'Being B Corp Certified isn't a not-for-profit exercise'
It was five years ago, when planning was under way for the TTG Diversity & Inclusion in Travel Conference, that I first heard about B Corp. Leigh Barnes, then chief purpose officer at Intrepid Travel, described how Intrepid had become one of the very first in travel to gain certification the previous year, and what it meant.
I admit to being sceptical at the time, as the process of attaining this certificate – underlining commitment to people and planet, alongside profit – sounded both time-consuming and expensive. Yet five years later, not only is TTG Media a Certified B Corporation, but we have our own chief purpose officer in the shape of Sophie Griffiths (currently on maternity leave).
A growing number of travel businesses are becoming B Corp Certified – such as Exodus Adventure Travels, Travel Trade Consultancy and AE Expeditions last month alone – and I know many more are embarking on the road to achieve the goal.
There were two reasons why the TTG team wanted to gain B Corp certification. We already feel we are a special business, with a clear purpose to drive travel as a force for good under our mission for Smarter, Better, Fairer travel.
Thanks largely to the work of editorial director Pippa Jacks, supported by Terraverde Consultancy, we had developed our own Climate Action Plan and were taking active steps to reduce our carbon output through the way we operate, and particularly on the events side of the business.
Operating to the highest standards
But we wanted to validate all that. We wanted to audit our processes and the way we do business to ensure we really were operating to the highest standards.
We wanted to wear our passion on our sleeves and to become one of the earliest adopters of B Corp in both travel and media – to turn the positive impact of what TTG Media does into brand value.
This is one of the clearest benefits of joining the B Corp movement – linking passion for sustainability back to being good for business. This isn’t a not-for-profit exercise.
Although a daunting assignment, we set out at the beginning of last year with our advisor Cyd Connects and bit off the tasks required month by month over the course of 2023.
As our B Impact Assessment score took shape, we were assessed across five key areas of the business: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment and Customers. We were also required to complete a Disclosure Questionnaire, requiring us to declare any sensitive business practices, and to change the company’s constitutional documents as part of the B Corp Legal Requirement.
’We won’t rest on our laurels’
The company was scored against key criteria, and as the year went on it became clear that we would sail beyond the magic 80-point mark to become B Corp Certified.
But we won’t rest on our laurels. TTG Media has a responsibility not only to carry on improving its processes and reducing its carbon output, but also to inspire more companies in travel and media to follow suit.
We will continue to strive to meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability in the months and years ahead.
And if anyone believes we are failing to adhere to those standards, please don’t hesitate to call us out.
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Daniel Pearce
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