UKE first kitchen company to receive B Corp certification

Used Kitchen Exchange (UKE) is the first kitchen company to be awarded B Corporation certification for its environmental practices.

The ex-display and used kitchen reseller joins just 500 companies in the UK, and 3,800 worldwide, in gaining Corp B certification. In the UK, these include The Guardian, Innocent, Patagonia, The Body Shop and Abel & Cole.

B Corp certification requires companies to reach a benchmark score of more than 80 and provide evidence of socially and environmentally responsible practices in energy supplies, waste and water use, worker compensation, diversity and corporate transparency.

Certified companies must also embed their commitment to these environmental purposes in their articles of incorporation.

Commenting on the achievement, UKE founder Helen Lord (pictured with co-director Phil Lord) said: “Being awarded B Corp certification is without a doubt UKE’s most meaningful business achievement to date and further justifies our place as the sustainability partner of choice to the KBB sector. Balancing profit and planet has always been at the very heart of what we do, and to have received global recognition for this is incredible.

“Not only do we take responsibility for our impact on the world around us, our vision from the outset has been to support and promote sustainability within our industry. To this end we have invested heavily in providing our partner showrooms and manufacturers with verifiable and quantifiable environmental savings when selling a new kitchen. With over 11 million kilogrammes of carbon saved so far and new initiatives in the pipeline, we cannot wait to see what can be achieved moving forward.”

Speaking on behalf of B Lab UK, the not-for-profit organisation behind the B Corp movement, executive director Chris Turner said: “We are delighted to welcome UKE, the first ever kitchen company to the B Corp community. This is an exciting moment because they have an opportunity to lead the way within their industry. We and the rest of the B Corp community are really pleased to support UKE in paving the way for a new way of doing things.”

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