Better Business Day - calling for a better type of business
Me meeting with Jonathan Lord MP to discuss the Better Business Act and ask for his support
What a motivating experience Better Business Day was! Meeting up with other business leaders who believe:
Business needs to change;
Every business must be responsible for the full impact of its actions;
The profit-at-all costs model needs to go – it’s caused too many problems;
And there’s a huge opportunity for businesses that embrace this way of operating.
A simple, foundational change
There’s a simple way of enabling this change – by tweaking one clause of the Companies Act so every company is equally responsible to all stakeholders and legally obliged to consider them when making decisions. That means employees, people throughout the supply chain, communities, the planet … and, yes, shareholders.
As Douglas Lamont, CEO of Innocent Drinks and Co-Chair of the Better Business Act, said of the change that we’re lobbying for – “It’s simple, it’s elegant, it’s foundational”.
And it needs to be the minimum expectation of businesses – it has to be the default, we haven’t got time to wait for businesses to opt in.
Successful businesses are already operating in this way
Businesses which take a long-term view and have a strong purpose consistently outperform the market. They’re more effective at building a loyal consumer base, as well as attracting, motivating and retaining employees.
We heard from inspiring leaders of three established businesses that are operating in this way, showing that it’s possible to be ethical and profitable:
Anuradha Chugh, CEO of Pukka Herbs
Joanna Allen, CEO of Graze
Mark Cuddigan, CEO of Ella’s Kitchen
Here are some of the things they shared…
Pukka has found that focusing on prosperity across their whole value chain makes the business stronger and more resilient. When it comes to decision making, they make sure to involve people who understand and can represent the different stakeholders.
Graze’s values help them attract and retain great talent – employees are motivated by being at the forefront of driving change in the UK.
Mark talked about building back better after Covid. We’ve heard a lot of talk about this from the Government – businesses can’t do this if their just focused on profit, we need to change the paradigm.
UK-wide benefits
We also heard from Chris Turner, the Campaign Director, who shared some of the broader reasons why this progressive piece of legislation would be great for the UK.
The UK has the opportunity to lead the way in terms of ensuring that all businesses take responsibility for their social and environmental impacts. Businesses that operate in this way are increasingly attractive to investors and so this could attract investment into the UK.
And it could help unlock partnerships and collaborations between business, the public sector and charity sector. Cross-sector collaborations are vital in tackling the huge social and environmental challenges that exist, such as persistent inequality, the cost of living crisis and the climate emergency.
It’s time for change
Mary Portas closed out the talks with an inspiring speech that left us all fired up and ready to talk passionately with politicians about the need for change. She reflected that something deeply traumatic has hit the world. We can’t go back to how we were before. We need to change.
I’ll finish with a question that Mark Cuddigan asked:
Why wouldn’t we do this?
This is a powerful thing to reflect on. What does it say of our national priorities, values and culture if we don’t think that every organisation should be fully responsible for its actions?
You can support the Better Business Act and join the 1200+ British businesses that already have – it’s quick, it’s easy and it’s powerful. Go to https://betterbusinessact.org
For more practical advice on how to get clarity on what steps to take to scale up your impact, check out my FREE Scale Up Your Impact Guide: