Five distinctly different businesses with one common goal – a commitment to a more equitable, sustainable world.
David Trubridge is designing in harmony with nature.
Rumble Coffee is brewing up positive change.
Future Leadership is bolstering boardrooms with future-thinking leaders.
Go Well Consulting is helping businesses make money and a difference too.
And SkedGo is supporting us to make greener travel choices.
Join us in welcoming these new B Corps!
Image: David Trubridge
A bright idea with David Trubridge Ltd
It was in the ‘80s that David Trubridge, founder of his eponymous lighting and furniture design studio, packed up his young family and made the voyage by sailboat from the UK to Aotearoa New Zealand. The journey instilled in David a deep connection with nature and a passion for designing in harmony with it.
His distinctive lighting designs, characterized by intricate wooden details and natural forms, illuminate spaces worldwide with a blend of functionality, sustainability, and artistic beauty.
“It is unusual to have a design business and a manufacturing business under the one roof and this has been a strength for the company over the years by ensuring we have control over all aspects of our products.”
— David Trubridge Ltd
The business donates 5-10% of profits to local initiatives such as tree-planting, beach clean ups and projects that educate future generations in how to care for our planet. They are also mindful in their choice of materials, transport, and suppliers.
“Since the company’s inception in 1995 we have been careful to consider environmental aspects and care for our people in everything we do. This has impacted choice of materials (e.g. FSC birch and bamboo), methods of transport (e.g. all of our products are flatpack) and production inputs (e.g. renewable power and reduction of plastics).” — David Trubridge Ltd
— David Trubridge Ltd
Image: David Trubridge
David Trubridge Ltd is frank with their community when it comes to the environmental impact of their design choices. The opposite of greenwashing, they shine a light on the pros, without keeping the cons in the dark – helping customers understand sustainability’s nuances.
“We would really like to see more honesty. This means being open about all aspects of the business whether it is good or bad, rather than the greenwashing practice of cherry-picking only the good to promote.”
— David Trubridge Ltd
Rumble Coffee is transparent from crop to cup
The bitter truth is that coffee farming is notorious for worker underpayment and exploitation, as well as complex supply chains that make it difficult to understand where your coffee has come from, let alone whether it was made ethically.
That’s why the founders of Rumble Coffee, Matt and Joe, set out to shake up the status quo. Beyond roasting a brew worth bounding out of bed for, Rumble is dedicated to establishing strong relationships with coffee farmers.
Rumble Coffee pay coffee growers above fair-trade prices and they are refreshingly transparent, delving into exactly where their beans are sourced from and how much they pay their suppliers. It’s a level of transparency and traceability they hope becomes the norm.
Image: Rumble Coffee Roasters
“Numbers don’t lie, so we publish what we pay for every coffee we sell. It’s our belief that this is the most practical solution to ensuring sustainability in coffee. Where possible, we share the amount that the grower receives for each coffee. This is called the ‘Farm Gate Price.’ When this price is not available to us, we publish the amount that stays in the country of origin. This is called the ‘Free On Board’ price. We also publish where the coffee comes from – not just the country or the region, but the farm and growers. This is no easy feat, but we reckon it’s important for the future of specialty coffee.”
— Rumble Coffee
The Ruble Coffee team admit that their journey to certification wasn’t quick or easy. But good things take time.
“We adopted a collaborative approach amongst our team, playing to each of our strengths. This helped to share the load amongst our team. We also found the B Lab team’s guidance incredibly helpful. Their tips were invaluable and encouraging, and really pushed us in the right direction throughout the process.”
— Rumble Coffee
Image: Rumble Coffee Roasters
Leading from the front with Future Leadership
Future Leadership know that successful and sustainable businesses need strong leadership. That’s why they are dedicated to supporting organisations to find the right fit when it comes to captaining the ship.
Every year Future Leadership places 2,000+ leaders into teams they can best serve. With the understanding that the only constant in business is change, they focus on bolstering boardrooms with adaptable, flexible, future-thinking leaders, rather than focusing on experience alone.
“Once upon a time, organisations relied on a fixed set of competencies, within a predictable operating environment. Today, leaders adapt to new challenges almost constantly. We see our value as being a capability ecosystem supporting boards and executives to lead a more sustainable and equitable future.”
