Leap - 2023 impact report review
Leap are a Cornwall-based creative agency. They were one of the UK’s first B Corps and have helped grow the movement in the UK. Their impact report is under the spotlight this week.
👍🏻Three things I like:
1. “A CONSTANT WORK IN PROGRESS”
There is a footnote on each page saying “a constant work in progress”. I love this reminder that the journey is never done – there’s always room for improvement. Every business always has opportunities to decrease its negative impact and increase its positive impact.
2. USE SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Leap use their skills and experience to make a difference, gifting creative time and projects – for example, through their involvement in flagship sustainability conferences or through helping build the Business Declares website. Leap has played a substantial role in helping grow the B Corp movement in the UK.
3. TRANSPARENCY
Two specific examples of transparency stood out:
That they explored becoming an Employee Ownership Trust but found that it’s not right for them at the moment.
That they haven’t made the progress on climate action that they’d have liked. And that it’s hard to balance coming out of lockdown, building client relationships, meeting client needs, and reducing carbon footprint.
❓ Three questions it raises:
1. WHY? TELL ME MORE…
There are lots of instances where I wanted to know more. They make a statement about a challenge or something that hasn’t worked out as planned, and then don’t provide further explanation.
For example:
2023 was a challenging year.
Their B Corp score has gone down.
Team wellbeing has gone down.
Percentage of projects that have a direct SDG impact has gone down.
For all of these I’d love to know why? What did they learn? And what are they doing about it?
2. WHAT ARE THEIR STRATEGY & OBJECTIVES RE CLIENT MIX?
They talk about the changing split of clients – reduction in corporates, increase in charities / NGOs, balance of local / national / international. I was keen to understand their strategy behind changing their client mix, and what their objectives are. Otherwise it’s hard to put these changes in context.
3. HOW DO THEY DECIDE PRO BONO PROJECTS?
How do they decide which projects to support through their pro bono work? What are the decision making criteria to ensure that they maximise their impact and align this work with their impact vision and strategy?
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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: