House of Baukjen is one of the highest scoring Fashion B Corps globally.
As part of our mission to be a Business for Good, House of Baukjen has pursued the B Corp Certification, which we officially received in March 2021. We are very proud to be part of a community that believes that business can (and should) have a positive impact.
We’re also delighted to have been the highest scoring B Corp in Fashion in the United Kingdom at the time of our certification, which is a true testament of our efforts to be ethical and eco-friendly in an industry which has been troubled in these areas for so long.
Our score is something we are incredibly proud of, working every day to better the future of the world.
Our Score
In 2024, we scored 153.6.Â
For Context:
80 is the minimum score needed to certify
The median score for ordinary businesses is 50.9
Our score improved by 45+ points versus our original 2021 assessment
Explore the scoring system, our progress and our scorecard here.Â
What are B Corp businesses?
Certified b Corporations are for-profit businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose. B Corp is a certification administered by the non-profit B Lab, which evaluates not just a product or service, but the overall impact of the company.Â
This differs from other certifications because it takes on a holistic view at business, ensuring that B Corps prioritise the welfare of people and the planet. This certification is very rigorous, so that its logo truly stands for business for good.Â
Impact Areas
The B Corp Certification is divided into 5 impact areas: Governance, Workers, Environment, Community, and Customers. The resulting Impact Assessment is then verified through multiple external checks requiring documentation for the questions answered, with reassessment every three years to maintain certification.
You can find out more about the B Corp certification here.
Governance
Score: 19.2
The Governance Impact Area evaluates a company's overall mission, engagement around its social and environmental impact, ethics, and transparency. This section also evaluates the ability of a company to protect their mission and formally consider stakeholders in decision making through their corporate structure or corporate governing documents.
In 2021, we were awarded a standout score in Governance, being in the top 5% of all B Corps in at that time, achieving us a 'Best for the World’ in this impact area.
Our Governance performance is supported by our Impact Business Model (a business model designed to create positive outcomes through everyday operations) and formal policies that help protect people and the environment across the business.
Workers
Score: 29.1
This Impact Area assesses how a company supports employees’ pay, health and safety, wellbeing, and career development.
We are proud to be a Living Wage employer, paying at least the voluntary Real Living Wage benchmark, not the UK legal minimum wage. Additionally, our business has a third-party Employee Assistance program available to all employees that is run in a completely confidential manner for practical advice and wellbeing support.
Community
Score: 27.4
The Community Impact Area evaluates a company's engagement with an impact on the communities in which it operates, hires from, and sources from. Topics include diversity, equity, and inclusion; economic impact; civic engagement; charitable giving; and supply chain management.
Our Community score is linked to the work we do to vet suppliers and ensure an ethical supply chain, namely through site visits, auditing and having all of our factories sign our strict Code of Conduct.
ENVIRONMENT
Score: 72.7
The Environment Impact Area evaluates a company’s environmental management practices and its impacts on air, climate, water, land and biodiversity. This includes the direct impact of operations and, where applicable, supply chain and distribution impacts.
At House of Baukjen we put an incredible amount of effort into lowering the environmental impact of our garments and our operations. We continuously aim to reduce the average carbon and water footprints of our garments, and have significantly shortened our supply chain, while working with suppliers to reduce the amount of chemicals used in production. Through this work, we received recognition for the B Corp assessment areas of ‘Environmentally Innovative Wholesale Process’, ‘Resource Conservation’ and ‘Toxin Reduction / Remediation’.
We’re proud to have been recognised by the United Nations as a Climate Action Award Winner.
Customers
Score: 5.0
The final Impact Area of the B Corp assessment is Customers, which evaluates a company's stewardship of its customers through the quality of its products and services, ethical marketing, data privacy and security, and feedback channels.
As a business we always put our customers front and centre, with every care being taken to provide high-quality products that are made to last, accurate information and a fantastic service. Our entire team is dedicated to ensuring our customers have the best experience.
Our pledge to be a business for good.
As members of the B Corp community, we embrace their pledge to reduce inequality, lower levels of poverty, create a healthier environment, strengthen communities and create more high-quality jobs with dignity and purpose.
We are focused on reducing the negative impacts of fashion and growing the positive ones. That means choosing recycled and regenerative materials, expanding our circular initiatives and pushing for deeper supply chain transparency, all while keeping the clothes themselves firmly fashion-first and designed for long wear.
As a growing business, we are also actively looking at how we can scale up without doing damage to our planet. We acknowledge that everything we do has an environmental impact and are committed to being leaders in slow fashion.