B Corp organisation gets off the ground in Gloucestershire
A new organisation for B Corp businesses in Gloucestershire has been launched in the county.
Gloucestershire B-Local will connect 40 regional B Corps while aiming to support businesses looking to become a ‘force for good’.
Formerly known as Gloucestershire Responsible Business Initiative, the new b to b networking hub will serve as a platform to share social and environmental best practice with a mission to further grow its community of B Corp Certified businesses.
The launch event welcomed speakers Professor Malcolm Prowle, Professor of Performance Management at the University of Gloucestershire; Justin Young, operations director at Cotteswold Dairy; and Dr Cathia Jenainati, head of the Business School at the University of Gloucestershire.
Dr Stewart Barnes, founder and chief executive of event sponsor and B Corp Certified business QuoLux, who is also Visiting Fellow at University of Gloucestershire, chaired a session on ‘A Regenerative Economy’.
The Gloucestershire B Local Group is one of ten currently in operation across the UK and is being co-chaired by Katharina Child from Invivo Healthcare; Camilla Barnes, B Leader and Director of Better Business. Better World; Charlie Haward of Optimising IT in Gloucester; and Victoria Petkovic-Short, Director of Beechurst Serviced Apartments in Cheltenham, which back in December 2023, became the first B Corp certified serviced apartment operator in the UK.
Victoria said: “We’re extremely proud to have launched Gloucestershire B Local which has been in the pipeline for some time. It was also fantastic to see so many business leaders join us at the launch, which is a measure of the many benefits of becoming a B Corp and reflecting just how high on their agenda ‘being better’ is.
“The new initiative is great news, for both the longstanding participants of the ‘Gloucestershire Responsible Business Initiative’, and the many new B Corps that are being certified across the county.
“As a fast-growing group of Gloucestershire B Corps, we’ll be using the B Corp framework, while also being open to all B Curious businesses across the region who want to continue developing, operating responsibly and supporting people and the environment.”
