How're you doing?

 

I'm very good, thank you. A bit cold…

 

Yes, it's that time of year! I wanted to chat to you about your status as a B Corp, because you're one of the rare large architecture practices that have gone down the B Corp certification route, which you achieved two years ago now, in February 2021. So, I suppose my first question to you would be: why did you choose to go down that route to become a B Corp? And secondly, what have you learned in that two-year period?

 

Yeah. Okay. So, our starting point was the fact that, as architects and consultants working in the built environment, what we do is going to have a social and environmental impact, whether you like it or not. And we were very clear; we wanted those impacts to be positive. Not only because it's the right thing to do, but because our staff expect it and also, because our clients, even the ones who would claim to be focused on the bottom line, they're under enormous pressure to demonstrate social and environmental positives out of their investments. Also, the other part of this is that we want to be able to build up a sustainable business. So there's obviously an economic and governance element to this too. So that is the ‘E’, ‘S’, and ‘G’ of the ESG world. We took the view that if you take these things seriously, you need to have some way of benchmarking yourself and continuously improving; demonstrating to clients that you're a trusted partner. So, I started to look into B Corp; I'd heard about it, I'd realized that there were people that we respected equally, that had become B Corps. And actually, it was in lockdown, because there was that opportunity to really sit and go at it, that we took the plunge and went through what eventually was a seven month, quite intense process, involving a lot of transatlantic calls with Philadelphia to be assessed. And we finally became certified in January 2021.

 

What is the chief thing that you've found along the way that's surprised you? If there is anything, in that process? And secondarily, do you find that investors and developers seek out B Corp partners ahead of non-B Corp certified partners?

 

I think it really varies, right across our client base. And interestingly, it varies across everyone. It's not just our clients, it's across our sister consultants, and also our staff. And I think the thing that surprised us in a way was how much you really have to work at embedding this, both inside the company and outside. I think we probably got it wrong, in a way – we treated it a bit like doing an exam. So, we went through this process and, you know, had a celebration when we...

 

…when you passed!

 

 

(laughs) ...at really the very beginning of that journey. We started to do a lot more workshops in the company, which we probably should have done before we even did the certification. And that's really helped, actually. It's helped to get to clarify within the company - there are 350 of us across nine offices - just to get everybody's feedback about what it is they think it's valuable for.

 

And have you found that it's valuable commercially?

 

 

Indirectly.  Of course, there are some clients who are looking for a very clear alignment with consultants, who are clearly in the market, along ESG lines. There are some of those, but they're fairly few and far between. Interestingly, in the B Corp network there are groups. For example, the built environment group in B Corp is quite useful, because that gives you a sort of ready-made group for companies who are certified. There's a lot of information exchange, I'd say, at that level; of just comparing notes. So, it's been incredibly useful. Have people stampeded to our door to give us new commissions because of this? No. Less so, but actually, that doesn't surprise us. It certainly wasn't the reason that we did it. It was much more about building a profile in the market that was about long-term positive impact. It's just part of that, really,

 

I wondered, as a subsidiary question to that, whether it's helped recruitment? Do you find that staff want to be aligned to this mission?

 

Yes, I do. Actually, I think it has helped. And it's always a real talking point. When we're talking to most new staff, they mentioned it as one of the one of the differentiators when they were looking for a place to make a home, you know, to build their careers. It's definitely something that they've picked up on. Certain clients definitely have as well; it just varies across the board.

 

So, finally, you've just published your Positive Impact Report, which I think is part of that whole process. Could you tell me about some of the key points from that publication that stand out?

 

Yes. The way to look at this is the B Corp is fundamentally about five key impact areas, which are: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. What the impact report does is it looks back over the last couple of years to assess what we've done in all those areas. And crucially, you know, what we plan to do in the coming couple of years. What it does is it sets out things like our carbon neutrality; what we're doing with our scope one, two, and three carbon emissions, our alignment with things like the RIBA Climate Challenge 2030, and how we're advocating for clients to get on board with LETI targets and that sort of thing for carbon. It's also about how we formalized our then development programs and stuff. So we've got initiatives like GROW [the practice’s employee learning and development programme], and FUSE, which is our digital learning platform. In governance terms, it's about how 61% of our employees’ own shares in the company, and things like our employee forum is a really important part of how we pick up the conversations around the company, about what they want. So, yeah, it's just a way of looking back in these key areas, about what we think is important to where we want to push things. And it's a really good communication device, both internally and externally. If people can comment on it, they can hold the board to account. So, it's a useful communication tool as well.

 

I noticed also from the report that you've done 62 ‘inhabitant interviews’ across 13 projects. Is that actual residents?

 

So 'Inhabitant' is a Post Occupancy Evaluation platform... 

 

Ah, sorry, right! 

 

No, no, that's fine! Basically, we go to as many of our projects as we can, usually, at least four or five years after they have finished, and we go, and we literally interview people who use them.

 

Brilliant! 

 

The usual POE is done in the year after the project's finished. And it's all about whether the air conditioning is working properly or not. What we're interested in – we're very much people focused designers – is what people actually think of living there or working there. And that's what Inhabitant does.

 

And it feeds back into the design, or into future designs?

 

Yes, into future designs. Yeah, I mean, it's essentially a lessons-learned machine (laughs).

 

Yeah. More should be done like that, in the profession, I think.

 

Well, it's really useful for us.

 

Well, thank you very much for your time. Congratulations on 'being a B' for two years, and long it may continue!

 

Good stuff. Okay. Thanks very much indeed. Take care.