— Future Leadership
Image: Future Leadership
The Victoria-based firm recognises its unique opportunity to influence corporate diversity. For two decades, more than 50% of their appointments have placed female leaders into senior positions, and close to 3% have placed indigenous leaders into senior positions – a representation they state is aligned to Australia’s First Nations population.
“We believe that creating a resilient network of businesses wanting to do well, by doing good, is critical for the future. Moving from ego-centric to eco-centric will be the defining feature when it comes to the future of leadership.”
— Future Leadership
Leading from the front, Future Leadership take guidance from the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the firm has been certified as a ‘Great Place To Work’. Their community initiatives support programs that uplift leaders from underrepresented groups.
“All suppliers are viewed through a social impact lens. We now enjoy catering cooked by the incredible team of immigrants and refugees at Free to Feed. Our office cleaning products are chemical-free solutions from eWater. Our critical technology partner BlueRock Digital was selected due to their B Corp certification and shared beliefs.”
“To us, certification not only gives our team a deeper reason to show up each day, but also raises awareness of the need for business transformation amongst our wider community.”
— Future Leadership
Image: Future Leadership
Go Well Consulting are walking the talk
Increasingly, businesses want to not just make money, but make a difference too. We should know, after all 2022 was B Lab’s fastest growing year!
Based in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand, Go Well Consulting specialise in supporting businesses realise and meet their sustainability goals.
From eco-trailblazers to those just starting out in their impact journey, Go Well empowers like-minded businesses to identify opportunities for positive change, select raw materials, design for circularity, measure impact, report results, and communicate sustainability to customers.
“Our biggest impact is probably in helping businesses understand the science relating to our planetary systems and the impact their business is having on people and the planet.”
— Go Well Consulting
Image: Go Well Consulting
Beyond influencing positive change with their clients, the forward-thinking Go Well team pioneer innovative programs focused around reducing waste such as the ‘connect the dots’ compostable plastics stewardship scheme.
“We’d like to see all businesses designed for a circular economy – designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.”
— Go Well Consulting
It’s no surprise that Go Well have a number of fellow B Corporations on their client roster, like Maggie Marilyn, Pals Beverages, Emma Lewisham Cosmetics and Kowtow to name a few. Now having gone through the certification process themselves, we asked the Go Well team if they have any advice for aspiring B Corps:
“Ask for help if you need it. There is some language and jargon that is used that can be challenging to understand if you’re not used to it, don’t get stuck on that. For us, giving one person the responsibility, time, and support to manage the project helped certification go smoothly.”
— Go Well Consulting
Image: Go Well Consulting
Going the extra mile with SkedGo
SkedGo‘s award-winning technology helps people get from A to B while reducing congestion in our cities.
Now serving over 400 locations world-wide, SkedGo taps into local transport networks to present citizens with their full range of travel options. Public transport patrons, pedestrians, and everyone inbetween can review their choices by cost, convenience, or even CO2 emissions.
“There are now more mobility modes than ever, combined with an ageing population, and increased pressure to ensure rural communities don’t get left behind. With public purpose at our core, we’re proud to be playing a part in creating a more connected, sustainable, and inclusive transport system.”
— SkedGo
Image: SkedGo
According to the UN, by 2050 two-thirds of the worlds population will reside in urban areas. By putting smart, simple-to-use travel information at the public’s fingertips, SkedGo hope to influence greener travel choices and enhance accessibility to travel for people who may need additional mobility support.
“We made it our mission to consider all mobility users and have accessibility features built into our apps and tools as standard. This helps to ensure our solutions are inclusive. We add new features based on research and client/community feedback to ensure our technology remains impactful and that it solves real-world problems that people face when it comes to mobility options and accessibility.”
— SkedGo
SkedGo share that completing the B Impact Assessment helped them to identify positive elements of their company culture or operations that could be formalised by incorporating them into written policy.
“Having grown organically over the years, we realised [through the certification process that] certain structures and policies needed attention. For instance, having an ethical marketing policy was paramount, allowing us to emphasise that we don’t, for example, engage in greenwashing. We wanted to make sure this was evident in our company culture and operations as well, so we put it in writing. Now everyone knows how we operate and what our standards are.”
— SkedGo
A big thank you to David Trubridge Ltd, Rumble Coffee, Future Leadership, Go Well Consulting, and SkedGo for taking the time to share their journeys with us.
