Introducing Genesis
Anna Murphy reviews our first Genesis Meetup
Genesis
Noun
‘the origin or mode of formation of something’
synonyms: origin, source, root, beginning, commencement, start
Project Heather’s Genesis Scheme is about origination, about putting down roots, about starting something new.
It will bring the IPO and impact journey together into an exciting, user-friendly programme to prepare potential issuers for listing on Project Heather’s proposed Scottish Stock Exchange.
On Tuesday, Mike McCudden (Project Heather’s Director of Origination) and I hosted our first Genesis Meetup in Glasgow, to engage, inspire and inform. We took over thirty attendees — business owners, investors, social entrepreneurs and potential partners — on a whirlwind tour of what the Genesis journey will involve.
Here’s an overview, in case you missed it!
The Who
If you are interested in listing (even in the long term), you’ve had accounts for at least two years, and are purpose-driven at your core (or on your journey towards becoming so), Genesis could be for you.
The What
It will be a personalised experience for potential issuers which takes them on a simultaneous IPO preparation and impact reporting and management journey. It will include events, education and resources, one-on-one workshops, roadshows and a relevant network of support.
Over time, Genesis will expand to support and educate a whole ecosystem of professionals beyond the issuers who are core to Project Heather’s success: accountants, lawyers and financial advisors, just to name a few.
The Why
There is currently no stock exchange in Scotland, and — with FCA approval — we will be the first Regulated Investment Exchange to require all issuers to report on their social and environmental impact. In the impact reporting and management space both for businesses and investors, there are over 100 standards, frameworks, metrics and tools, with as yet no global standard, making involvement in this exciting field intimidating and confusing. Genesis exists, therefore, to demystify and educate on the IPO process, especially within the Scottish community, and to simplify and support potential issuers through a bespoke and relevant impact reporting and management process.
Our Approach to Impact
The top-level executives and board must commit that the issuer is purpose-driven, and has the intention to make a positive social and environmental impact. This purpose is articulated through a theory of change, and is reported annually and publicly with use of accepted frameworks and tools. There is a commitment to ongoing improvement over time.
In simplistic terms, an issuer’s purpose could be solutions-focused, in that the product or service in and of itself is tackling a certain social or environmental challenge e.g. solar panels create renewable energy, thereby combating dependence on fossil fuels. Alternatively, the product might be quite normal — an ice-cream company for example — but the company’s ‘purpose’ takes the form of a commitment to reduce the negative impact made from making ice-cream to zero, or ‘break even’, as defined by Future Fit. In the long-term, this means the ice-cream company would create no environmental damage (it would create zero waste and zero pollution, to name just two of the benchmarks it must meet), and would comply to the highest standards of animal and employee welfare (see the Future Fit website for more details, especially the Methodology document).
We will also deliver one-to-one workshops to help issuers develop a strong theory of change, align with the relevant Sustainable Development Goals and targets, and take a whole systems approach to impact using the Future Fit approach. Furthermore, bespoke support will be provided to ensure that any issuer is also reporting on relevant sector-specific tools.
Impact management and reporting is a journey rather than a destination: it is never over! Rather, it creates the opportunity for our purpose-driven issuers to raise capital from investors who care about what they are doing beyond profit, to outperform competitors by tapping into the increasing demand from consumers for high standards of transparency and social conscience, and to be part of a financial and business community changing the world for the better.
Our Approach to IPO
Since the font was so small in our presentation slides, they are inserted here for reference!
Mike explained that preparing for listing is highly specific to the nature of the business, but at its core, helping set the foundations for a client around their finance is of paramount importance to growing an orderly and globally respected stock exchange.
“It’s about working closely with potential issuers to demystify our world and articulate a clear goal, setting strategy around impact which will hopefully allow them to flourish, be better employers and pass the torch of governance of our planet on to the next generation. what we are doing is new in the world of regulated capital markets….its not about greed any more, but more attuned to the harmony of steady impact and growth. This is capitalism for good in action and through this process we future fit and retrofit new and existing companies for finance and growth…as well as impact.”
Our favourite questions
…which we’re working hard on to answer!
How is accounting going to change with the rise of impact reporting, and what are the opportunities for accountants to get involved?
How do you create a set of rules which decide whether a company is sufficiently purpose-driven or not?
How is the purpose-driven nature of a business preserved even through top-level succession?
A huge thanks to all those who attended for supporting us at this early stage, and to Spaces for hosting us and sorting drinks and food (we think we’ve found a causation between between pizza and engaged audience!). We’ll be in touch soon with news of the next.
