From Carbon to Culture: How B Corp is Reshaping Universal Pixels

In 2021, Universal Pixels embarked on a transformative journey towards B Corp certification. This process has become a catalyst for change, pushing us to re-evaluate our practices and driving improvements across our business. We’re sharing our progress, the challenges we've faced, and how this journey is shaping our future.

We initially embarked on this journey with environmental impact as our primary driver. However, the B Corp process has proven to be much more grounded, impacting several other areas of our business in unexpected but positive ways.

Driving Strategic Change

The B Corp journey has sparked important conversations about our strategy for 2025, particularly regarding our carbon impact. One of the main focus points in this area has been on equipment logistics between the UK and North America.

Considering the number of international projects we are now involved with, we're working on a plan to reduce airfreight while maintaining commercial viability. It's a delicate balance; we can't duplicate all our equipment on both continents without significant financial risk; however, we're working hard to determine what equipment can be co-located in our two primary locations in a way that makes commercial sense. This involves a careful analysis of our projects, client needs, and operational efficiency.

Prioritising Our People

Perhaps the most significant changes have occurred in our approach to employee benefits. Previously, benefits like private medical insurance and pension contributions didn't start until after a new employee had successfully completed the probation period, which could leave them without coverage for up to six months. We've now revised our policies to ensure all benefits start from day one of employment.

The B Corp process has pushed us to think more deeply about our people and processes. We found ourselves questioning practices that were in place simply because 'that's the way they've always been done'. This reassessment led us to ask, 'Why are we doing it this way?' It's this kind of introspection that has driven significant changes in how we approach employee benefits and wellbeing.

We've also added income protection and death in service insurance. These changes come at a relatively small cost to the business but significantly enhance our employees' security and peace of mind. It's the right thing to do - if an employee faces a medical issue on their first day, they're now covered.

This shift is already yielding positive results. We're attracting talent from further afield, with potential employees recognising that working with UP offers more than just a salary. A number of our newer employees have accepted additional commuting time and have even relocated their family to buy a home nearby, over other job offers. This is down to the positive feedback they have received from existing employees on their experience working here.?

For the younger generation especially, a job is not just about salary anymore. It's about work-life balance, feeling valued, and knowing that you're not doing the same job for the next 30 years. It's about creating an environment where people feel valued and see opportunities for growth and we want to be responsible for creating an environment such as this at UP.?

While we started this process with environmental goals in mind, it's significantly enhanced our focus on our people. Working alongside Stuart, UP’s Head of People, we've put a huge emphasis on developing a comprehensive people framework. This includes ensuring employees feel valued, have clear development plans, and see opportunities for progression and growth within the business. We've moved beyond just having policies in case things go wrong, to creating a rounded approach that also recognises when things go right. Our team spends a significant part of their lives here, we want to ensure they feel fulfilled in their roles.?

Environmental Challenges and Initiatives

While we've made progress, we've faced significant challenges, particularly in data collection for our carbon impact assessment. Collecting carbon impact data on transport and logistics has proven to be a complex area. Mainstream carriers like DHL for example, provide detailed data on vehicle types, volume, and weight, which allows us to better calculate our carbon impact. However, many industry-specific logistics companies can't offer the same level of information.

Our team members have spent considerable time going through old purchase orders, trying to backfill and interpret this data. It's been a frustrating and time-consuming process, especially when dealing with international shipments where standards and reporting practices differ.

The challenge extends beyond our immediate operations too. Once we hand over equipment to a customer, it's out of our hands. Similarly, with inbound equipment, we might buy products from outside the UK that are shipped directly to us, but we have no control over that process. While we in the UK are increasingly focused on environmental reporting, this isn't the case everywhere. International shipments still count towards our carbon footprint, yet the suppliers aren't always set up to report on this data.

Our main areas of carbon impact are employee commuting, our building operations, and equipment transportation. We've introduced an electric car scheme with free charging points, which has led to five employees (so far) now driving electric vehicles. We're also encouraging more remote work and have installed better meeting room systems to facilitate this. These new systems make it much easier for people to have ad hoc meetings, reducing the friction of remote collaboration.

However, we face limitations, particularly with our current building. It's thermally inefficient, and as tenants, there's little we can do about it. We've implemented LED lighting with automatic shut-offs, but heating in winter remains a challenge due to poor insulation. The heat simply leaves the building, which is incredibly frustrating from both a cost and environmental perspective.

Future Plans

These challenges have informed our plans for our next premises. Our Head of Operations, Billy, has begun scoping out requirements for a new, larger space where we can factor sustainability into the core design. We're considering options that would allow us to incorporate features like solar panels and battery storage from the outset.

This is particularly exciting because if we're in the building during the day when solar energy is available, we could potentially use it without the same issues we face at home, where energy is produced during the day but primarily used in the evenings.

Industry Impact and Ongoing Challenges

Our sustainability efforts are opening new doors. Working with environmentally conscious artists like Massive Attack, who require collaborators to have robust environmental policies. Our ability to provide a carbon reduction plan and environmental policy for these projects is a direct result of our B Corp journey.

We anticipate this trend will grow and gradually become the norm across the industry. While the post-COVID recovery initially pushed environmental concerns aside as companies focused on financial recovery, we're now seeing a resurgence of interest in ESG initiatives.

However, we face significant ongoing challenges, particularly with freight. The nature of our business, especially for touring productions, means we'll always have some reliance on air freight for time-sensitive equipment movements. As outlined in our carbon reduction pack, while we're doing what we can with equipment co-location, we're often at the mercy of touring schedules.

Our work often involves highly specific equipment, configured in particular ways for each project. When a piece of kit needs to get from North America to Europe in two weeks for a tour, air freight is the only viable option. This invariably carries a substantial carbon impact.

With this in mind, we're entirely constrained by the net zero targets of the airlines. Until sustainable aviation fuels and other innovations become a reality, our carbon footprint for these time-constrained air movements is inextricably linked to the airline industry's progress. It's an incredibly frustrating position, knowing there's little we can do to mitigate this impact directly.

While we can't control these factors, we're focusing our efforts on what we can influence. We're working to optimise our own equipment movements and improve our planning processes. It's a small part of the bigger picture, but it's where we can make a direct impact. Despite the challenges, we remain committed to finding innovative solutions and pushing for industry-wide change.

A Commitment to Continuous Improvement

As a small, independent business, we're able to be dynamic and responsive to these changes and we're incredibly proud at UP, of our ability to adapt quickly and make necessary changes to meet certain standards of sustainability and social responsibility.

Our B Corp journey has evolved into a commitment to continuous improvement across all aspects of our business. We're not just ticking boxes; we're fundamentally changing how we operate, from our environmental impact to our employee benefits and strategic planning.

The path to sustainability is not always straightforward, and we don't have all the answers yet. But we're asking the right questions and working hard to find solutions.

Despite the challenges, we're seeing 'green sprouts' happening everywhere. These small but significant signs of progress are encouraging, reminding us that our efforts, and those of others in our industry, are beginning to take root. It's challenging, but it's also exciting to see the positive impact these changes are having on our business, our employees, and hopefully, our industry as a whole.