Manchester-headquartered nursery group Partou UK has achieved B Corp certification following an independent assessment of its social and environmental practices.
Partou, which operates more than 100 day nurseries across the UK, was assessed by non-profit organisation B Lab across areas including governance, employees, community impact, environmental practices and customer responsibility.
B Corp certification is awarded to businesses that meet defined standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. Certified companies must undergo reassessment every three years.
There are around 2,700 certified B Corps in the UK and more than 10,000 worldwide.
Partou said the assessment examined areas including its employment policies, equality and inclusion measures, staff benefits, family feedback procedures and work within the communities surrounding its nurseries.
The company has also introduced measures including a menopause policy, employee health and wellbeing support and fundraising activities involving individual nursery settings.
Kirsty Jackson, Partou Co-Managing Director, said the certification process had involved team members from across the organisation.
She said: βWeβre proud that Partou has achieved B Corp certification. I want to thank team members at every level who put in a lot of hard work over many months to achieve this outcome.
βThe assessment process highlighted the strength of our governance and the policies that underpin everything we do.β
Chris Turner, CEO of B Lab UK, welcomed Partou to the B Corp community, saying certified organisations were part of a wider movement seeking to change how businesses measure their impact.
Partou said it will now continue measuring its social and environmental performance ahead of future reassessment.
