B Corp or B Scrapped? We found out for you.

B Corp or Be Scrapped?

Is B Corp certification worth it for UK SMBs? We spoke with business leaders who’ve been through it. The believers, the skeptics, and those who walked away.

November 24, 2025

The Question That Started It All

In her previous agency, our host Collette Easton let their B Corp certification lapse. The previous leadership had invested significant time and money achieving it, but she couldn’t see it moving the needle on their bottom line.

Her honest confession: “I suspect we didn’t capitalize properly—which makes it our fault, not B Corp’s fault.”

This episode is the conversation she needed to have: brutally honest perspectives from those who’ve achieved certification, those who walked away, and consultants who’ve guided hundreds of companies through the process.

The Contributors

Andy Hawkins

B Leader

Suresh Vaghjiani

Co-Founder

Jenny Ovens

Managing Director

Ian Harris

Founder

Alex Hankinson

Joint Managing Director

Key Insights

The Real Cost

Budget for 6-12 months of senior leadership time, £2,000-£3,000 annually in certification fees, plus £5,000-£15,000 if using consultants.

Journey, Not Destination

Companies must demonstrate continuous improvement for recertification every three years. It’s an ongoing commitment.

When to Walk Away

If B Corp doesn’t align with your personal values as a leader AND your customers aren’t asking for it, it might ultimately become a costly distraction.

Tangible Benefits

Talent attraction, standing out in pitches, finding partners, leadership pride, and evolving business models driving sustainable growth.

Recertification Reality

Expect 9 months of back and forth during recertification. Start 8-10 months before expiry, not 6.

The Real Cost

Budget for 6-12 months of senior leadership time, £2,000-£3,000 annually in certification fees, plus £5,000-£15,000 if using consultants. Jenny Ovens’ team had four senior people heavily involved for six months to achieve certification.

“Start now and don’t overthink it. Getting outside help can effectively halve the time and stress. But the biggest mistake? Not getting started at all.”

— Andy Hawkins

It's a Journey, Not a Destination

Suresh Vaghjiani learned this the hard way: “The only thing worse than not having B Corp is having it and losing it.”

Companies must demonstrate continuous improvement for recertification every three years.

“Can we say we’ve directly won business from being a B Corp? Probably not. But it’s part of our DNA, our story, our journey. It keeps us accountable.”

— Jenny Ovens

When to Walk Away

Ian Harris’ perspective is critical: “It wasn’t meaningful to me personally, and our audience didn’t care about it.” If B Corp doesn’t align with your personal values as a leader AND your customers aren’t asking for it, it might genuinely be a distraction.

Five Tangible Business Benefits

Alex Hankinson identified specific competitive advantages: talent attraction, standing out in pitches, finding like-minded partners, leadership pride, and evolving their business model. These aren’t vague feel-good benefits—they’re measurable outcomes.

“We decided to become B Corp from a very early stage, which allowed us to put the foundations in place and embrace it by design—not everyone has that luxury.”

— Suresh Vaghjiani

The Recertification Reality

Jenny’s experience during recertification: nine months of back and forth, lots of holding patterns, jumping through hoops.

But she acknowledges: “It demonstrates they’re not willing to cut corners and it adds weight to the accreditation.”

Research Behind the Episode

B Lab Performance Report

Claims B Corps 23% turnover versus 17% national average. Correlation or causation?

Take10 Full Report

Comprehensive data on purpose-led business performance from B Lab now publicly available.

B Corp Assessment Tool

Take the free B Impact Assessment to see where your business stands.

Your Next Steps

Take the Assessment: Use the free B Impact Assessment at bcorporation.net to get your baseline score.

Have the Conversation: Discuss with your leadership team—are you already living these values or would you be retrofitting them?

Talk to B Corps: Reach out to 2-3 existing B Corps in your sector—ask about real costs, actual benefits, and what they’d change.

Plan Ahead: If already certified, map out your recertification strategy NOW (start 8-10 months before expiry).

Leverage the Badge: Audit whether you’re actually using the certification in pitch decks, recruitment materials, and tender responses.

Strategic Decisions Need Strategic Frameworks

We help UK SMBs close the strategy-execution gap—turning ambitious plans into operational reality.

The Real Question Underneath

This episode asked: Is B Corp worth it? But the real question underneath is the same one facing every SMB leader—how do you turn strategic decisions into operational reality?

The pattern was clear: strategic alignment and execution discipline separate success from disappointment. Some leaders saw real business benefits; others walked away. The difference wasn’t B Corp—it was whether they had the frameworks to execute.

This challenge shows up everywhere: culture initiatives that fizzle, market expansions that never launch, pricing strategies trapped in decks, leadership programs that never shift behavior.