TFT x Coutts: B Corp or bespoke?

TFT’s B Corp journey is well underway and, with recertification beginning next year we feel many benefits from the framework and the community which comes with it. But, it’s far from the only game in town when it comes to setting and achieving ESG goals – and no conversation about sustainable business would be complete without non-B Corp voices contributing to it.

So we set out to create a more inclusive, constructive forum bringing together B Corp perspectives with those seeking other frameworks for positive impact. That includes, increasingly, a self-defined approach to defining and measuring sustainability.

That forum took place last week (July 9th 2024) when we joined up with Coutts for ‘B Corp or bespoke?’, a panel discussion between real estate companies TFT, Stanhope, Grosvenor and Hydrock (now owned by Stantec). Between us, we represented a mix of experience using or trying out B Corp, and adapting our own standards to use alongside it.

We were joined by a mixed audience including investors, developers, architects, lawyers, consultant and occupier businesses. By a straw poll held at the start of our session, we found 40% of the 84-strong audience work in B Corps, while 30% had filled out B Corp assessments, and 10% use bespoke frameworks (alongside or instead of B Corp). 30% of our audience had no framework in place, yet.

Our session was chaired by the Estate Gazette’s Julia Cahill, who steered our panel to answer key challenges about corporate ESG, and wrote a great summary of our session in EG. Below are a selection of key quotes summarising our panel’s take on the issues.

Click here to read the full story on Estates Gazette: ‘Finding the best framework for sustainability’

Using B Corp: perfection vs progression

Nils Rage, Stanhope: ‘B Corp says that your business cares – it doesn’t say that you’re perfect. The biggest misconception is that B Corp means you’re ‘perfect’. It actually means that you try, and work hard at improving where you are.’ 

Mat Lown, TFT: ‘As a business which prides ourselves on independence and critical thinking about important issues – we needed an external, independent framework [B Corp] to measure our journey forwards.’ 

Eve Bellers, Grosvenor: ‘Grosvenor had already committed to our own ambitious sustainability targets. But we used the B Corp assessment to see what we were missing in our approach and what we should consider next.’ 

Sadaf Askari, Hydrock: ‘B Corp is good for corporate governance or strategy. But I would question if B Corp is a useful tool for those just starting out in ESG. If you’re just starting out, you should undertake your own exercise to understand your own business – if governance is something you need more support around, B Corp could be for you. But self analyse and start building a strategy first.’

What’s next? Ambitions for improvement

Sadaf Askari, Hydrock: ‘We talk a lot about carbon, but I would say that climate risk is now the biggest risk, not just in terms of physical risk but transitional risks as well. We need implementable plans to reduce these, where you can show that you know exactly what is causing the risks and how you will address them.’

Eve Bellers, Grosvenor: ‘Our collective thinking on social impact and social value needs to mature. Because one size doesn’t fit all, doing the right thing must begin with understanding the communities you serve.’

Mat Lown, TFT: ‘To improve buildings at pace, we need to move beyond a modelling-heavy approach to buildings. We need to make buildings better to meet our goals, and seeking a perfect outcome in all areas will only delay those positive impacts.’

Much like the sustainable building certifications and standards we work with every day, applying a corporate ESG strategy can be complex work. We need to deal with evolving parameters like carbon, social value, biodiversity and climate risk, which change over time. Sharing knowledge openly and acting on the latest, best information is critical to make progress.

As Asaf said in the session’s closing remarks: if you feel like your sustainability journey isn’t underway yet, you may feel like it’s time to get started!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the evening, including our panel: TFT’s Mat Lown, Sadaf Askari from Hydrock, Eve Bellers of Grosvenor and Nils Rage of Stanhope PLC. The discussion was chaired brilliantly by Julia Cahill of Estates Gazette, with many excellent questions contributed by our audience. A special thank you to Helen Pickstock and the rest of the Coutts team who welcomed us at their offices.