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Red-Inc office supplies recertify as a B Corp in April 2021.

May 19, 2021 | Posted by Amy

Red-Inc recertify as a B Corp in April 2021.

Good times for Red-Inc as they recertify as a B Corp in April 2021.

We caught up with founder Adam to get his thoughts on the company’s latest certification.

What seems like a life time ago (back in 2017 in fact), Red-Inc became the UK’s first office supplies company to certify as a B Corp. B Corps as you will know by now, are companies that are legally verified. Both for the highest level of social and environmental practises.

It was a proud moment for the company and a decision that founder Adam lists as “one of his better moments”.

“Being a B Corp has kept us alert to the impact we have and the impact we pass to our clients. We have forged ahead with industry leading schemes and offset programmes. Those that not only capture our impact but that of our clients”.

The process is time consuming and very rigorous. But Red-Inc are adamant it gives them a significant learning experience.  Which in turn helps them to become even better. Having to recertify every 3 years means that you can set new adventurous targets for the future.  The set to work achieving them.

In the first assessment, Red-Inc who run the process internally rather than with external support, scored a very credible 85.2 points. (80 being the minimum required to certify)

And despite the challenges of COVID and delays caused by the lockdowns, they went ahead and started their recertification in 2020 and passed in April 2021 after a slight delay due to COVID.

New Score

“Our latest score is 96.1. Which when all things are considered isn’t too bad. We added a credible 11 points into our first assessment score” say Adam

“We scored extremely well in the Environmental section of the assessment, scoring 37.8 points up from 31.6 in 2017”.

With their founders environmental passion, drive and vision this is hardly a surprise. In march 2021 Adam joined the advisory council for the Rainforest Trust UK

The average score for B Corps recertifying on the latest V6 platform is 90.86 which is the lowest its ever been. Perhaps this is due to new score weighting that it’s aligned with.  Or perhaps other relevant initiatives like the Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Reporting Initiative.

The moving of goal posts is the way B Lab (the non-profit organisation behind the B Corp movement) keep challenging the status quo. They also keep inline with new regulations and changes in the world and work place.

“We can hold our heads high knowing that we run one of the most respected office supplies companies in the UK” says Adam. “Our recent big tender wins were awarded on much more than just price. Its our values, service and our truly sustainable business model that puts us out in front”.

Red-Inc continue on their successful journey and look forward to recertifying for the third time in 3 years’ time.  Confident they can break the 100 points mark!