'Why I gave my company away'

My husband, Mike Wilson, and I incorporated the Organisation for Responsible Businesses (ORB) in February 2009.

ORB is now a vibrant community of like-minded, values-led small businesses working in different sectors right across the country, but our journey has been a challenging one!

In 2022, Mike and I gifted the company to our membership to protect the legacy of the organisation we had worked so hard to create. So, if I may, I would love to tell you a little more about ORB and explain why I "gave my baby away!"

I said "my baby" because although Mike and I launched the business together, Mike will be the first to say I have always been the key driver of ORB. It is my passion, my project, but I have been supported wholeheartedly by Mike at each step along the often extremely tough journey, bearing in mind we launched just after the financial crash!

So, why did we launch ORB? What exactly is this baby of mine?

ORB is primarily a membership organisation, launched to drive positive societal change.

In 2008-09, corporate social responsibility (CSR) was a big topic, yet little was taking place to encourage micro and small businesses to embrace the principles of caring about people and the environment. With 99% of private businesses in the UK accounting for solos, micros and small businesses, which needed to change! ORB launched to fill that gap in the marketplace.

The official launch was in February 2010 with a fantastic event in Southend supported by national and local organisations, including Southend Borough Council, Carbon Trust, Mindful Employer, ACAS, FSB, Essex Chambers, HSE, Envirowise and over 200 delegates.

We launched with a mission to change the world, one small business at a time. ORB’s purpose is to realise that mission by encouraging and promoting a better way of doing business; a way that is good for business, good for people and good for the environment.

We were ahead of the curve

When we launched 15 years ago, we were ahead of the curve. Small businesses thought that CSR had nothing to do with them: that they were too small to make a difference, did not have the time or money. Today, we still have a long way to go, but increasingly, micro and small businesses understand that doing good is good for business.

Although CSR was a key driver, ORB has always taken an approach to responsible business that is more aligned with a newer acronym – ESG (environmental, social, governance). My professional background is management accountancy in the small business sector. I know only too well that while people and planet are important, so too is good governance.

Every business, however small, needs to operate ethically and efficiently, have appropriate systems in place, including business continuity plans, as well as meet and exceed legislation.

Watch this webinar to learn how to embed ESG principles in your business:

Our membership

It is essential that we protect the integrity of our membership. We do this via our three-stage membership application process that ensures members operate with values aligned with our purpose, even if they are at an early stage of their journey.

Developing the Responsible Business Standard

In 2011, having received Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) funding to work with Anglia Ruskin University, ORB’s Responsible Business Standard Certification was launched.

Developed in conjunction with and validated by ARU, ORB’s flagship certification is comprehensive, robust, evidence-based and designed specifically for small businesses from a sole proprietor upwards.

Throughout the certification process, ORB adopts an approach called ASTI (appropriate to the size, type and impact of the business).

The certification covers the ESG agenda in six sections, including UK legislation and best practice, which ORB calls Striving for Excellence:

• Workplace

• Environment

• Marketplace

• Ethics, values and transparency

• Business processes/continuity

For clarity, applicants do not need to complete the workplace section or any questions that are not appropriate for their business, yet, because the scoring process works on a percentage basis, this does not negatively impact scoring.

Great acclaim, but too far ahead of the curve

RBS launched to great acclaim with Richard Howitt MEP and rapporteur for CSR, for example, stating that ORB was helping the small business sector show it is contributing to the whole debate about CSR, ensuring that CSR is quantified, understood and recognised.

Yet whilst the hierarchy applauded our work, it was challenging in 2011 to get traction for the certification with the small business community. But that is changing, especially as more tiny businesses are looking for an affordable and more appropriate alternative to B Corp.

Moving the process online

The evidence-based certification has always been assessed by two third-party auditors. Initially, this was an on-site process. In 2021, an advisory board was formed to re-evaluate the certification and move the process online. Few changes were needed, which reinforced the vigour of the initial development process.

As part of this new online process, I developed an extensive online course to cover the framework of the certification and with substantial additional information, resources and signposting. The course is designed to help business owners deep-dive into every aspect of business operations and consider if they are doing enough, if they could do better, what that might look like and what steps they need to take to achieve that.

The course is now delivered as an online six-week facilitated ESG course. The weekly sessions provide accountability and added value through the small-group discussions and light-bulb moments which ensue.

Protecting our legacy

During this period, I was becoming increasingly concerned about protecting the legacy and purpose of the unique company Mike and I had built from the ground up. Several people had expressed an interest in purchasing the company, but it was clear that in each case, they would have used ORB’s platforms and reputation to sell workshops and training to bigger companies. Although that would have unquestionably increased income, it was moving away from ORB’s core purpose and focus on solo and micro businesses.

By then, I was in my early 70s, albeit fitter and healthier than most women half my age. Mike was already semi-retired, and I decided to gift the company to the membership to protect that legacy. By that time, ORB was a CIC limited by shares, but that offered no protection whatsoever.

We gifted the company on my 72nd birthday!

I incorporated a new company limited by guarantee, with not-for-profit Articles of Association, that state ORB’s purpose and includes specific processes to be retained. The new Articles, which were quite unusual in their format, were accepted by Companies House; ORB, in its new iteration, was officially constituted on 21 July 2022.

On 30 August 2022, on my 72nd birthday, we transferred the existing company to the new company and simultaneously gifted the company to the membership.

Most people thought I would be sad to give my company away, but quite the reverse was true. It was truly a wonderful birthday present to feel that the legacy of ORB was now protected.

All ORB members have a right to vote and the Articles of Association cannot be altered unless 75% of voting members agree to those changes. Our legacy has been protected!

I am still the driving force

I am still the CEO and still the driving force behind ORB, but now supported by a wonderful female-led board of directors and a member council that sits between the board and the membership to ensure good communication flow.

I will be 75 this year and have no plans to retire in the immediate future. However, I am intent on developing a young and vibrant team that, in due course, can take the reins and lead the company to a bigger, brighter and ever more impactful future.

In the meantime, while ORB is technically no longer my company, it will always be my baby!

Relevant resources

• ESG for small businesses: How to build and implement an ESG policy

• Introduction for exit: planning a business for exit or sale

• People, planet, profit – a sustainable approach to business