Social housing data and insights company, Switchee, has been awarded the prestigious and globally recognised B Corp certification, joining a growing community of some of the world’s finest businesses. B Corp certification is a global recognition for voluntarily meeting the highest social and environmental performance standards, transparency and accountability. B Corp recognises the world’s leading companies who are a force for good, committed to driving positive change in their industries and leaving a lasting impact socially and environmentally for all their stakeholders.
Switchee is the largest platform of internet connected devices for social housing receiving over 8 billion data points a year, giving real-time actionable insights into property performance. The Switchee personalised dashboard empowers social landlords to proactively identify properties at risk of condensation, damp or mould and flag potential fuel poverty, with data collected by a smart thermostat control installed in residents’ homes.
Switchee equips landlords with the insights and tools they need to proactively support residents, whilst better managing their housing stock, its energy efficiency and taking action to prevent disrepair. With a Switchee control installed, residents’ energy use is also optimised, lowering heating bills by up to 17%*.
To attain B Corp certification, Switchee had to meet stringent and rigorous standards across five impact areas: Governance, Workers, Customers, Community and Environment. Only 1,100 UK companies have achieved the benchmark to date – with just over 6,000 B Corp certified companies worldwide. Certification is evaluated by not-for-profit organisation, B Lab™.
Commenting, Tom Robins, Switchee CEO said: “Like B Corp, Switchee believes in the power of business as a force for good. It’s one thing to think you’re good and another thing to have yourself independently benchmarked and achieve a global standard.
“Becoming a B Corp is a high bar and tells our team, customers and the wider society that we are a business committed to transforming housing for the benefit of all people, communities and the planet.”
Assessors were particularly impressed by Switchee’s employee benefits, its work promoting a diverse workforce, its local manufacturing and the transparency of its financial reporting, ethics policies and practices.
Tom adds: “I’m proud to say Switchee is part of the B Corp community and I’m particularly proud that being certified was an employee-led initiative. It was a demanding process, but every team has contributed to raising our expectations and volunteering ourselves for scrutiny. At Switchee, we are constantly learning and challenging ourselves to think bigger and better and this is an exciting milestone on our journey.”
About B Lab™ UK:
B Lab UK is transforming the economy to benefit all people, communities, and the planet. A leader in economic systems change, our global network creates standards, policies, and tools for business, and we certify companies—known as B Corps—who are leading the way. To date, our global community includes 6,279 B Corps™ in 89 countries and 159 industries, and over 150,000 companies manage their impact with the B Impact Assessment and the SDG Action Manager. www.bcorporation.uk
