Businesses, listen up: ‘The best way to be good is to keep it simple’

Founded in 2010 by Natalie Campbell and Hannah Carnell, the cleverly-named A Very Good Company (AVGC) is a social innovation team that offers leading-edge proposals and expertise in business. Through a dedicated ‘Good Works’ approach, it’s set out to transform good ideas into great solutions. Blue & Green Tomorrow delves into the company’s sustainable strategies.

AVGC prides itself on its skilled and talented work force. Through a commitment to corporate social responsibility strategies, it believes that a good business is one that is “committed to improving the lives of the people it employs and engages with. It should positively contribute to the communities it operates in and the wider environment.”

Co-founder Natalie Campbell formerly led development of Virgin Media Pioneers. Speaking to B&GT , she notes that sustainability should not be a department that “operates on the side-line”.

“Social innovation should be engrained in the company”, she says.

“This is a world where people have the confidence, resources and understanding to feel good, do good and live good.

We set up a company where we created the values and set the guidelines, and actually tried to live by them

“I think that people are becoming more aware of businesses’ responsibility in terms of their ethical operation, their level of sustainability and what that means when it actually comes to the products that are on offer.”

A crucial list of guidelines is at the heart of the company’s ethos.

“We came up with a set of values that really became the business model for everything that we do”, says Campbell.

“All of our terms are with regard to having a consciousness for social, responsible impact and doing good, which can be hard to decipher at times.

“That said, we created a summary of important qualities that make a business exceptional: be honest, be responsible, keep it simple, do things differently, collaborate, and have fun.”

AVGC’s vision for a sustainable business community begins with a three dimensional approach. Firstly, it wishes to see more ‘good’ businesses.

“Years ago”, Campbell begins, “myself and my business partner at the time became slightly disillusioned with what ‘good’ business actually looked like.

“So we set up a company where we created the values and set the guidelines, and actually tried to live by them.”

In addition, the company promotes more opportunities for people to do good, “helping businesses to be individual, to use the efforts and resources that they have to enforce positive and social change. So we believe in companies that are creating something completely different”.

It also values opportunities for more people to talk about being ‘good’.

Be honest, be responsible, keep it simple, do things differently, collaborate, and have fun

“We want to see businesses communicating their work beyond just their consumer base, functioning as a network and thinking about local communities”, notes Campbell.

A Good Week is a collaborative celebration led by A Very Good Company, whereby people, communities and businesses from across the globe are thrust into the spotlight.

“We want people to use the week to think about – and do – what makes them and others feel good”, Campbell says.

“Our ultimate goal is to inspire 500,000 people across 100 towns and cities around the world to take part in A Good Week.”

Last year’s Good Week saw ambassadors such as Richard Branson joining with business communities from around the world to endorse ethical practices and excite the positive connotations that being good can enforce upon the wider environment.

This year, A Good Week, will bring together an inspirational array of events scattered across the country from June 18-24.

“It means helping businesses find their individuality, and to use the efforts and resources that they have to enforce positive social change”, urges Campbell.

“We believe in companies that are creating something completely different… We are seeing all of these different companies that appreciate each other for what they do and we’ve got them talking about technology and innovation.”

She concludes by relaying a timeless solution to corporate downfalls: “The best way to be good”, she states, “is to keep it simple.”