Impact Report 2022

Welcome to Tamweel’s second annual Impact Report. A summary of the modest contribution we have made to our society, people and planet since our last Impact Report was published in 2021.

But first, some background

Like many businesses, we were hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic. However, we did not allow the pandemic to overwhelm us. Instead, we took it as an opportunity to step back and think hard about our business and its purpose. The pandemic showed us how vulnerable we are as a society. It highlighted the many challenges and problems we face in this world. We believe that businesses should be a force for good and we concluded that the pursuit of profit should sit alongside the welfare of our people, our society and our planet. This led us down the path of B Corp; and we are delighted to say that a journey we started in early 2021 culminated in us becoming B Corp certified in December 2021.

We have always felt that this was not only the right thing to do but it is something that the brands we work with, our people and the wider ecosystem will value. And judging by the feedback we have received we were right. 

We hope this Impact Report will illustrate our growing efforts in helping make Tamweel a better place to work and the world a better place to live.  

Our purpose, our mission, our vision

We are a B Corp certified, consumer-focussed, M&A and private equity advisory business – representing the UK’s best and brightest Challenger Brands. We do one of two things for our clients, we:

  • either raise capital to fund growth and de-risking; or we
  • provide sell side advice to translate their hard work into transformational wealth. 

Our purpose, mission and vision must therefore reflect the service we provide; and our B Corp certification ensures we make demonstrable efforts to consider the interests of all our stakeholders. We want our clients, people, and communities to be front and centre of our overall objectives and therefore our belief system is anchored in the following:

  • Purpose – To transform the fortunes of founders and entrepreneurs building Challenger Brands whilst supporting the development and wellbeing of our people, society and community.
  • Mission – To become the most trusted, most desirable destination for Challenger Brands by providing a results-driven service in an ethical, environmental and socially responsible way.
  • Vision – A future where the advisory industry has been positively transformed by the way we do business. The right way!

B Corporation

We mentioned earlier that we successfully certified as a B Corp; but what does this mean? A B Corp is the equivalent of a Fairtrade stamp, but for companies. Businesses that are certified as B Corps are ones that pursue a combination of profit and purpose whilst meeting the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency and governance. By harnessing the power of business, B Corps use profits and growth as a means to benefit all stakeholders, not just shareholders. Certified B Corps are a new model for businesses that aim to play a part in tackling some of the world’s most pressing challenges whilst building an economy that maximises stakeholder value rather than just shareholder value. 

To apply for B Corp certification a business must first complete a B Impact Assessment (BIA) – a rigorous review of a company’s impact on its stakeholders. This is not just any old survey, it is one of the most rigorous evaluation tools out there for assessing the real social and environmental impact of a business. The BIA is operated by the independent non-profit B Lab. It allows businesses to measure the impact they are having on the environment, their workers and the community, as well as reviewing their governance structure to ensure best practices are applied. 

Our B Impact score when we first completed the survey was below average. We then went about implementing a process of improvement and we changed the way we do business – applying processes, systems and procedures to evidence these improvements and track our performance. We are pleased to say that we were certified as a B Corp with a BIA score of 96, well above the threshold of 80.

Our Impact

We have listed below a selection of some of our work, improvements and milestones which we believe has had a positive impact. 

Best for the World

Every year, B Lab recognises the top-performing B Corps that are delivering great impact through their businesses. These B Corps are named Best for the World™, as their verified scores in the five impact areas – community, customers, environment, governance, and workers – are amongst the global top 5% in their corresponding size group. We’re pleased to report that we have been awarded “Best for the World” status in the Governance category. This award recognises our overall mission and our efforts to ensure best practice in ethics, accountability and transparency. In particular, how we engage with our stakeholders; such as providing employee access to financial information, clients the opportunity to provide feedback on the service we provide and having a governing body that is diverse in nature.

B Corp clients 

Since becoming B Corp certified we have made an effort to engage with the wider B Corp community and are pleased to say that we are actively advising several B Corp certified businesses with their M&A and fundraising requirements. We look forward to completing our first ever deal with a B Corp certified business.

