BE RECOGNISED FOR YOUR
RESPONSIBLE BUSINESS PRACTICES
The Good Business Charter is a simple accreditation which organisations in the UK can sign up to in recognition of responsible business practices.
It measures behaviour over 10 components: real living wage, fairer hours and contracts, employee well-being, employee representation, diversity and inclusion, environmental responsibility, paying fair tax, commitment to customers, ethical sourcing, and prompt payment.
An organisation must meet all 10 commitments to receive GBC accreditation. Open to private sector, public sector and charities of all sizes including a streamlined version for organisations with 50 employees or less.
Our 10 components
The Good Business Charter is a simple accreditation which organisations in the UK can apply for, in recognition of responsible business practices. An organisation must meet all 10 commitments to receive GBC accreditation.
What is the Good Business Charter?
The GBC is an independent not-for-profit organisation working with organisations including the TUC, IoD and FSB to give a benchmark for ‘Good Business’ which is accessible to all.
Why seek GBC accreditation?
The time is right for a “Good Business Charter” to encourage responsible business behaviour and publicly acknowledge those organisations who exhibit such behaviour.
Take the first step now and complete your self-certification with us today. If you receive accreditation to the GBC, membership will be FREE for the first year.
How do I report my concerns?
Accreditation with the Good Business Charter is reliant on organisations being honest in the self-certification process. Therefore, if you have concerns that a business is not meeting one of our ten components, then please do let us know. Our reporting tool is easy to use and concerns can be submitted anonymously.
GBC Blog
Truly hearing your employees
We call our fourth component Employee Representation and I believe it is helpful to unpack what that looks like in practice. I attended an excellent roundtable on the topic recently, run by Tortoise Media with Kate Bell from the TUC as the speaker. The key is to not only provide opportunities for employees to express […]
Apostle Accounting response
At the beginning of March we were contacted by former clients of Apostle Accounting to state why they felt Apostle should be stripped of its GBC accreditation. We welcome people reporting their concerns – whether they be employees, customers, suppliers or other stakeholders of a GBC accredited organisation. You can do that here: https://goodbusinesscharter.com/whistle-blowing/ For […]
Statement on the CBI
Given the recent allegations at the CBI, the Good Business Foundation Board of Trustees has decided to suspend its GBC accreditation and involvement in ongoing events pending the outcome of the investigation being conducted by Fox Williams.
Spotlight on Financial Wellbeing
We were delighted to host our very first round-table with our medium and large accredited organisations on 28th February, and our chosen topic was financial well-being – to share ways in which different organisations were looking after their employees. In one-to-one discussions with individual members over the past few months, we knew this was an […]
What our accredited organisations say:
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“It is exciting to see York leading the way in championing the Good Business Charter. We are proud to be able to sign up to this new charter as we know all employers have a key role to play in loosening the grip of poverty on our society. It is deeply concerning that for millions of people across the UK work is not currently providing a reliable route out of poverty. Good work can help to establish the firm foundations families need to achieve a decent quality of life. The ongoing pandemic has shown us what we are capable of achieving when we rally together around a shared purpose. We hope others in York, and around the whole country, sign up to the Good Business Charter which has the potential to both improve the way we do business and improve the lives of many.”
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“The Good Business Charter has a key role to play in making the working world a better place. As organisations join, we hope they will in turn inspire others and help bring about a general, positive movement for change.”
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“The New Economics Foundation is committed to an economy that puts people and the planet first. We aim to practice what we preach so I am proud that we have been accredited by the Good Business Charter. The Charter provides an essential role in promoting responsible and accountable business. At NEF we are determined that the values we campaign for as a charity are reflected in our internal culture and working practices, and the Charter will help to guide us in fulfilling this mission.”
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“The GBC is a really good opportunity to connect lots of different departments across our firm and business in a way that we hadn’t brought together before.”
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“At St. James’s Place, our purpose is to help our clients to have the confidence to create the future they want. We do this through our network of financial advisers who provide expert face to face financial advice. Becoming financially secure is only worthwhile if we have a world worth living in though. That means thinking about the impact we have on society and doing what we can to make sure it is a positive one. We’re working hard to understand, measure and manage the impact we have through our operations, our investments and our supply chain. We are proud that as part of this journey we were the first FTSE100 business to be accredited by the Good Business Charter. We also recognise that with this accreditation comes a responsibility; to uphold the commitments of the charter and to encourage others to do the same.”
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“Since the industrial revolution the role of business was to make a profit, where the ends justified the means. There were exceptions who recognised the positive role of business to the community but these were rare. But business is not beholden to the shareholder, business is beholden to the customer and it is the customer who is demanding change; where business contributes to society and our planet. The Good Business Charter is a signpost to recognise those companies, who are far from perfect, but aspire to contribute to a fair society. We at Brompton believe in that philosophy.”
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“We are delighted to be one of the first businesses to adopt the Good Business Charter. We were the first UK airport to be both London Living Wage accredited and recognised by the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard. The Charter further demonstrates our commitment to creating a good place to work which is sustainable, inclusive, and community-focussed.”
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“Aviva aims to be the UK’s leading insurer and so we have a responsibility to make sure we can demonstrate our positive contribution to our customers, colleagues, and communities. Trusted, independent ethical accreditations, such as the Good Business Charter, are one of the important ways we can do this.”
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“Eversheds Sutherland is proud to be the first global law firm to be accredited by the Good Business Charter. The Charter’s focus around acting transparently, and to the highest ethical standard, aligns with our purpose, our values and our new global strategy. As a participant in the UN Global Compact, a supporter of Business Ambition for 1.5°C through the Science Based Targets initiative, and a founder member of the Net Zero Lawyers Alliance, we are proud to publicly commit to protecting the environment and helping the communities in which we live and work to prosper for the benefit of current and future generations.”
