Becoming a B Corporation is no easy feat. This exacting process is the organisational equivalent of an MoT test. A firm will make the grade only once the assessors have completed thorough inspections under its bonnet and it has done all the required remedial work to their satisfaction.
When a company enters this exclusive club of sustainable businesses (Europe’s network of B Corps numbers just over 1,000), it usually sends out a celebratory press release. But that wasn’t the case for eyewear brand Ace & Tate. Once it finally passed muster in 2021, the Amsterdam-based firm issued a statement focusing on the mistakes it had made along the way. Its striking headline – “Look, we f*cked up” – got straight to the point.
So why was the company’s route to certification so arduous? And what lessons might others learn from its experience?