Why B Corp Certification is crucial to Vanessa Scrimshaw’s vision for New Dawn.

New Dawn Resources is now a Certified B Corporation®. This significant milestone reflects our commitment to ethical and sustainable business practices. Gaining this status was the result of extensive effort and a rigorous evaluation process, ensuring that our operations meet the highest standards of social and environmental responsibility.

So what were the reasons behind our decision to apply for the much coveted accreditation? We sat down with New Dawn’s Managing Director Vanessa Scrimshaw to find out why is was so important to her, the team and our clients to pursue B Corp status.

What inspired your company to pursue B Corp certification, and how does this align with your core values as an outsourced human resources provider?

The choice was more about who we are as business owners and directors, rather than what we do and what we deliver as a business. Of course we need to make a profit to be successful and to be able to afford to have choices in business, but profit has never been our core driver. In business, success is usually measured by profit alone but this accreditation enabled us to celebrate what matters to us. 

It takes courage in a turbulent market to walk past opportunities which don’t match your ethics and we are all proud of what we have achieved without compromising our professional standards and what we personally believe in.

How do you believe becoming a B Corp will benefit your customers, particularly in the human resources sector where trust and ethics play such a crucial role?

The B Corp framework has a lot of similarities with good people practice – legal compliance, ethics, inclusion and social responsibility. This is our bread and butter, the everyday stuff we talk to our clients about, so by achieving this accreditation it demonstrates that we ‘walk the talk’. Managing business and a team can be challenging and every advisor here at New Dawn Resources understands this on a personal level as either a director or a line manager. This empathy ensures we have a deeper understanding of our clients needs.  

We hope this accreditation also demonstrates our commitment to our profession and what HR should stand for in business.

In what ways do you see B Corp certification contributing to your company’s role within the wider business community, especially in terms of fostering sustainability and responsible business practices?

We have always sought to get involved in local matters and been prepared to dedicate resources to local and national charities. This accreditation won’t change that, but we hope it might encourage other similar sized businesses to recognise their ability to have a positive impact on things outside of the office.

In addition to this we hope it will show other organisations what we are about, and will reflect more than our core services. Hopefully this may lead to partnering on projects in the future where we can use our joint expertise to have a positive impact in the community, or on a wide range of subjects like inclusivity and access to opportunities.

How important was it for you to demonstrate accountability to not only shareholders but also employees, clients, and the environment when deciding to pursue B Corp certification?

It takes the commitment of the entire team to achieve a standard like this and I’m sure everyone is proud of the company we have made. The team here does some really interesting and challenging work, most of which is sensitive and confidential, so there is little opportunity to share their professional achievements outside of the office. 

Personally I have never sought awards and in terms of building the team and the business it has always been about competence and qualifications. So I surprised myself by how determined I was that New Dawn Resources achieved this particular certification, it reflects what we all have in common and something we can be publicly proud of.

To discover more why not visit the B Corp UK site