Edinburgh-based global events agency YOURGB just pulled off something rare in the cut-throat world of experiential marketing: hitting 15 years while earning one of the toughest responsible-business badges on the planet. The 16-person team is now officially a Certified B Corporation, proof that world-class creativity and genuine accountability can sit at the same table.
This isn’t a pivot. It’s confirmation of who they’ve always been.
From One Woman in Edinburgh to Global Stages
Gilly Bain started YOURGB in 2010 with nothing but a laptop, a belief that events could change behaviour, and a refusal to separate profit from purpose.
Fifteen years later the agency has delivered immersive brand moments for some of the world’s most demanding luxury, tech and finance clients, across 28 countries, from Monaco yacht launches to internal conferences for 5,000 people in Lisbon.
Yet the headcount remains deliberately small: 16 full-time specialists who still brief, design, produce and deliver everything in-house.
That tight-knit structure is central to the culture Bain has protected fiercely.
“We never wanted to become a machine,” she says. “We’ve turned down more work than we’ve taken because we only grow when the right people and the right values walk through the door.”
B Corp Isn’t a Badge, It’s a Mirror
The certification process took YOURGB nearly two years.
B Lab’s audit digs into everything: governance documents, supply-chain contracts, salary ratios, carbon accounting, community giving, even how staff expenses are handled on client trips.
YOURGB scored comfortably above the 80-point threshold required for certification, putting them alongside names like Patagonia, The Body Shop and Innocent Drinks.
But the team insists the real value was internal.
“It forced us to write down things we’d been doing quietly for years,” says Bain. “Like donating a percentage of every single project fee to charity since 2011 through YOURGiveBack. Or switching all travel to train-first policy in 2018. Or paying every supplier within 14 days, no matter how big the client.”
Those policies now sit alongside fresh commitments: net-zero by 2035, 100% recycled or reusable build materials by 2028, and a published supplier code that every new partner must sign.
Why This Matters Now
The events industry is waking up to its environmental hangover.
One major conference can generate 300 tonnes of CO₂. Most temporary builds go straight to landfill. Fly-in, fly-out crews have been standard for decades.
Clients are no longer asking “Can you do it?” They’re asking “How do you do it?”
YOURGB’s B Corp status gives procurement teams and chief sustainability officers an answer they can bank.
One Fortune 100 client told the agency last month: “Your certification just saved us three months of due-diligence paperwork.”
That’s real competitive advantage disguised as values.
The Human Story Behind the Milestone
Ask any of the 16 team members what they’re proudest of and they don’t talk about the flashy events.
They talk about the years they kept everyone on full pay through Covid with zero government support because they refused to let anyone go.
They talk about the Christmas they secretly paid a supplier’s overdue rent when they discovered the company was struggling.
They talk about Bain still answering her own phone and remembering every client’s dog’s name.
That humanity is what B Corp measured and found exceptional.
Looking Ahead
The agency has already turned down seven-figure projects this year that didn’t align with their new public commitments.
They’re also mentoring two smaller Scottish agencies through the B Corp process for free, because “someone did it for us when we were starting,” Bain says.
Fifteen years in, YOURGB remains independent, female-founded, and now formally recognised as one of the most responsible creative companies in the country.
In an industry obsessed with the next big moment, they’ve built something that lasts.
What do you think: can creativity and genuine responsibility really scale together in events? Drop your thoughts below, and if you’re feeling it, share this story with #ScottishBCorp or #EventsForGood.
