Event Roundup: What does it take to make business a force for good?
On 29 November, purposeful business leaders from around the South West gathered at the Bristol Energy Hub in central Bristol. We brought them together by asking a simple question: what does it take to make business a force for good?
The future belongs to businesses who are guided by a “purpose beyond profit” — but the creative and inspired leaders who choose this path face unique challenges. Creating and sustaining a successful mission-led brand requires values alignment with investors, employees and customers, and achieving alignment means constant work and tough decisions.
Thankfully, we had four excellent panellists to address our question head-on: Katie Alcott of Frank Water, Miriam Delogu of Bearpit Bristol, Steve Haines of Neighbourly and Will Ghali of Pukka Herbs.
Will Ghali, Pukka Herbs
Will Ghali, COO of Pukka Herbs, made a timely appearance. Just two months earlier, Pukka had announced its acquisition by consumer goods giant Unilever. The deal was controversial in some quarters — some ethical stockists have removed Pukka products from the shelves in protest — and the audience was keen to hear how Pukka plans to remain true to its values post-takeover.
Will explained that Pukka needed investment to grow its turnover, go global and spread its mission further. But how could it do this without losing control of the essence and mission of the company?
“It came down to values, mission and purpose,” said Will. After exploring conventional bank and private equity funding, Pukka realised that being acquired by Unilever, a leading proponent of the purposeful business movement, would allow it to scale its business and its impact.
“We will remain 100% organic and we will remain a B Corp. Pukka can now reach more people, support more organic farmers in India where we source our herbs, and the 1% of turnover that we donate to good causes will be a lot more money,” he explained.
Katie Alcott, Frank Water
Frank Water is a charity and social enterprise that promotes safe drinking water worldwide by selling water in the UK. In 2017, it took the bold decision to completely drop plastic bottles from its product offer.
Plastic bottled water was a great income stream, and it did a great job of spreading Frank Water’s charitable message. Eventually, though, the Frank Water team had to accept that the “environmental impact was just too great”, said Katie. Patient, open discussions brought the team to near-unanimity on the matter.
To make the switch work, the firm had to bring its stockists on board. Frank Water flipped a negative (“we’re no longer doing plastic”) into a positive message: #PledgeToRefill. “To date, 70% of our stockists have joined us on the journey,” said Katie.
Miriam Delogu, Bearpit Bristol
Bearpit Bristol is a social enterprise that exists to breathe new life into a neglected and unloved part of Bristol: St Barton’s Roundabout, known locally as “the Bearpit”.
Through three permanent food and drink businesses and a regular calendar of markets and community events, Bearpit Bristol is on a mission to make the Bearpit into a safe and welcoming destination.
“We chose our name because we want people to know that the Bearpit belongs to Bristol,” said Miriam.
It’s been a difficult journey, Miriam admitted, but Bearpit Bristol is making headway in challenging local people’s views of the area through aspirational businesses offering food, markets and events.
“When we first opened, commuters just ignored us,” said Miriam. “Then after a while it was like, ‘Wow, you’re still here!’”. Bearpit Bristol’s determination to invest in the area is now paying off with growing customer loyalty.
Steve Haines, Neighbourly
Neighbourly is an online platform that connects companies and individuals with local community projects and campaigns. Steve Haines, its head of community engagement, explained how Neighbourly has retained its culture through its recent rapid growth.
“We keep our culture alive by recruiting people with neighbourliness,” said Steve. “We ask, is this person a neighbourly person? It’s important, because it takes a lot of resilience to do what we do.”
Carving out time for employees to properly discuss and communicate the company’s vision and values is also vital.
“A strong organisation has to have those conversations around purpose all the time,” he added.
Thank you to Bristol Energy for providing the event space, and to Bristol & Bath Regional Capital for partnering with us on this event. For more on creative leadership, problem solving and purposeful business, please visit thehouse.co.uk or get in touch at hello@thehouse.co.uk.
