Sustainability & responsible business policy.

Yard B meets B Lab’s integrated social, environmental, and governance standards. This embeds our purpose and plans for positive impact in our company DNA, so that we’re aware of our impact on people and the planet.

• Maintain the commitments and evidence needed to support B Corp Certification and future recertification, including our stakeholder-governance responsibilities.
• Review our social and environmental performance, identify opportunities for improvement and maintain records that substantiate material claims.
• Engage freelance collaborators, clients, suppliers and community partners in responsible business practices and invite constructive feedback.
• Keep pace with B Lab’s updated standards, including the seven impact topics: Purpose and Stakeholder Governance; Climate Action; Human Rights; Fair Work; Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Environmental Stewardship and Circularity; and Government Affairs and Collective Action. Applicable future requirements will be assessed against Yard B’s certification pathway and size.

Our certification does not mean that every project or operation is environmentally neutral, nor does it imply that all impact areas have been perfected. We will be candid about progress, gaps and trade-offs.

Yard B is currently run by its founder without a permanent employee team. We bring in freelance crew and specialist collaborators as projects require. This flexible, remote-first structure shapes our responsibilities: rather than describing an extensive employee programme, we focus on treating the people who contribute to our work fairly, respectfully and professionally.

• Agree clear scopes, fair rates, responsibilities, deadlines and payment terms with freelance collaborators, and pay agreed invoices promptly. Yard B remains an accredited Real Living Wage Employer; although we have no permanent staff, fair pay remains a core principle in our freelance and supplier relationships.
• Promote reasonable workloads, respectful communication, inclusive collaboration, safe working practices and opportunities for feedback for everyone engaged on Yard B projects.
• Retain our Includability Committed Employer status. With no permanent employees at present, this expresses our commitment to continuing education, practical resources and support around inclusion, wellbeing, sustainability and responsible working practices, rather than implying an established employee programme.
• Continue developing sustainability knowledge, including Carbon Literacy learning, and encourage relevant resources and good practices across our freelance network without implying mandatory employee-wide training.
• Use our remote-working approach to encourage energy-efficient equipment, responsible purchasing and renewable energy options where practical; favour durable, repairable or refurbished technology where suitable.
• For meetings and productions, plan travel carefully and encourage public transport, car sharing and other lower-impact choices where feasible.

We assess the material environmental impacts of our small, remote, freelance-supported business, including home working, production travel, equipment and digital operations. Our accountants, The SBK (thesbk.co.uk), regularly provide us with an estimated carbon footprint. We use that information to inform decisions and improvements, while recognising the estimate is not a comprehensive, independently verified carbon inventory.

• Review the estimated carbon footprint supplied by our accountants alongside production travel and other material activities; improve data quality over time without presenting estimates as verified emissions totals.
• Avoid or reduce emissions where we can before considering external climate contributions. For projects involving significant travel or other higher impacts, estimate emissions more closely and identify reduction opportunities.
• Continue supporting nature and biodiversity through Wild Mosaic and Make It Wild. Our Ecologi contributions are currently paused, but historic support remains evidenced. We will describe active and past contributions separately and avoid implying that paused contributions are ongoing.
• Distinguish emissions reductions, avoided emissions, carbon removals, tree planting and habitat restoration in any external communications; do not describe contributions as cancelling out our footprint without robust substantiation.
• Encourage responsible energy and water use within our own remote operations and share practical advice with collaborators where relevant.

We aim to buy less, buy better and extend the working life of our resources. We favour durable and repairable goods, responsible suppliers and appropriate reuse or refurbishment.

• Consider necessity, product longevity, energy efficiency, packaging and end-of-life options before purchasing.
• Reuse, repair, donate or use supplier take-back schemes where appropriate; recycle equipment and materials responsibly, including hazardous items such as batteries.
• Engage regular suppliers in conversations about environmental impacts, working practices and opportunities for improvement.
• Where practical, favour local providers, Living Wage employers, certified B Corps, Fairtrade products and suppliers with demonstrable responsible practices.
• Maintain respectful supplier and freelance relationships, with clear terms and prompt payment. Yard B is not currently a member or signatory of the Prompt Payment Code; we nevertheless uphold the principle of paying agreed invoices on time.

