Responsible Business goes Mainstream
2019 was a monumental year for the responsible business movement globally, and at the end of November, I spent some time reflecting on all of the milestones achieved when I joined the responsible business panel at the Can Do Innovation Summit in Glasgow.
In the last year we saw one of the world’s largest investment firms, Blackrock, state that profit and purpose are inextricably linked. The Financial Times called for a reset to capitalism, The Business Leaders Roundtable redefined the purpose of a corporation to include supporting staff and community, and high profile companies such as The Body Shop and The Guardian gained B Corp certification committing to independent and transparent impact measurement.
Through the same period in Scotland, we saw our First Minister give a TED talk calling for a shift away from a GDP-focused economy to one rooted in wellbeing. Scottish Enterprise, our national economic development agency, launched a new strategy rooted in driving a more sustainable, inclusive economy. The Scottish Parliament unanimously passed a bill to give birth to the world’s first government-owned National Investment Bank led by social and environmental missions. The Government and Business Community mainstreamed Scotland Can B, a nationwide programme to help companies explore their impact journey. And, here at Firstport, we set up a new company, FirstImpact, to take a whole economy approach in supporting responsible business.
Through all that, it’s fair to say it was a year of big commitments, and 2020 needs to become the year the business community puts those commitments into action.
At the start of 2020, Firstport and FirstImpact worked with the Unlocking Ambition team to bring together companies from across the responsible business spectrum to have a conversation about what impact looks like when it is embedded in the operations of companies. It was a unique space, mixing perspectives from multinationals such as Johnson & Johnson and Ikea with SMEs, Family Businesses, Social Enterprises, and start-ups, such as the Unlocking Ambition cohort. By discussing topics such as the climate emergency, fair work, governance, investment, and how to support communities, it became clear that Responsible Business isn’t the future, it is already here.
Moving forward we have many exciting things on the horizon in Scotland, two being the launch of our new Mission-Led Investment Bank and the COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow. Our two companies — Firstport and FirstImpact — have committed to work hard this year, in collaboration with the whole spectrum of the business community, government, and social enterprise, to make 2020 a year of action and change. Firstport will grow its support for social entrepreneurs, and FirstImpact will begin showcasing what is happening across Scotland whilst developing innovations to help the positive impact economy grow and supporting the Scotland Can B programme to be further embedded across companies across the country.
What are the commitments your business is making in 2020 to embed purpose and positive impact?
