As I stood atop the hill by the iconic Glastonbury sign, I couldn’t quite believe it. I was here on Worthy Farm, taking in views of the incredible temporary city that is Glastonbury Festival. 

It felt like a physical representation of what we’ve achieved at The Agile Communications Agency over the past two years. Just two days before I set off for the Farm, we had official word that Agile had been certified as a B Corp and we were being welcomed into a global community and movement of businesses that believe they can be a force for good. 

Becoming part of a global movement for good

What better place to celebrate and reflect than at a world-class event that has always put purpose and community ahead of commerciality. A festival with 50 years’ legacy, where the Eavis family work year-on-year to continuously improve the experience for everyone who is part of it. Despite what you read in the headlines about celebs being helicoptered in, this is a unique organisation that delivers millions in donations to global humanitarian and environmental charities. 

Don’t get me wrong, I believe in profit. At the centre of my purpose when I started out as an independent PR practitioner in 2016, my focus was to command a good income to support myself and my two young daughters as a single parent.  

The role of mentorship and a sustainable business model

Sustainability was always a cornerstone of this business – I was incredibly lucky to land environmental campaigner Chris Hines as my coach. He vouched for sustainability both financially and for my mental health, and together we created a smart business model that protected both. 

When I started to grow and became a limited company, I found I had more work than I could manage alone. So I grew my network of freelance associates – again, my focus was on supporting talented independent creatives and practitioners in Cornwall whilst servicing national and regional client briefs across B2B and, something we’ve now coined, Business to Community. My thinking was – how can we ensure our talent is paid well and above average for Cornwall, where wages are frustratingly low and cost of living, especially housing, high? 

Investing in people and time in the B Corp process

I started exploring B Corp in 2020, but when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, my priorities were hanging on to our workflow on limited capacity whilst I muddled through parenting and running a business. 

So in 2023, I decided to invest in this properly. I created a role for Agency Manager, and that Spring, our incredible Charla joined as my first employee. That June, I went to Glastonbury and she held the fort whilst I could bathe in the magic of the Vale of Avalon.  

Then follows 18 months of policies, procedures, data-gathering, solidifying what we do and why we do the things we do, slowly working our way through the B Corp assessment dashboard. We had incredible support from the B23 cohort – I’ll let Charla explain the how! 

We submitted our assessment just before Christmas 2024 and celebrated with the office Dolly Parton cut out (who else better represents a global movement of positive thinking and people first?!). And so, we waited. 

Difficult decisions, a fond farewell and new opportunities

Meanwhile, business starts to get rocky. I hear about other agencies struggling and closing. The team and I return to work after Christmas with the mantra of “On We F@*K”. I didn’t really grasp at this point that we weren’t on our own with a struggling pipeline. But we did indeed F@*K Onward. 

Until May, when I had a sleepless weekend on the early bank holiday when I was hit with the realisation that I would need to make the tiniest restructure of the business. I took the two roles of my two incredible employees, and I had to reduce them to one whilst we weather this period. 

The result of this process was that the incredible Lyssa-Fêe Crump, whom has been by my side since 2020 as an associate, and later in 2023 became a full-time employee, has moved on to a new chapter.  

This incredibly resilient and resourceful woman is now leading the charge for marketing at climate-conscious digital awesomes HiYield. I couldn’t wish for a better outcome for her and the HiYield team. We’re still here to cheerlead each other and I know it’s not the end of our collaboration story. 

What B Corp means for our next chapter

And so that leaves Charla and I again, alongside our gorgeous network of supportive associates. It feels like we’re steering the tiny good ship Agile through choppy waters – not unlike the Owl and the Pussycat in their beautiful pea-green boat (complete with B Corp stamp). 

B Corp certification for us feels like a shining light at the end of the tunnel. It’s been a huge amount of work, led by Charla, yet once we were into the verification process, it felt much more effortless and that it was all coming together.  

We will continue to move towards that light by returning to our purpose-driven roots of why I run this business. 

‘Be the change we seek in the world’

Global Community: We already work with world-class clients, including University of Oxford, The International Transition Plan Network, ClientEarth and The Blue Manifesto and Whitbread. That’s where we will continue to focus our efforts for growth. We do still have a local client base, but to future-proof our business model, we need to look outward. 

Be The Change We Seek in the World: I’ve wanted to do Agency differently. Through structures such as our 4 Day Week. It’s all about balance, protecting our brains whilst delivering brilliant work. Burnout is not an option for our team. 

People and Place matter: It matters that I run my business in Cornwall, yet work for punchy organisations that impact globally. At the centre of our work, however, is people. The thing I am most proud of is finding brilliant talent to support our brilliant clients, and the vast majority of our associates are Cornwall-based. 

Authenticity: Our B Corp certification was hard won –it’s a badge of authenticity that we are committed to delivering impact against five pillars: our governance, workers, customers, environment and community. As we move forward, I want to remain authentic and honest about our business journey as we recalibrate for growth. 

Continuous improvement: It’s a value shared with Agile working, and this is the start of a new journey to continue to build and report our positive impact. We’re really proud of our 84.6 points and we’ll be working on incremental gains over the next three years. 

We already express gratitude each day at The Agile Communications Agency – it’s embedded in our culture. 

So as we celebrate this huge milestone, I am grateful for all the hard work and lessons we’ve learned. 

On We F@*K! 

Find out more about how we became a B Corp.

Are you a fellow B Corp and would like to collab? Get in touch!