Any agency can say they’re clear, approachable, and well-informed, but saying it and demonstrating it are two very different things.
Our values are important to us, and living out these values daily matters to us. Over the last year, we’ve worked hard to achieve several accreditations that align with our company’s voice, to show we do what we say. By getting accredited, we’re making a commitment and being held accountable to the standards of others.
Certified with Purpose
Far more than merely being a badge to show off, we take our commitment to our social and environmental impact seriously. That’s why we’ve undergone rigorous testing by outside bodies to make sure we meet specific external standards and requirements. There’s a purpose behind these accreditations; they challenge us to adapt and grow.
Becoming a certified B Corp was a huge milestone for us! It means we’re legally committed to balancing profit with purpose, and we’re held accountable to the highest standards of social and environmental performance. The certification, overseen by the B Lab, assesses companies across five key pillars: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers. It holds us accountable to these areas and pushes us to keep doing better. It means our principles are built into our business and something we work by every day.
In line with those principles, we also became an accredited Living Wage Employer. An accredited Living Wage employer is a business that has voluntarily committed to paying all of its staff and suppliers, at least, the real Living Wage rate. We’ve joined the growing community of local living wage employers specifically in the North East. The number of living wage employers in Sunderland is growing too! We’re pushing for this number to grow further, encouraging other businesses we work with to explore this option and push for a better future for everyone.
As the saying goes, do unto others as you would have them do unto you! We’re also a Fair Payment Code Gold Standard business, the highest recognition under the new Fair Payment Code, requiring 95% of all invoices to be paid within 30 days. For us, treating suppliers with fairness and respect is a no-brainer.
Alongside these accreditations, we’re actively working to be an inclusive and accessible employer for everyone and have signed up to the Government’s Disability Confident employer scheme. We’re committed to help break down barriers for disabled people, not just in our team, but across our work.
We’ve created space for real opportunities. Recently, we completed a 3 -month long weekly work placement for a local young man with autism. This placement helped give him real life experience in a supportive environment that he could apply to future work environments. Having this accreditation pushes us to challenge how we see the workplace and strive to make the idea of a traditional office a much more inclusive space.
Certified by Experience
While values are everything, results still matter. We don’t ever forget that. Our team brings decades of collective digital experience. We’ve completed more than 200 projects with innovation, clarity, and accountability at their core.
To reaffirm our digital experience, we’re now officially Google Partners and Shopify Partners, meaning we’ve got the resources to build smart, high-performing websites that deliver real results. These results still need to be inclusive, that’s why we partnered with local Gateshead-based business Recite Me to help us complement our accessible websites. Our partnership with Recite Me helps us make websites that are accessible and inclusive to everyone, as digital spaces should be welcoming for all.
We’ve talked a lot about our accreditations. For us, they aren’t just tick-box exercises or a wall full of shiny badges. They’re evidence that we do what we say, hold ourselves to account, and never stop pushing for better.
So next time you hear us talk about purpose, inclusivity, or digital brilliance, know that it’s not only our opinion. It’s verified.
