Progress with Purpose: AEW’s B Corp Recertification

Sustainability and social value sit at the heart of our approach. As a B Corporation, we’re able to demonstrate that commitment in concrete terms, leading from the front whilst supporting our clients with their own goals.

We’ve recently achieved recertification as a B Corp, raising our overall score from 95.3 to 102.9. This is an achievement worth celebrating and it’s great to see that our long-term commitment to improvement in this arena is leading to measurable progress.

In light of our recertification and improved score, we wanted to run through the details of the certification process, what it means and what we’ve been doing across the business to achieve these results.

What B Corp certification means

At it’s heart, B Corp certification, assesses organisations against rigorous standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. Rather than focusing on one metric, it looks across multiple areas of business practice. Importantly, it’s measured by a third-party, B Lab, who provide a benchmark that brings individual initiatives together under one credible and values-aligned framework.

If you’re outside the B Corp community, you’d be forgiven for being a bit hazy on the details of what it involves, but fundamentally, the certification covers five key impact areas:

• Governance
• Workers
• Community
• Environment

To certify, you have to demonstrate concrete action and robust systems that meet or exceed global performance standards, not just good intentions.

AEW’s gains in governance and workers

The uplift in our recertification score was driven primarily by improvements in the Governance and Workers impact areas. The work behind this was a sustained focus on transparent leadership, inclusive decision-making and meaningful investment in people.

Leadership and governance

The improvements in our Governance score boil down to a leadership approach that places purpose, accountability and long-term thinking at the centre of the business. B Corp principles are embedded at board level and carried through into strategic decision-making, reinforcing the practice’s commitment to balancing commercial success with positive social and environmental impact.

Managing Director Andy Rainford has been a key driver of our B Corp journey, helping to ensure governance is treated as an active, evolving part of how the practice operates rather than a compliance exercise. That leadership has also been recognised more widely, with Andy recently shortlisted in the Property Leader category at the 2026 North West Leadership Awards.

Workers

Progress in the Workers impact area is down to our sustained focus on creating a supportive, inclusive and engaging environment across the practice. The recertification recognises that we’ve worked hard to strengthen employee experience, wellbeing and long-term development, alongside a continued commitment to fairness and flexibility.

It also reflects a more embedded approach to equality, diversity and inclusion, alongside expanded opportunities for learning and professional growth, and clearer ways for staff to share feedback and shape the business. Our ongoing attention to fair pay, benefits and flexible working is informed by our belief that people are central to our success.

An early adopter helping shape change in the sector

We were an early adopter of B Corp certification within the architecture and design sector, achieving certification in late 2022 when there were just 16 UK practices in the Architecture, Design and Planning category. At the time, B Corp was still unfamiliar to many clients and consultants, and certification required a clear commitment to embedding new ways of thinking about governance, people and impact across the business.

Since then, take-up across the sector has accelerated. Today, 75 UK practices are B Corp certified. Ultimately, the intention behind B Corp is being embraced more strongly across the industry and that’s a good thing. The gaining momentum of the certification demonstrates that businesses are eager to commit to the continual improvement it demands.

Our early adoption of the B Corp laid the groundwork to show that B Corp is not just possible, but beneficial to businesses working in our industry.

Responding to changes in B Corp standards

Since our original certification, the B Corp Standards have been updated. The system has moved away from a flexible points accumulation model towards mandatory minimum performance requirements across all impact areas. This shift is a response to sector-wide feedback and recent high-profile debates around certification practices.

The new model works more like an ISO-style framework where organisations must meet defined minimum standards to achieve certification, rather than rely on higher scores in some areas to balance weaker performance elsewhere.

We’re committed to exceeding and improving on these minimum standards across the business, ensuring that we remain at the forefront of responsible practice in the industry.

What’s next

Our journey with B Corp is an ongoing one =. We’ll continue to build on our progress, using the B Corp framework to guide future improvements across operations, projects and partnerships. Each recertification is a platform for continued and renewed ambition that will drive us towards improved practice each time it comes around.