What happened at the Better Business Summit 2025?
The Better Business Summit 2025 is complete for another year!! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did!
Our third Summit was bigger and better than ever before, bringing a whole host of incredible speakers, new concepts and thoroughly embedding nature into the day.
What were the highlights?
There were so many incredible moments across the three days but a few of our favourites are:
💬 A whole host of powerhouse speakers bossing the stage, posing challenging ideas and teaching all our attendees how to make their business better.
🧵 Our brilliant exhibition area with repair workshops, plants galore, nature pledges and even a book shop!
📽️ Two fascinating film screenings from Re-action Collective and Patagonia!
🐲 Our 5 impressive Pioneer of the Year shortlistees battling it out to be crowned in a dragons den style session. Massive congratulations to Simon Hall!
🥐 Two action packed mornings including breakfast networking sessions, hosted by 1% for the Planet and Grain Sustainability, BBN Run Club and a walking club hosted by the amazing Nicky Leach and Hannah Keartland.
🎙️ Our packed after party at YES bar, complete with rug tufting, social atmosphere and of course the incredible DJs. Massive shout out to our special guest DJ Spider 🕷️
🌳 Friday’s day in Nature with Freshwalks was incredible with over 40 business joining us on the Greater Manchester ringway walking trail.
➕ Plus countless more moments of connection, action and inspiration! What was your favourite moment??
The response to the Summit has been amazing—over 420 social media shout-outs, 2,380 comments, and over 10K reactions. Not bad for a 350-capacity event!
How was Nature embedded into the BBS?
Nature played a pivotal role in the event with all attendees constantly being reminded of its importance throughout.
Every attendee was asked to wear a wristband which contained the BBN Nature Pledge:
“I pledge to act consciously in the way I work and impact nature”
This constantly reminded them both during and after they had left BBS that Nature is something which needs to be ingrained into the way we do business.
We had a huge Nature Pledge area where attendees could come and write their commitments for 2025. These were displayed up on a banner so that everyone could see and keep others accountable of what they had committed to.
We ran several workshops on the value of Nature, including sessions:
Earth Demands a Seat: Boards Built for the Future: Alex Pimor from Earth Law Center and Graham Hansen, our BBN Nature on the Board explored a transformative idea: integrating nature as a stakeholder in business governance.
What the f*ck does nature know?: JK McQuin from Where the Mind Grows showed how to get curious about ‘well-being’ and ‘burnout’ in the field of ‘better businesses. She shined a cynical eye on ‘workplace wellness fluff’ and turned to Nature for long-lasting resilience strategies.The session helped attendees to re-connect with Nature’s knowledge of sustainable leadership, bringing real-life workplace vitality challenges, biomimicry and living-systems approaches.
How can we create a regenerative community?: Jannine Barron, Regenerative Business Mentor, explored how to foster community engagement, promote inclusivity, and navigate challenges while contributing to a resilient and regenerative future.
We themed our Peace room this year around the seasons so that participants could sit and reflect on which season their business was in.
And of course our entire 3rd day of the Summit was given to Nature as all attendees were invited to join us for a Day in Nature. We hiked along the Greater Manchester Ringway Trail before stopping to eat a hearty vegan chili!
Attendees walking along the GM Ringway during the BBS Day in Nature
What’s Next?
Plans for BBS26 are already underway! But if like us you can’t wait that long?
WE HAVE BIG NEWS!
Better Business Summit South will be happening on the 10th-11th April in Brighton, so if you missed BBS in January this is your chance to get stuck in! Get tickets now! 🚀
This will be our first BBS South event and it will be held in partnership with Projects.
It is a smaller, but just as impactful two day event, designed to unite Projects’ members, the wider Brighton community and any Southern-based businesses who believe that business can and should be a force for good.
On Thursday 10th April, a Conference Day will be held at Projects, Nile House exploring how we can create systemic change through collective action, education and support. We encourage our attendees to get involved and so there will be plenty of opportunities for Q&A, sharing stories and networking.
On Friday 11th April, we will be taking attendees into Nature to reflect and connect with each other and the world we are working on making better. The full details on our Day in Nature activities are TBC and will be revealed shortly, along with a more detailed breakdown of the entire event schedule and timings.
Both BBN and Projects Members get a discounted rate on tickets to the event
Well that’s a wrap! 🙌
Well that’s a wrap! 🙌
🎬 Check out our 2025 Highlights video down below for a look back on everything that happened earlier this year featuring our Director, 👩🏻💻Hannah Cox, Darcia Shouten from Toms , Josh Pitman from Priory Direct and Phil Korbel from the Carbon Literary Project.
Special Thanks to our Sponsors: Ticket Tailor, Rumpus, Tyler Grange | B Corp™ , Tony's Chocolonely, The Kindness Forecast, Brabners and The Manchester Metropolitan University for hosting us!
We hope you enjoyed BBS25 as much as we did and we’ll see you at the next one!
What is the Better Business Summit?
The Better Business Summit (BBS) is the annual flagship conference by the Better Business Network. This year it took place on Wednesday 15th - Friday 17th January 2025.
It brings together hundreds of purpose-driven individuals, change-makers, and innovators, inspiring them and their businesses to take action.
Two days are at Manchester Met University discussing innovative new ideas and approaches and discussing how we can create systemic change through collective action, education and support across four lecture halls, networking sessions and exhibition spaces.
Our third day will take attendees into Nature to reflect and connect with each other and the world we are working on making better.
Hannah Cox, founder of the Summit, said: “The Summit is more than a conference— it’s a call to action. It’s about inspiring businesses and individuals to take ownership of their impact and commit to building a sustainable, equitable future.