In our 2023 climate action plan, Taking it Personally, we set ourselves a bold challenge: to create an Integrated Profit and Loss (IPL) account by 2026. Why? To create a broader view of the value created by our company – essentially connecting what our business produces with what it accomplishes and the impacts it has on people and communities. Read our full 2024-25 Impact Report here.
Plotting the course: partnering with the Capitals Coalition
Over the past year, we’ve been working to set the wheels in motion as part of a pilot programme led by the Capitals Coalition, a global NGO reshaping how organisations define and measure value. With their guidance, we’ve begun mapping our impacts – both positive and negative – across four distinct terrains, known as the four capitals:
- Natural capital – the stock of renewable and non-renewable natural resources (e.g. plants, animals, air, soils, minerals) that the organisation uses to yield a flow of benefits
- Social capital – the networks, together with shared norms, values and understanding, that facilitate cooperation within and beyond the organisation
- Human capital – the knowledge, skills, competencies and attributes embodied in individuals that contribute to improved performance and wellbeing within and beyond the organisation
- Produced capital – the human-made goods and financial assets that are used and generated by an organisation to produce goods and services consumed by society
These capitals now form the bread and butter of our impact reporting.
Discoveries along the way
Each year, we share our progress transparently and in 2024 we’re especially proud the team has:
- Contributed 162 hours of volunteering
- Logged 1,326 hours of learning and development
- Spent over 80,000 minutes staying active through our wellbeing programme
We’ve also earned our fourth B Corp recertification, with a score that places us in the top 3% of UK B Corps, a testament to our commitment to responsible business.
Every journey of course has its challenges and as we build our IPL account, we’re learning to read the map more accurately and to spot the landmarks we previously missed.
For instance, we haven’t been fully recognising the impact of our summer internship programme on industry diversity. Nor was the use of holiday allowance and its ripple effect on team wellbeing being measured. These insights are helping us understand how we can report on our value more holistically.
Navigating trade-offs
Some impacts are more complex than they first appear. Our emissions have slightly increased as more of our team returned to the office, an adverse effect on natural capital. But this shift has also strengthened human and social capital, as collaboration and connection to flourish.
Another example: 50% of our suppliers now have approved SBTi targets, short of our 2026 goal. But many of these suppliers are small, local businesses aligned with our values. While they may lack formal accreditations, they contribute meaningfully to human capital and community resilience.
The devil is in the detail – and the capital
This journey has shown us that impact isn’t linear. It’s a web of interdependencies, where one decision can ripple across multiple capitals. As we continue to build our IPL account, we’re uncovering new insights that will help us make better, more informed choices, grounded in a holistic view of our business. We know one of the biggest impacts we can have as a small business is to help others in our network understand how they can better measure and understand their own impact. So stay tuned and buckle in for the ride as we share our journey on creating an IPL account.
Read our full 2024-25 Impact Report to explore our impacts in more detail and see where we’re headed next.