In these extremely difficult times, where there are significant uncertainties, the one thing that we can all do is think about acting in the best interests of everyone.
Elvis & Kresse is a business, yes, but we also see ourselves as a citizen. We were established for one key reason, to rescue London’s fire-hoses. In the process of doing that we decided that it wasn’t enough to just solve that problem. We have always donated 50% of our profits to charity. Having just completed the accounts for last year we are proud to announce that for 2018-19 we have donated over £70,000.00. We will tell you a lot more about the impact of these donations, which we can only make with your support, in the coming months.
But rescuing materials and making donations is not enough. We have to run on renewable energy, we have to be a living wage employer, we have to ensure that there is no exploitation or environmental degradation caused by any of our activities.
This month is also B-Corp month. In 2015 we became one of the first businesses in the UK to certify as a B-Corp. Why did we do this? Because B-Corps all understand that we have to act in the best interests of everyone. We all have to sign the B-Corp Declaration of Interdependence:
We are responsible for each other and future generations. For us, right now, that means ensuring that our team stays safe and healthy, it means social distancing and following all of the Government and National Health Service advice, it means seeking out people within the community that need help and doing what we can to help, and it also means we are unfortunately unable to welcome anyone to our otherwise entirely open and transparent workshop, Tonge Mill. Our very popular workshop events may have to go ‘virtual’ for a while but we already have some lovely customers who are willing to give this a go, let us know if this is something you would like to try too. Right now our workshop is running as usual and all of your orders are being fulfilled, we will let you know if this changes.
This is a time for Social Enterprises and B Corps to shine. We are asking ourselves, every day, ‘Is this the best you can do?’. We don’t know what the future may bring but Elvis and I, and indeed everyone at Elvis & Kresse understand that we are dependent upon each other and are responsible for each other. We will act accordingly because we understand what interdependence means and as a proud member of the B-Corp community we gladly signed the Declaration.
- Elvis & Kresse
