When we became an independent agency in September 2024, we knew that in our first year we wanted to become B Corp certified. Having been through it already as the communications team at Oxford HR, we knew the process and how difficult it was, but also how much it meant to us as a team to show that we more about purpose than profit from the outset. What I hadn’t anticipated though, was that using the B Corp framework would be a really useful tool in how we built our agency.
What’s a B Corp, anyway?
Do I need to say this anymore? I don’t think so but then I’m in that world, so just in case – B Corps are businesses that care about how they make money, not just how much. Certified B Corporations meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency. They balance purpose and profit — a “doing well by doing good” approach.
For a communications agency such as Oxygen, this means choosing to work with clients who align with our values, building an ethical supply chain and running our business in a way that’s good for people and the planet.
Building our structure on the B Impact Assessment
So how did we approach this? We started with the B Impact Assessment (BIA), which is the tool that helps you measure and manage your impact. It’s free, detailed, and surprisingly useful for setting up an agency!
It covers five main areas:
- Governance – how you make decisions and stay accountable
- Workers – how you treat and support your team
- Community – how you engage with and contribute to society
- Environment – how your operations affect the planet
- Customers – how your work benefits the people or organisations you serve
We used it as a checklist to benchmark ourselves from the outset, acknowledging we couldn’t achieve everything in year one and that no-one’s perfect, so also to understand how we could improve and where we could build better habits. For example:
- Governance: We wrote a social impact statement into our strategic plan
- Workers: We offer flexible work hours, good parental leave, a Menopause Policy and are a Living Wage Employer
- Community: We prioritise diverse hiring and give pro bono time to good causes, with a set amount of volunteering days per team member which they are actively encouraged to use
- Environment: We actively work in sustainable design so this was an easy one for us, but we encourage others to choose renewable-powered web hosting and email providers and have a policy around avoiding air travel wherever possible
- Customers: Again, only working with mission-driven organisations this wasn’t a pitfall for us, but defining what good looks like was an interesting exercise for our team and it makes us consider each new client we work with carefully
This element of the process enabled us to have a clearer view of how to run Oxygen ethically and sustainably, which aided us in being clearer on our Mission, Vision and positioning as a whole.
We made our values operational
Once we had mapped out our impact areas, we then weaved our values into our day-to-day operations. There is nothing worse to me, than values that sit on a shelf: no-one can remember them and they don’t mean anything. If we have them, for me, they should be functional and useful as tools on how to conduct ourselves.
So we;
- Set up a supplier diversity and local purchasing policy, covering sustainability and diversity
- Actively partnered with associations such as Clean Creatives and the Ethical Agency Alliance, to make a public stand on the industries we want to work with and those we never will
- Added into our Year Two strategic plan to become members of 1% for the planet
- Track our emissions and report on them, for full transparency
- Make team wellbeing and togetherness (especially as we are fully remote) a standing talking point, not an afterthought once someone is struggling
We Certified!
Now all that to say, we did also want to get our B Corp certification! It wasn’t just about the framework and it took us 8 months and a lot of time – punchy when you are effectively a startup. But the usefulness of the framework and the way it has enabled us to set up, I hope means we are more considered, more sustainable and a more appealing partner to the types of organisations we want to support.
Our process I think sets us apart; as a team we are really proud of achieving it in Year One and what is has taught us along the way. Being part of this community feels like a natural fit for us, giving us a clear sense of identity and enabling us to hold ourselves accountable for our future decisions too.
Suzie Mills
As the CEO of Oxygen, I bring over 18 years of marketing expertise, combining a passion for purpose with a proven track record of creating impactful brand stories. Having worked across both in-house and agency environments, I’ve developed and executed transformative campaigns for global brands like P&G, Delta Airlines, Barclays, and Nissan. Since 2019, I’ve shifted my focus to the mission-driven sector, where I partner with organizations to understand their core values and craft communications strategies that accelerate the achievement of their objectives. I am driven by the opportunity to inspire, connect, and innovate, constantly seeking new ways to create meaningful impact for both clients and communities.
