Impact reports > 2022 Impact report
2022
Impact Report
Our journey so far...
Foreword
Early in 2022 we began our B Corp certification journey, and one of the first steps involved updating our Articles of Association at Companies House, to reflect that the formal objectives of our company now include the pursuit of a material positive impact on society and the environment, not just the company’s shareholders.
For too long, traditional businesses have been mandated to pursue shareholder profit at the expense of everything else. This archaic business model is out-of-date and not fit-for-purpose, particularly in the context of the climate emergency.
The B Corp business model represents a radical, fundamental shift for the role of business in the world. The movement has rightly been accelerating across the UK and the world, and we are truly grateful for the initiative that they have taken to help change our world for the better.
Our inaugural Impact Report provides insight on the progress we have made on our environmental and social goals so far, and the next steps we’re taking as we strive to learn and improve. We are very excited to have begun our B Corp journey, and we hope to achieve certification during 2023.
Join us!
Ben Clifford
Founder & Managing Director
Our purpose
At erjjio, we believe in using business as a force for good, for people and the planet. Ultimately, our vision is to create:
A sustainable world, in which we lead fun and fulfilling lives
And our mission, through which we strive to achieve that vision, is to:
Radically reduce the Internet’s environmental impact by creating low-carbon websites powered by 100% renewable energy
For our planet
UN Sustainable Development Goals
Taking action on climate change has always been at the heart of our mission, with a particular focus on the transition to renewable energy in data centres and a reduction of the Internet’s environmental impact. This focus aligns with #13 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) .
“Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.”
Website carbon
The average website carbon emission score of client sites we created during 2022 was 0.2 grams per page view, which is 60% lower than the 0.5 grams average for web pages tested at websitecarbon.com
Carbon emission per page view
0.2 g
lower than average
60%
Tree planting
Through our ongoing partnership with the wonderful team at Eden Reforestation Projects, during 2022 we planted 4,094 trees on behalf of our clients, up by 25% from 3,263 in 2021, bringing our all time total trees planted to 13,295.
4,094
trees planted
Travel and co-working
Our entire team works either from home, or within walking distance of our co-working space called Second Home London Fields, in Hackney (East London). Second Home is a Certified B Corp which shares our commitment to people, planet and renewable energy. All client meetings usually take place online, and when we occasionally attend London business events, we travel using local public transport. We therefore have an extremely low carbon footprint from travel.
Global Good Awards sponsorship
We are proud to have sponsored the Tech for Good category of the Global Good Awards for the 3rd year running (including the provision of green hosting for their website). Founded in 2015, the GGA awards reward businesses, NGOs, charities and social enterprises of all shapes and sizes around the world, that are blazing the trail for purpose-driven sustainability and ethical leadership. They recognise leaders who are achieving practical, real-world impact that is both scalable and replicable – with inspiring stories to share.
For our people
Team happiness
At the end of every year, we survey our team and ask for their feedback about what’s going well, what we should work on improving, and how happy they are in their role (out of 10). In 2022, the average happiness score was 92% (9.2 out of 10).
Gender diversity
Our team of 8 people (including full-time and part-time) is 50% female and 50% male.
50/50
Ethnicity
Southeast Asian
White British
South Asian
Volunteering
We have a paid-time-off volunteering policy in place and encourage our team members to get involved in local projects, particularly those relating to the environment. Our founder Ben volunteered to help with a “guerilla gardening” project outside our HQ at Second Home in London (pictured), organised by local Hackney social enterprise Dream Green. During 2023 we aim to look for other opportunities for the erjjio team to get involved in volunteering.
Healthcare
Since 2021, all core team members in our Philippines location have been provided with a comprehensive benefits package, including high-end private healthcare insurance, dental coverage and social security contribution matching.
Team growth
During 2022 our team size remained the same as the previous year, at 8 people in total; there was zero attrition. During 2023 and beyond we hope to grow the team further, and to support the community in London by offering opportunities to the local workforce too.
Income
Top clients
by revenue
Our top 5 clients by revenue in 2022 were a sustainability consultancy called JustOne, a non-profit called the Institute of Fire Safety Manager (IFSM), a Palestinian charity called the Welfare Association, a “living wall” company called Vertical Meadow and a TV / film location company called Locate Productions.
Client sector
breakdown
We are selective about the organisations we work with (as described in our Code of Ethics policy), and we aim for all accepted clients to share our commitment to environmental sustainability.
Some of our clients are particularly purpose-driven, such as sustainability consultancies and B Corp companies, and our breakdown for 2022 is shown below. “Standard businesses” are clients that don’t directly have an environmental or social purpose at the core of their mission, but are nonetheless likely to include sustainability as an important element of their values.
Clients by number
Clients by revenue
Clients by revenue
Revenue growth
Our top-line growth was strong, with revenue up by 40% compared to 2021.
Goals
Whilst we have always considered ourselves to be an environmentally conscious and socially responsible company, the rigorous B Corp certification process has been an eye-opening experience, and has highlighted various weaknesses and blind-spots that we need to work on.
In particular, our goals and focus areas for 2023 will include:
B Corp certification
Continue and aim to complete our B Corp certification journey, hopefully working with some more B Corp companies along the way too.
Governance
Create a complete set of clear, written policies (for those that don’t already exist) - including internal company policies for our team members, as well as those that should be publicly available.
Community
In order to support as many people and small businesses as possible through the provision of our services, in the past we have often needed to offer very low prices in order to be affordable. However, this has made it very challenging to budget for local team member wages in our East London community. We would like to be able to create local employment opportunities along with attractive compensation, and this will very likely involve reviewing and updating our fee structure, in order for the creation of these opportunities to be financially viable.
Carbon tracking
As a very low-carbon business already, our focus in the past has primarily been on the measurement and reduction of website carbon emissions. However, we recognise the importance of formally tracking our carbon emissions - and we plan to explore possibilities to measure and track our footprint transparently going forward.
Volunteering
We aim for the whole erjjio team to get involved in local volunteering projects, using paid days off from work. Projects will ideally be of an environmental nature, such as local tree planting.
Onwards!
