ICON is now a Certified B Corporation.
For years, we have talked about making work that matters. Work that helps people understand something, access something, trust something or act on something important.
Becoming a B Corp gives us a stronger way to stand behind that promise.
It means ICON has been assessed against B Lab standards covering social and environmental performance, transparency and accountability. More importantly for us, it meant taking a close look at the whole business: how we are governed, how we support our people, how we work with clients and suppliers, how we contribute to our communities and how we understand our environmental impact.
The process was detailed, time-consuming and at times uncomfortable, which is exactly why it was useful.
Some of what we documented was already part of ICON. Other practices needed to be formalised, strengthened or introduced. There were also areas where the process made it clear we still had more work to do.
We were supported throughout the certification process by Kirsty Dare from SuperVision, who helped us navigate the assessment, challenge our thinking and translate the requirements into practical changes across the business.
We did not want certification to be a badge added to the business after the fact. We wanted the process itself to make ICON better.
As part of that work, we changed ICON’s constitution so that the interests of our people, communities, customers, suppliers and the environment are considered in company decision-making. We completed a materiality assessment, established an Impact Committee and strengthened Board oversight of our impact goals and stakeholder feedback.
We also reviewed pay against living-wage measures, completed a gender pay equity analysis and strengthened a range of workplace practices, including parental leave, flexible work, wellbeing support, learning and development, career reviews and inclusive hiring.
Our governance and operations changed too.
We introduced or strengthened our Code of Ethics, whistleblower protections and financial controls, and began tracking more of our energy use, supplier spend, recycling, e-waste and business travel.
But for an agency, this cannot stop at internal policy.
It has to show up in the work.
That means asking better questions at the beginning, middle and end of a project. Who could be affected by this work? Who has been heard? Is it clear, inclusive and accessible? Are we choosing partners and suppliers responsibly? How will we know whether it worked?
We have strengthened our approach to ethical marketing, data privacy, accessibility and quality assurance, while putting more structure around client feedback, stakeholder participation and measuring outcomes.
As ICON Group Managing Director Jo Painter puts it:
“We’ve always believed that the work we make should matter, but B Corp asked us to look beyond the work itself and examine the business behind it.
“Some things were already part of who we are. Others needed more structure, better measurement or clearer accountability. That was the value of the process. It made us put evidence behind what we say we stand for.
“For us, certification is not the end point. It gives us a stronger framework for the decisions we make, the questions we ask and the standards we hold ourselves to.”
That last point matters.
Certification does not mean ICON is perfect. It does not mean every brief becomes simple or every decision becomes obvious. What it gives us is a clearer baseline, stronger systems and a more disciplined way to test whether our choices match our values.
And now the work continues.
We will keep measuring our impact, sharing our progress, listening to our people, clients and partners, and being honest about the gaps. As the standards evolve, we will keep evolving with them.
Making what matters. Certified.