Canongate becomes first UK trade publisher to gain B Corp Certification for positive global impact

Canongate has been granted B Corp Certification, becoming the first UK trade publisher to gain the accreditation. 

B Corp Certification is a globally recognised acknowledgement of a company’s wider impact on the world and is based on a rigorous assessment of a company’s impact on their workers, communities, customers, suppliers and the environment. It is awarded only to companies able to demonstrate that they have a positive social and environmental impact on the world.  

Certified organisations are required to meet higher standards of social and environmental impact, transparency and accountability to stakeholders, rather than just shareholders. Globally, there are currently more than 8,000 Certified B Corporations in more than 150 industries, with companies required to recertify every three years.  

Based on the assessment, Canongate Books earned an overall score of 88, with 80 the threshold required for B Corp Certification. The median score for ordinary businesses who complete the assessment is currently around 50.

Caroline Gorham, production and systems director, led the three-year application process, with help from production colleagues Laura Bouchier and Kate Oliver, and the members of the company’s CSR, staff forum, staff and wellbeing and EDI groups. 

Gorham said: “I’m delighted that we’ve become the first UK trade publisher to receive B Corp Certification. Like so much that we do in publishing, this has been a huge team effort and years in the making. We’ve had so many conversations in the company about the future of Canongate, and one thing that we’re absolutely sure of is that we want to be about more than simply making a profit.  

“The impact of Canongate is, and can be, so much greater than that. Becoming a B Corp feels like a public commitment: we want to ensure our impact on our colleagues, authors, suppliers, booksellers, readers and the world at large is a positive one. There’s so much we’re working to improve, and so much that we’re excited for in the future, but this is a welcome recognition of the good we’re already doing and a resolution to do more.”

Jamie Byng, Canongate chief executive, added: “Canongate has always been about more than making profits. Simply staying in business for 50 years as an independent publisher is no small feat, but we’re confident we are doing more than that – and gaining B Corp Certification is a thrilling recognition of our determination to make the maximum positive impact we can on the wider world.”