Home > B Corp Month: The Bridgehouse Journey, a year on

B Corp Month: The Bridgehouse Journey, a year on

March 2024


black background image with white B Corp Month logo and a sign saying 'the Bridgehouse B Corp Journey'

As a certified B Corporation we have embraced a holistic approach to business, prioritising social and environmental impact alongside financial performance. Since obtaining our B Corp certification, our dedication to sustainable practices and ethical decision-making has propelled us forward, shaping our corporate culture, strategies, and initiatives.

As B Corp Month continues, what this has meant in practice for us over the past year is:

Employee Wellbeing

Since gaining B Corp status, we have continued to prioritise our team, ensuring we are providing everything we can to achieve good wellbeing at work. Some of the initiatives we have been implementing include:

Wellbeing Wednesdays

Wellbeing Wednesdays take place once a month. On this day, a senior team member keeps their calendar open for the afternoon for team members to book in calls. During these calls the team are free to discuss personal issues, workplace issues, or simply have a chat when they need someone to talk to. Our team members are assured that these conversations are private and open to all.

Brew Breaks

Bridgehouse organises Brew Breaks for our team on a regular basis, often coinciding with mental health awareness days. The purpose of the Brew Breaks is to tackle isolation in our predominantly remote working environment, keep the team socially connected and maintaining open conversations around mental health and wellbeing.

Health Resources

We continue to create and share health and wellbeing information and resources with our team such as mental health wellness workbooks, stress management information documents and sign posting for support. We are always communicating with our team, ensuring we engage with the causes that they care about most.

RAISE Awards

In December 2023, we proudly hosted our first-ever RAISE awards, honouring team members who have exemplified our company’s RAISE values. At Bridgehouse, we consistently align our actions with our vision, mission, and values, recognising the significance of acknowledging and rewarding our team members when they surpass expectations in upholding these principles.

Relationship Building

In a primarily remote-working setting, we recognise the importance of putting extra effort into nurturing strong workplace relationships and fostering social connections to combat feelings of isolation and loneliness. In addition to our traditional Summer and Christmas team gatherings, we’ve implemented quarterly in-person meetups for our team. These gatherings provide us with valuable opportunities to bond, exchange ideas, and strengthen our sense of camaraderie.

CSR

As Bridgehouse continues its expansion, our commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) also grows. We have a dedicated team member on board to oversee CSR initiatives, ensuring we stay connected to awareness days and causes that resonate with both our company and team.

We actively participate in significant causes, sharing information among our team and creating valuable content. This includes events like International Women’s Day, Stress Awareness, Time to Talk Day, and addressing current issues such as supporting employees amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Using the Donation platform, we encourage and assist our team in adopting responsible lifestyles, collaborating on a company-wide carbon-saving initiative. To date, our efforts have resulted in a reduction equivalent to 18 London to Paris flights, totalling 12,593 bananas’ worth of carbon emissions saved by our team.

Environmental Impact

One significant step we’ve taken to lessen our environmental footprint is transitioning to a smaller office space. We invested considerable effort in finding an office that is compact yet still conducive to our team’s comfort. As a hybrid workplace, we offer ample working space to our team but, upon assessing our environmental impact, we recognised the opportunity to downsize our office and reduce our footprint.

Our newly downsized office not only maintains a pleasant working environment but also consumes less energy. Adhering to a stringent Green Office policy, we strive to operate as sustainably as possible, ensuring that our actions align with our commitment to environmental responsibility.

The Journey

We have diligently pursued responsible actions, guided by integrity and a commitment to both purpose and profit. However, we recognise that there is still significant progress to be made. B Corp Month serves as a moment not only to acknowledge our achievements thus far but also to embrace the ongoing journey ahead.

The essence of the B Corp movement lies not in reaching a final destination but in perpetually striving for improvement. By consistently evaluating and evolving our business practices, we aspire to set a precedent and maximise our positive impact. As Bridgehouse expands, we eagerly anticipate the opportunities and challenges that our B Corp journey will bring.