.
 

So in terms of your role, Neil - you were mainly the champion for this, weren't you? How did you involve the rest of the team during the process?

Neil: We guided the rest of the team through each of the five impact areas of B Corp. We did six hour-long meetings explaining to them what each of the areas were and what we were doing, how we were documenting what we do etc. just to give them a bit of an understanding, so each team member has seen how B Corp works and the process. Also, in particular the Workers area, we asked for a lot of input from them on where they've been doing training, how they feel supported, etc. We ran the Great Place to Work survey so we had a good benchmark on how we were doing as a team so that we had independent audits of how all the staff felt. So all the team have massively helped in one way or another.
 

Charlotte, how would you describe your role in the B Corp application?

Charlotte: I'm passionate about sustainability and having circular economy principles. Everyone in the office knows how to sort their waste correctly and are aware we shouldn’t be using paper excessively. As a target we are looking at how we can reduce our paper usage. We've also got our Green Small Business action plan, so Neil and I are working through that. A lot of those action points we had to pass on to the team and get them on board with. And those goals don't necessarily have to be achieved this year, some are more for in two years’ time.

With recycling it’s getting people to try and think in a slightly different way than they usually do. I think it's just about educating people a bit more on the environment because Neil and I both take an interest in it anyway. So just sharing that really, because I think a lot of people don't see it as necessarily the most exciting thing, but it's trying to give them the right information and make sure everyone's aware of these things. Like, if they want to switch their energy supplier, obviously we're not enforcing anything, but just making people aware so they've got the information and they can make their own decision. Hopefully it does encourage people to make more sustainable and ethical decisions.

I think also because a lot of people work from home, it’s about seeing it as not necessarily just for the office - it is also your work from home environment that will impact things.
 

That's quite a lengthy process once you list everything out. So how long did it take from starting the process to getting certified in total?

Neil: The full B Corp process has taken us seven months. We started in March (2025). It could have probably been a bit quicker but we had a couple of moments in the summer where we had to pause it because there were either projects that needed our attention or annual leave, things like that taking up our time. But actually it's not a process to be rushed. We spent a lot of time ensuring all our documentation was in order, which is really important for B Corp certification, and making sure all our legal documentation was with Companies House, which again takes time to be verified. But then, a lot of it is for the assessors to look at and ensure that what you're saying is true, and you're not uploading a load of rubbish just to pass. So it does take time.

In the early stages I was probably setting aside maybe 2 hours a week. Then there was a point where I had to set aside actual whole days to run through it and just do it in one go.

Once you get it submitted to the assessors, then you have to sit back and wait for a bit, but then you have the assessment call, so you have to revise it again and get it back in your head, but it's good.
 

And what was the most challenging part of the process? Were there any surprises during the process?

Neil: I don't know if there were any surprises. One thing I really struggled with was when it came to calculating our carbon footprint. Charlotte understood the scope 1-3 stuff better than I did, but it's a lot to figure out, isn't it?

Charlotte: Yeah, it's a lot to get your head round.

Neil: One thing that was a challenge and probably shouldn't have been, was getting information from big web providers on how much carbon we're using on hosted services. They've got these tools that are supposedly going to give you this data, but they don't really work. So we just couldn't get full exports from them to give precise information. We had to just do it based on estimated usage in the end, looking at the sort of server sizes we're using.

It did feel like, for massive providers like that, it's really important they should just be able to provide that information and they didn't. But yeah, again you can sort of look at how many servers you've got, roughly how much power they'll be using and get an estimate from that. But we probably overestimated rather than getting a proper decent reading. So that was tricky.

Whereas energy for the office, we can speak to the landlord and we know how much solar we're using, we know how much electricity he’s using. It was probably more of a challenge for him than for us, because he had to look at all the buildings and average our useage out based on our square footage. So maybe that was a bit harder than I'm letting on, because I didn't have to do it! Jim (landlord) did a very good job. 
 

What did you learn through the process about sustainability, ethics, or about the company itself?

Neil: About the company itself, I learnt that we were doing a lot of good things, but we weren't documenting them very well. So B Corp certification is improving our processes. For example, we do a lot of internal training but we never document it. So we don't really know how much we're all helping each other, which is all part of B Corp in the Workers area.

So we're documenting that better now. We're providing better training. We've always known there's room for improvement, but we were probably doing better than we thought and we're now in a better place of understanding what goes on in the business.

Charlotte: I learned that our printing was quite a large contributor to our carbon emissions. For scope 3 emissions, 40% is coming from printing client work. So, we'll potentially look at switching to a more sustainable printing supplier for when we're working with clients on print work in the future.

Because on a lot of projects we'll sort out the printing for the client, we're taking those carbon emissions on. And obviously we still want to be able to support our clients by finding them a printing supplier and liaising with the printers on their behalf, because that’s part of our service, but it’s about looking at a better way of approaching that.

When I was talking with Green Small Business, they were saying that a lot of printers will be forced to change. But it’s not always possible to work with a sustainable printer. Like, for example, when we worked on the SLT event signage project for Nord Anglia Education, we had to work with specific suppliers because we were limited on time and there weren't that many suppliers that we could work with. So in times like that, our hand will be forced. But hopefully the suppliers that we work with also want to choose more sustainable options or try to offset their emissions.

