From ambition to achievement – we’re now B Corp Certified

Ollie Cunningham • 19th Nov 2024

B Determined. B Committed. B Truthful. B Caring. B Corp.

We’re proud to share that Lane and Lane Media have officially become Certified B Corporations, also known as B Corp.

We are the largest integrated Creative and Media agency in the country to achieve the status and one of just 70 organisations in Scotland who have become a Certified B Corp.

We Join 2300+ other business in the UK that are committed to prioritising more than just profit.

What is B Corp?

Being a B Corp Certified organisation is about using our business as a force for good.
It’s about a triple bottom line: people, planet and profit. 
And it’s about making a positive impact on society and the environment. 

This all means changing the way we make decisions on a daily basis. It means bringing an ethical dimension to the way we do business, the way we work with clients, and the way we select our suppliers. Our people, the Laners, are at the centre of all that we do, so it’s also about ensuring we’re all on the same page, united in evolving the way we do things and the decisions that we make.

“I’m delighted for our team who have worked so hard on evolving and documenting all that we do and how we do it. For an agency that prides itself on increasing impact, it was all-important this time to reduce the environmental impact across all of our touch points. I’m proud to see what we’ve achieved and excited about continuing that trajectory.”

Ali Findlay, Chief Executive, Lane 

Our B Corp journey

Our B Corp journey began about three years ago when we started to look at our approach to sustainability. Different options were brought to the table and discussed, and right at the top of the pile was B Corp. It was the most ambitious and hardest to achieve of any of the options. But unanimously, we decided to go for it.

Once we were committed to certification, the first step was to answer the 200+ questions in the B Impact Assessment tool. The tool measures a company’s positive impact in five areas: Governance, Workers, Community, Environment, and Customers. We knew we were on a journey, and in truth we thought we were doing better than our score revealed – that was grounding. We were a long way below the 80 points required to submit for certification, and so the work began to improve upon what we had. Attaining those precious points for us had to be a genuine journey of improvement, walking the walk not ticking the boxes.

It has taken us almost three years to get B Corp Certified. A year of that delay was actually down to our sister agency set up with Lane and Lane Media being separately limited companies united by brand and integrated offerings. It’s part of what makes Lane unique, and makes it even more impressive that we managed to keep both parts of our family in-step on our quest to accreditation. The way we have evolved has benefited everyone: our team, our clients, our suppliers and our community. We see it as just the start of our journey as an ethical business, and we’re excited about our next moves.

“This is a really exciting time for Lane and marks a change that needs to happen on a global scale. At Lane, there has always been a desire to be about more than just profit, and the B Corp Certification process has given us the framework we need to take action. I’m very proud of the team for their support and enthusiasm. It’s an amazing achievement and I hope our certification inspires other businesses to do the same.”

Ollie Cunningham, Design Director & B Corp Lead, Lane 

The future

Achieving B Corp Certification is a huge milestone, but it’s just the beginning. 

Getting certified is not just a badge – it’s a responsibility, a pledge. Our commitment to continuous improvement means that we will regularly re-evaluate and raise our standards across every part of our business. We’ll keep finding new ways to reduce our environmental impact, support our people, and strengthen our relationships with clients, suppliers, and the wider community. We hope to help shape a better, more responsible future for business, and show that we can all drive positive change.

“Achieving B Corp Certification is validation of our commitment to balancing profit and purpose. Whilst it’s rewarding to achieve the recognition, we are all cognisant that this is just the beginning of an invaluable journey and that we will continuously strive to improve internally as well as helping to educate and support other brands and companies in their own journeys to becoming B Corp Certified.”

Barry Fearn, Founder & Managing Director, Lane Media