The Good Business Charter is a simple accreditation which organisations in the UK can sign up to in recognition of responsible business practices.
Measuring behaviour over ten components, it comprehensively demonstrates your commitment to people and planet, and communicates your values to employees, suppliers and customers.
Why should we accredit?
We believe the simplicity and basic ethical principles of the GBC will be key to its success. The GBC is a non-profit making organisation funded by private sponsors who are keen to be supportive of responsible capitalism. We hope the GBC, because of its simplicity and cost effectiveness, will quickly gain support and therefore critical mass, which will give it important and influential authority to change business practice for good.
As more organisations get involved, and as GBC members get publicly recognised and rewarded, we hope that it will become increasingly difficult for companies, charities and public sector organisations to sit outside the framework. Explore the benefits of becoming accredited as a large organisation and how you can position the GBC accreditation within your company by taking a look at our resource.
“We would recommend working with the Good Business Charter to any company wanting to become a more responsible business. For us, the GBC’s ten components are a simple to understand but extremely robust framework that show us how we should think about responsibility and sustainability. They certainly reflect the business standards that are important to us and which I am genuinely passionate about.”
– Joel Ripley, CFO, Schroders Personal Wealth
What makes GBC different?
A company must meet commitments in each of these ten areas to receive GBC accreditation (9 for charities/public sector). We believe that this is the huge value of the GBC – an all-or-nothing accreditation rather than an average scoring – which we think makes it more transparent and thus holds more credibility with employees, customers and other stakeholders. Ultimately you are not left guessing – any company that signs up to the GBC will be meeting the criteria for each of the components.
It is simple and streamlined with accreditation done through online self-certification because we want to inspire as many businesses as possible to sign up and change their business behaviour where necessary, which we believe will in turn encourage wider good business practice.
As well as being a signpost to direct consumers, potential employees, investors (donors if charities) and subcontractors to your organisation, it provides a really effective framework to explain to your workforce how you are implementing responsible business behaviour.