CGE Recertifies as a B Corporation

CGE Partners are delighted to announce that we have achieved recertification as a B Corp, increasing our impact score to 120.9, placing CGE amongst the top-rated private equity firms in Europe.

B Corps are businesses that attain the highest standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability, verified through a rigorous review process. To reach such a score is a positive reflection of both our own efforts, and the incredible achievements of our portfolio companies.

Since CGE launched five years ago we have strived to be a force for good, as well as a force for change. Our founding initiatives to drive robust governance, to support our team and the wider community, and our strong focus on ESG and responsible investment led to our original B Corp score of 93.8. This was comfortably over the required score of 80 to qualify, but since certifying in 2021 we have continued to improve on all fronts.

We have expanded training and wellbeing initiatives for our team, and increased paid parental leave. To make a more positive impact on our community we source personalised group and individual volunteering opportunities, and have expanded our charitable activities. Our team have supported causes ranging from homeless drop-in centres and food banks, to lending their specialist skills to charities and non-profits.

As our portfolio has grown we have expanded our ESG screening and diligence materials, and developed our own end-to-end stewardship programme for investments. Our ESG Framework focuses improvements on our target sectors’ most material areas, and all our investments have responded with significant uplifts in their performance and metrics. We are particularly proud of the portfolio-wide effort to measure and target reductions in carbon emissions. 100% of our investments now report their own emissions, and we are targeting full Scope 1, 2 and 3 reporting across our portfolio in 2024.

Other highlights include Enhesa signing up to the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), committing to a 42% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, and we are especially proud of Datapharm achieving its own B Corp Certification last year.

The B Corp community has grown rapidly, from 500 businesses in the UK when we first certified, to over 2,000 today. Being part of the B Corp community is about more than attaining a score – it is an ongoing commitment to positive change. As investors, we can make a meaningful difference through the companies we invest in, to benefit people, communities, and the planet.

For more about our ESG and Responsible Investment initiatives see here.

About Certified B Corporations™

Certified B Corporations, or B Corps, are companies verified by B Lab to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. B Lab creates standards, policies, tools, and programmes to improve the behaviour, culture, and structure of business. B Lab positively impacts more than 9,000 B Corps in more than 100 countries, helping them balance profit with purpose.

About CGE

CGE Partners is a European mid-market investment fund. CGE invests in businesses using technology to facilitate the transition to a more digital, renewable, secure and compliant future, providing capital and expertise to enable rapid international expansion in global markets.