Firefish becomes a B Corp

Big News! We are delighted to tell the world that Firefish has become B Corp Certified!

Way back in 2000, when Firefish was founded, it was on the belief that a business should be about more than doing the work and cashing the cheques; it should support and contribute to the lives of all it touches as much as possible. Part of this has always focused on the importance of doing more for the planet, with us gaining our ISO14001 Environmental Management certification in 2009, which we still maintain to this day.

In 2023, we took this one step further, creating our own framework, Firefish Plus, that brought together all of our values, beliefs and purpose across the businesses. Central to the principle of Firefish Plus is that business should do more than just make money – that we should have a positive impact wherever we can. With that, we have published our Impact Report for the last 2 years, with our latest one available here and saw us:

🌈 Continuing our DEI journey – supporting our internal champions group to create space to talk about our sense of belonging at work and what it means to us, and investing in work with our expert partners, Equitas Insight , in the DEI space to develop our approach to Inclusive Insights at Firefish

🌱 Hosting 2 more successful workshops with our charity partners EY Foundation – shining a light on market research as a career choice for young students

🗣 Creating open conversations for everyone at Firefish to share experiences about sensitive topics such as the menopause at work

🎒 Supporting many employees to follow their passions by supporting paid sabbaticals out of the business – allowing them to use this time to refresh and adventure far and wide.

💺 Continuing our journey as an employer who cares about the planet by, among other activities, joining Climate Perks – gifting employees extra time off for using more sustainable transport on holiday.

It was after our first Impact Report that we, as a group, began the B Corp certification journey and knew it was a community we wanted to be a part of. As a global community of businesses meeting high standards of social and environmental impact, we knew we would be among peers. On top of our ISO14001 (and ISO27001) certifications, our becoming a B Corp is another way for us to show how committed we are to our people and the planet, working collectively for economic systems change for a more sustainable society and environment within which we all exist, finding new ways to continuously improve for even greater impact over time.

In case you wanted to know more and are thinking about becoming one too, the B Corp certification process is rigorous, with applicants required to reach a benchmark score while providing evidence of socially and environmentally responsible practices relating to energy supplies, waste and water use, worker compensation, diversity and corporate transparency. Once certified, you then commit to going on a journey of continuous improvement not only through internal process optimisation but also to meet the needs of evolving regulatory frameworks and targets.

We have also reviewed our clients to determine whether our work with them could have any outsize negative impacts on people and the planet. We commit to working with clients in the future that work ethically and sustainably and don’t cause preventable harm and, as part of this, we have committed to not work with any tobacco clients – ensuring that we are joining a community of like-minded B-Corp certified businesses around the world who are striving for change for the benefit of the planet.

With this certification, our UK & USA operations are now part of a community of 8,900 businesses globally who have certified as B Corps, including well-known brands such as Ben & Jerry’s, The Guardian, innocent, Allbirds, Finisterre, and Warby Parker.  Find more B Corp Businesses here.

Firefish Group Founder & CEO, Jem Fawcus, says:

I am absolutely delighted to have joined the ranks of B Corp certified businesses.  Our Firefish Plus framework had already looked to have as much positive impact as possible on the people who work across the Firefish Group, as well as wherever possible for all the people we touch: from our clients and our respondents to our suppliers and our local communities and the wider planet. We found great alignment in the B Corp principles, and I’m really proud of the hard work of our Firefish Plus team to seal certification.

If you want to know more about life as a B Corp, or want to talk to us about a brief, then please just drop us a line. We would love to hear from you.