Human by Practice is a small business, doing work that we believe matters. And like many small business owners with strong values, we have spent time thinking about how to make sure that what we believe is reflected not just in what we say but in how we operate.
The Better Business Act is part of that. We signed up because it articulates something we already believe, and because being part of a collective movement for business accountability is more powerful than believing things privately.
The Better Business Act is a UK-based campaign calling for a change to Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006. At present, Section 172 requires company directors to act in the way they consider most likely to promote the success of the company, specifically for the benefit of its shareholders.
The Better Business Act campaign argues that this framing is outdated. In a world grappling with climate breakdown, systemic inequality, and a crisis of trust in business and institutions, requiring companies to prioritise shareholder returns above all else is not just ethically narrow, it is practically unsustainable.
The amendment they are calling for would require companies to balance the interests of shareholders with the interests of workers, customers, communities, and the environment. Not instead of profit. Alongside it. The argument is not that business should stop being commercially viable, it is that commercial viability should not be the only measure of success, and that the law should reflect that.
You might wonder what a change to company law has to do with equality, diversity, and inclusion. The answer is: a great deal.
Much of the structural inequality that EDI work is trying to address is perpetuated, not incidentally, but systematically, by organisations optimising for shareholder value above all else. Outsourcing to the lowest bidder and placing the cost onto low-paid workers, the majority of whom are women and people of colour. Cutting corners on workplace adjustments because the short-term cost is visible and the long-term human cost is not on the balance sheet. Paying lip service to inclusion while structurally reproducing the conditions that make genuine inclusion impossible.
A legal framework that required companies to account for their impact on workers and communities, not just investors, would create conditions in which EDI is not a nice-to-have but a business-critical responsibility. That is a fundamental shift, and one worth working towards.
Signing the Better Business Act is, for a business of our size, largely symbolic. We do not have shareholders to balance against. We are not subject to Section 172 in the same way a large corporation is. But the symbolism is not nothing.
It means publicly committing to the idea that the purpose of this business is not just to generate income, but to do something genuinely useful in the world. That our clients' outcomes matter. That the communities they serve matter. That the people who work within the organisations we support are not abstractions.
They are the point.
It also means being part of a growing community of businesses, from sole traders to large enterprises, who believe that the current model of shareholder primacy is not fit for purpose, and who are collectively making the case for a different approach.
If you run a business of any size, you can sign the Better Business Act at betterbusinessact.org.
It is free. It takes minutes. And it adds your name and your organisation's name to a growing chorus of voices calling for legal reform.
If you are an employee or a customer rather than a business owner, you can still play a role. Asking the businesses and organisations you work with and buy from about their commitments to social and environmental impact is a form of accountability. Choosing, where you have a choice, to work with and support businesses that have made those commitments sends a market signal.
None of this is sufficient on its own. Legal change takes sustained political pressure, and that takes time and collective effort. But every organisation that signs up makes the case a little stronger. Every conversation that normalises the idea that business has responsibilities beyond profit shifts the culture a little further in the right direction.
We do not believe that doing good and doing well are in conflict. We think they are, ultimately, the same thing, and the law should start to reflect that.
If you are interested in what purposeful, values-led business looks like in practice or if you would like to explore how your organisation can embed genuine inclusion alongside commercial success, we would love to hear from you.