Bishop Fleming - 2023 impact report review
Lots of the reports I review are from B Corps, many of them small or medium sized, which means they have few formal reporting requirements when it comes to sustainability.
Bishop Fleming is a large business and a member of Business in the Community (BITC), who they’ve been working with on their responsible business journey. So this week’s impact report offers something a little different.
👍🏻 3 things I like...
1. RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS RESPONSIBILITY SITS WITH SEVERAL PARTNERS
They name several different partners who are leading on different areas of responsible business.
It’s good to see responsibility for delivering non-financial value being held across a range of different senior people rather than with just one person, which is often the case.
2. CLEAR PRESENTATION OF OBJECTIVES AND PROGRESS
At the end of each section they have a table that shows their progress against the objectives they set for 2022-23 with commentary. This is followed by their objectives for 2023-24.
3. SUPPLIER CODE OF ETHICAL CONDUCT
They share the work they’re doing to map out their suppliers and develop a Supplier Code of Ethical Conduct.
I like how they bring this to life with an example of buying hand sanitiser from local business, Salcombe Distilling Company, a client. Through this supplier arrangement they’re “buying locally, buying sustainably, supporting a client, and having a positive community impact.”
❓3 questions it raises
1. WHAT’S THE DENT THEY WANT TO MAKE ON THE WORLD?
Given the awards they’ve won and what they talk about, their focus seems to be education and working with the education sector. But I’d like to see them call this out more explicitly, set a specific impact target and share a strategy for how they will deliver a meaningful impact.
2. IS RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS INTEGRATED INTO PARTNER COMPENSATION?
They talk about introducing a new performance management approach which incorporates responsible business. This is great to see as this can be one of the biggest enablers of genuine culture change that means businesses scale their impact rather than just talk about it.
I’m curious about whether this extends to partners and the amount of money they each receive through the partnership agreement?
3. HOW ARE THEY INFLUENCING THEIR CLIENTS?
They’ve taken steps to reduce their own negative impact and increase their positive impact.
But so often the biggest impact a service-based business can have is through the advice they provide. What are they doing to influence their clients to be more responsible?
***
You can read the report for yourself here and let me know what you think.
If you’re preparing to write your own impact report, you might find my FREE Impact Reporting Roadmap helpful: