For more than 90 years, Hillier Hopkins has been guided by a simple ethos: do the right thing.
It is a value that has shaped our culture since we began, influencing how we work with each other, support our clients, engage with our communities, and consider our impact on the world around us.
This B Corp Month, we are reflecting on our journey, not as a celebration of a single achievement, but as an important milestone in our ongoing commitment to being a responsible business and part of a global community working to use business as a force for good.
A culture rooted in responsibility
Long before terms like ESG or sustainability entered the mainstream, Hillier Hopkins was taking action because it aligned with our values. From charitable fundraising and pro bono support for local organisations to the early adoption of paperless working practices, responsibility has long been embedded in how we operate.
Our core values – Positive Collaboration, Friendly Expertise, Making Time, Taking Ownership, and Doing the Right Thing – guide our decisions every day. These values align closely with the principles of the B Corp movement, which brings together businesses committed to balancing purpose and profit and considering the impact of their decisions on workers, communities, customers, and the environment.
A key stage in our journey came when we joined TGS and became a signatory to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Around the same time, we formed our Sustainability Team; a cross-office group of colleagues committed to driving progress across the firm. Their energy and leadership have helped embed sustainability into everyday decisions and ensured that responsibility is shared across departments.
Our commitment to becoming a certified B Corporation™
We chose to pursue Certified B Corporation certification because it provided a robust and transparent framework to assess and improve our impact. The certification process, administered by B Lab, requires companies to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, accountability, and transparency.
Becoming a Certified B Corporation means we are now part of a global community of businesses committed to continuous improvement and collective action. Certification is not about being the best, it is about committing to do better. B Corps recertify every three years against evolving standards, ensuring ongoing progress and accountability.
For us, certification has strengthened our approach by helping us measure our impact more systematically, identify areas for development, and formalise our long-term commitment to responsible business practices.
Our impact so far
In recent years, we have strengthened our social and environmental impact through practical, measurable action. We provide volunteering opportunities and free accountancy workshops for small charities, while delivering wellbeing initiatives that support our colleagues’ health and development.
Environmentally, we encourage lower-impact travel through Cycle to Work and electric vehicle schemes, have expanded recycling across our offices, and begun measuring our carbon emissions to better understand and reduce our footprint.
These steps reflect our commitment to transparency, accountability, and continuous improvement as part of the Certified B Corporation™ community.
Lessons learned along the journey
Every organisation’s sustainability journey is different, but several lessons have stood out for us:
- Leadership commitment matters – Visible support from our Principals and Board has been essential in embedding sustainability into our culture and decision-making.
- Start focused and build momentum – Progress does not require solving everything at once. Prioritising key impact areas creates momentum and meaningful change.
- Invest in training and communication – Knowledge builds confidence and consistency. Team members have completed the ICAEW Sustainability Certificate and other training programmes, while internal communications and lunch-and-learn sessions have helped build awareness firm-wide.
- Seek external expertise where helpful – Working with specialist advisers has provided structure, insight, and constructive challenge throughout the process.
- Prepare thoroughly for certification – The process is rigorous and evidence-based. It requires time, documentation, and cross-team collaboration. Organisations considering certification should ensure they are ready to commit the necessary resources and embrace continuous improvement.
A milestone, not the end of the road
Becoming a Certified B Corporation marks an important milestone for Hillier Hopkins, but it is not the end of the journey. Certification represents a public commitment to continuous improvement and to being part of a global movement working toward a more inclusive, equitable, and regenerative economy.
Joining the B Corp community has strengthened our accountability and sharpened our focus. Our journey continues, and we remain committed to doing the right thing for our people, our clients, our communities, and our planet, today and into the future.