Climate positive workforce

It is now common knowledge that one of the best tools to tackle the climate crisis and keep temperatures from rising is to plant trees. This also helps prevent ecological collapse. At the time of writing this report we have been a climate positive workforce for 23 months, we have planted 2,069 trees and have off set 152 tonnes of CO2. This commitment to sustainability has been achieved by working with the good people at Ecologi and the Eden Reforestation Projects; our tree planting partners.

Charitable donations

Since our last Impact Report, our people have selected several charities for Tamweel to support and we have made an aggregate donation of £3,950 across the following registered charities:

  • Blood Cancer UK
  • War Child
  • Action Against Hunger
  • Transforming Lives for Good

In addition, a member of our team abseiled 100m down Portsmouth’s Spinnaker Tower, raising over £1,000 in support of St Barnabas Hospice.  

Community support

During the period our people supported the community in a variety of ways, volunteering by:

  • providing mentoring for the Social Mobility Foundation (a charity that supports high achieving teenagers who qualify for free school meals, and helps them to access opportunities more typically available to wealthier families, including internships and access to mentors)
  • providing pro-bono NED support to a private property company managing 31 apartments, attending to Health & Safety matters, improving energy efficiency, waste recycling and ensuring the building and services it provides meets the needs of its community.

Development and welfare of our people

Given we are a people dependent business we recognise the importance of maintaining their wellbeing and promoting their development. We now apply a formal appraisal and review process to all our full-time staff. This includes input from both peers and subordinates as well as incorporating social and environmental goals in their respective performance reviews. We have also established a ‘Lifestyle and Development Fund’ for each member of permanent staff, the fund value is based on a fixed percentage of salary and its purpose is to fund supplementary benefits to employees such as health, dental and childcare but also professional training, development, home office improvements, gym membership and anything else that supports wellbeing.

Client satisfaction

We pride ourselves in being obsessive about our clients’ interests, doing our best to meet their objectives and delivering a service that exceeds their expectations. To evaluate our performance, we continue to carry out formal Client Feedback on each transaction we complete. This includes a comprehensive review of our performance as an advisor and is carried out by an independent consultant using a combination of online surveys and in person interviews. We have set ourselves a target to reach an average Net Promoter Score of 90 across our clients. We are delighted to say that our actual Net Promoter Score is 100, maintaining our score of last year and well ahead of our target.  

Employee satisfaction 

In addition to client satisfaction, we are equally obsessive about employee satisfaction. We want Tamweel to be a great place to work. To ensure we have visibility on how our full time and permanent staff feel about working at Tamweel we have crafted a 6 monthly online survey to determine, monitor and track employee satisfaction and happiness. This will allow us to look after our people, to be there for them and to adjust our practices to address their evolving needs. The results of our most recent staff survey indicate that our people are highly satisfied with working at Tamweel, recording an average score of 8.3 out of 10 (8.3 at the date of the last Impact Report) which exceeds the target we have set ourselves of 8. 

Podcast 

We operate in an ecosystem that is led by founders and entrepreneurs. People in this community are hungry to learn from the experiences and journeys of other successful entrepreneurs. To help fill this need we developed and launched a podcast called Challenger Chats. It is a series of no holds barred conversations with the business leaders and Founders of some of the UK’s best and brightest consumer facing, Challenger Brands. At the time of writing, we have recorded and launched 7 episodes which are shared amongst our network and are hosted on our website. Our aim is that these interviews provide learning, inspiration and thought leadership to our ecosystem of founders, entrepreneurs and Challenger Brands.

As you can see, we have been busy. However, our work continues and we have an even busier year ahead. Like many businesses, we face significant challenges but by working with others, spreading the word about B Corp and focusing on our purpose, mission and vision we will prove that business can truly be a force for good. And that as we grow, we can play an even bigger part in building a future where the advisory industry has been positively transformed by the way we do business. The right way! 

With that in mind we look forward to a day when businesses will compete not to be the best in the world, but to be the best for the world.