We work with clients to design film, animation and content-production processes that meet the brief without avoidable resource use.

• Assess the need for travel and location work; use remote collaboration, efficient scheduling, lower-impact transport and responsibly selected accommodation where practical.
• Avoid single-use plastics wherever practicable on work-related travel and productions; select reusable alternatives and manage unavoidable waste responsibly. Any exceptions should be considered against safety, availability and operational needs.
• Discuss proportionate technical specifications with clients | including whether 4K is required, how many deliverables are necessary, and how files should be stored and archived.
• Choose digital and cloud services with credible sustainability commitments when commercially and technically suitable; compress, archive and delete unnecessary files subject to contractual, legal and operational retention needs.
• Use AI thoughtfully: assess genuine production benefits against energy demand, privacy, rights, accuracy and client expectations; avoid unnecessary processing and review tools as practices evolve.

We use creative skills and resources to support organisations doing meaningful work. We retain ambitious, measurable targets and report honestly when they are not met.

• Target 5% of available capacity each financial year for qualifying pro bono work. Include Yard B-funded freelance delivery where consistently evidenced and counted within our documented methodology. In the most recently completed reporting year, our result was 80 hours, equivalent to 3.3% of available capacity, against a 5% target of 119 hours (approximately 67% of the target). We fell short and remain committed to improving performance.
• Target charitable donations equivalent to at least 0.5% of annual turnover. In the most recently completed reporting year, giving amounted to 0.42% of turnover, below our target. We are retaining the 0.5% target and will report progress transparently.
• Support community initiatives through the founder’s time, creative expertise and partnerships, including opportunities to volunteer where feasible.
• Continue to build lasting partnerships, including our previously documented support for the Lead Me Back Foundation, F6it and Roots for the Future, subject to regular review.

The most recently completed reporting year was challenging, including significant changes to the structure of the business. We achieved 80 of the targeted 119 pro bono hours, leaving 39.5 hours outstanding according to our tracking records, and contributed 0.42% of turnover versus a 0.5% giving target. These are shortfalls, not achievements against target; we publish them alongside the positive work delivered and will use them to guide improvement. Figures are rounded as reported in our internal tracking.

Our response is to plan pro bono allocations earlier, check progress periodically during the year, and review charitable-giving affordability and delivery against turnover. We will keep the targets visible rather than quietly reducing or removing them when the business faces challenges.

Our work contributes particularly to the UN Sustainable Development Goals relating to health and wellbeing, education, reduced inequalities, sustainable communities, climate action and partnerships. These are areas of alignment rather than a claim of UN endorsement.

We report progress in good years and difficult ones. This includes the targets we missed, the reasons and the action we take next. We will not claim to be carbon neutral, net zero, or to have cancelled out our impact without reliable supporting data.

• Review this policy at least every 12 months, and sooner following material business or B Lab requirements changes. The next scheduled review is 23 October 2027.
• Measure and publish progress against the 5% pro bono and 0.5% turnover-giving targets, including shortfalls and explanations, with appropriate internal evidence.
• Use the estimated carbon footprint regularly provided by our accountants, The SBK, to inform improvements; clearly describe any estimation boundaries and avoid unsupported numerical emissions or offsetting claims.
• Ensure our B Corp references and certification claims accurately reflect our current status and the standards under which we were assessed.
• Invite feedback from freelance collaborators, clients, suppliers and community partners and consider it when setting priorities.

This policy applies to Yard B’s founder-led operations and decisions. Expectations are communicated to freelance collaborators and suppliers where appropriate to their independent work. We will revise our working-practices commitments if the business structure changes.

Policy owner and approver: Lewis Darby, Founder, Yard B Ltd.

Approved: 23 October 2026.

Next scheduled review: 23 October 2027.

For questions, suggestions or feedback, contact hello@yardbstudios.com.