Whereas for another project that we've been working on, it's good to see that one of the packaging suppliers, Burgopak, are really into sustainability and they make sure that all their materials are from recycled materials. So hopefully the suppliers will be forced to change.

Neil: I think it's a really good point because a lot of our carbon footprint was from printing, wasn't it? So, reductions could come by either like you say, them having their hands forced, or us finding a better supplier. But we need to have that conversation with our main supplier to see if there's anything they can do.
 

Hopefully now, having the B Corp certification, it will attract clients who share the same vision as Ergo for working sustainably and that will have an impact on your emissions too, potentially?

Neil: Yeah, and on that point we hope it will bring us customers who are on the same wavelength because I think that's really important that we're working with people that have a similar vision, but also, hopefully it will inspire other suppliers, customers, etc., if they give us a bell and ask how we did it. We'll be there to talk to them and help them along the way if they want to improve themselves. Helping others is all part of it really.
 

So I'm assuming then that the certification process has already changed some things internally. What would they be?

Neil: Yes. I touched on the improvements in training earlier. Also our articles of association on Companies House have fully changed. So we've legally committed to improving sustainability and being better as a business. We've committed to that and that's one massive change we’ve made. Culture wise, there's stuff in the pipeline. We want to enable staff to do a charity day, for example. And well, one particular person wants to go and help the Guide Dogs…

Charlotte: [Laughs]

Neil: So you know, we want to allow those kinds of things to happen. So that we're helping community and charity. We're going to commit to doing more charity donations. We're doing some stuff with the local pub as part of their pub quiz early next year where we'll be donating to the Shipston First Responders and we just need to do more of that type of thing.

I mean, culture wise we already did a lot of that type of thing. For example, Tom does a lot to support the local fete. We sponsor the Shipston ladies hockey team. There's been quite a few things we've done community wise, but we're going to look to do more for charities as well. So a few little changes there.
 

How will being B Corp certified change the way Ergo operates day-to-day? What's next for that?

Neil: Day-to-day, I don't think there are any major changes. The main thing that will be different is we're going to be improving the way that we document training, just so that that's encouraged more. Going forward, we need to be looking towards recertification in three years time, and we want to improve our score next time and do even better. So that's where we're going to need to make some real changes.

Also, B Corp have updated their standards for certification with some major changes in the certification process. So we also need to get on top of that and learn that. I don't know exactly how things will change day-to-day, but as we get on top of that, they will soon.

Charlotte: I've been working on the impact report, and in terms of our next steps, we said that by 2050 we'll be net zero. Which is pretty standard when you ask what most people are aiming towards. But I don't know how that's going to impact us day-to-day. Neil and I'll need to be reviewing how we can actually achieve that. We've also spoken about a carbon reduction plan, so thinking about what we'll need to be putting in place to do that. So I don't think it's so much day-to-day, but over the course of the year it’s planning for how we're going to achieve these things.

Neil: But actually, that's another good point. We've appointed Green Small Business to do all our carbon plans, and now they've assigned us things. So they're going to hold us to account for that so that we stay certified. That is quite a big day-to-day change really. We've got an external assessor effectively looking at our environmental impact and if we don’t keep up with it, they'll take our certification away.

So there's keeping up with it, but there's also improving your impact score. What plans do you have in place to reach that?

Neil: Charlotte and I are actually having a call this afternoon about the environment stuff. Then with regard to improving the impact score, I need to look at how the assessment is changing in the coming years because there are areas we could improve on. For example, when it comes to employee reviews, we’re going to get feedback from customers as well to give a fuller picture to the employee so that there's like a 360 loop of feedback. So not only will there be feedback from peers and management, but also customers, giving the employee the opportunity to improve. So just that in itself will improve our score.

I think the main thing is, the new way of doing B Corp is going to shake all that up anyway. So it's a bit of an unknown at the moment because I've been so focused on doing it in the current way that I haven't looked at the new way. If we had started this process 3-4 months later, we'd be doing it based on the new guidelines. So it's a bit of a weird time to be doing it. So that's our next thing, we need look at the new guidelines and see where we score. I imagine we will score lower, they are going to be even more stringent and we'll then have to push from there.
 

What advice would you give to other creative agencies thinking about pursuing B Corp certification?

Neil: Don't think about it, just do it! Don't be overwhelmed. When you first open the assessment and you see the five impact areas and you're like, "There's 50 questions here, there's 40 questions there." And it's like, "Oh my God, this is so much stuff to answer." Just don't be overwhelmed with it; just do it bit by bit. Just go area by area.

Whatever area it starts on, just do that and don't even open the other questions and just rattle through it, and it actually goes really quickly. You'll probably find that loads of the stuff you already do anyway.

And if you still felt overwhelmed with it, I spoke to Andy at Business on Purpose. So ring him. He's just so good. You'll get to an area and you'll think, "We sort of do that, but I'm not sure". And then he'll start questioning what you actually do. And then he'll be like, "No, you actually do that, and you do it better than you think!" He's very good at understanding us as a business very quickly and the B Corp regulations.
 

Top recommendation! OK, final question. When are we going out for beers to celebrate?

Neil: Dunno, when can we get everyone together?

Charlotte: Whatever we do to celebrate, it’ll have to be carbon neutral!

I just wanted to say, this is one of the hardest certifications we can actually get. So it's a massive thing that we've achieved this, because I think people don't realise how difficult it is to get B Corp certification. So it is a massive achievement.
 

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