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The Diary
Our Journey to Becoming Regenerative
Since the day our House was built, a sense of compassion for people and planet has served as the foundation of everything we do.
Follow our journey, in our founder Frieda’s words, as we move from being a B Corp sustainable business, to a regenerative one.
Following the seasons, Frieda will share her journal of House of Hackney’s mission to leave our home better than we found it.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens
can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”
- Margaret Mead US Anthropologist
The Diary
Our Journey to
Becoming Regenerative
Since the day our House was built, a sense of compassion for people and planet has served as the foundation of everything we do. Follow our journey, in our founder Frieda’s words, as we move from being a B Corp sustainable business, to a regenerative one. Following the seasons, Frieda will share her journal of House of Hackney’s mission to leave our home better than we found it.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.”
- Margaret Mead US Anthropologist
An Introduction
There is change in the air this Spring.
As I sit in the garden in Cornwall, Nature is bursting into life and the show of Spring is revealing itself day by day. It’s a time of rebirth and new ideas.
Reflecting on our story so far I’m grateful for the postage stamp backyard of our house in Hackney that was the catalyst in 2011 to create a brand that would bring the natural world into the home. Giving birth to and sustaining a business is an exhilarating rollercoaster of a ride; similar to the raising of a child and the deep life learnings it teaches the parent along the way. The journey has taught us so much. Mother Nature was our design muse from the start and we could only but try to imitate her perfect forms and palette. We couldn’t take such endless inspiration from her without acting in reciprocity - not just by observing her but by deeply listening to her. She has become our biggest teacher on how to be and the need to ‘inter-be’ - acting in togetherness with our Earth community.
We can’t take without giving back, and over time House of Hackney has evolved in its purpose to be a voice for the natural world. As founders of the brand, we humbly work to deliver on this purpose. This is a work in progress; as we become more aware, we need to seek more creative and innovative solutions. As Maya Angelou so beautifully said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” We are dedicated to this mission.
As April 2023 marks 12 years of House of Hackney, we embark on a new chapter in the journey of the brand; one where we move the dial from being a ‘sustainable’ business to becoming a truly ‘regenerative’ one. Instead of simply ‘sustaining’ our eco systems, we want to actively regenerate them, leaving our planet - our home - better than we found it.
Since our family moved to Cornwall 4 years ago, we’ve learnt a lot from our regenerative farmer neighbours about working with Nature’s systems and the benefits this can quickly bring to the health of the soil and people alike - so let’s look to Nature’s systems to regenerate our businesses. There is so much that we can learn from Nature. Nature takes just what it needs and doesn’t exploit; Nature champions the diversity of species through symbiosis; Nature fits form to function; Nature rewards cooperation and doesn’t value ownership; in Nature waste is never wasted. Nature doing well means everyone doing well and we want to embed these holistic principles in our company to benefit our people and planet. We have forgotten that we are Nature.
Consumerism has become the predominant story. It claims that a progressively greater level of consumption is beneficial to everyone; it promises endless growth as something worth striving for and asks how much value can be extracted from the Earth and the people who call it home?
However the future is not won by repeating the old ways. Infinite growth in a finite world is no longer sustainable. Radical times call for radical action. Business as usual is no longer viable.
The Covid pandemic reminded us of the fragility of our eco and life systems, of the importance of equilibrium in how we operate and of the importance of time spent in Nature.
In the absence of integrity and inspiring leadership in our governments, we need in Gandhi’s words, “To be the change we want to see in the world”. We believe in the power for business to be a force for good and that it has the ability to balance the needs of people, planet and profit. It’s time to unlearn the old and replace the capitalist story with a new one - one that speaks to how companies can positively impact the communities they touch, and where new metrics of collaboration, holism and happiness replace exploitation, separation and extraction.
Think of the beautiful origins of the word ‘company’. The wisdom keeper and life-long activist Satish Kumar reminds us in his 2023 book Radical Love, that the wordcomes from the Latin ‘companio’, meaning ‘one who eats bread with you’ and the French ‘compagnie’, which means, ‘friendship and society’. It originally described how merchants would gather, share stories, eat together, and trade.
House of Hackney was founded around our kitchen table; the sharing hub of our home. In our companies we need to move from a transactional business model to one which has relationships and community at the heart of it. As E.F. Schumacher’s landmark book Small is Beautiful celebrates its 50th year, its message is perhaps more important today than when it was written. Arguing for an economic landscape in which people and planet truly matter, he wrote about the importance of environmental sustainability, living within the limits of our planet and the bringing together of communities.
He believed the principle purpose of economics should be the establishment of fulfilling livelihoods for all. Given today’s global financial, energy and food crises, climate change, growing inequality and social tensions, perhaps now is a good time to revisit his work.
In early 2023, my senior management team and I embarked on studying Regenerative Economics; an economic model that moves away from extractive business models and unlocks the potential for positive contributions to Nature and society. Using Nature as a blueprint for business is a fast growing movement and it feels as though we are on the cusp of seismic change and the birth of a new narrative. But right now, although the study of regenerative economics is gaining big traction there are as yet few practical examples of companies actively applying these principles in business. On paper House of Hackney is a pioneering, sustainable B-Corp brand. Year- on -year we set ourselves higher targets as our level of awareness rises. We are learning on the job. Where we used to plant trees we learnt that protecting ancient woodland is even more important to our ecosystems. In 2022 we helped protect 170 acres of sacred trees thanks to our partnership with the World Land Trust, and we proudly became a certified carbon neutral company. We value our people and a work life balance and we were an early pioneer of the 4 day week and shorter winter hours, honouring our natural circadian rhythms. But we know we can do more.
In the spirit of sharing and collaboration that is so needed right now, we are going to put our neck on the line and share our journey of stewarding House of Hackney towards becoming a regenerative business in the hope of inspiring others to join the movement.
In the spirit of sharing and collaboration that is so needed right now, we are going to put our neck on the line and share our journey of stewarding House of Hackney towards becoming a regenerative business in the hope of inspiring others to join the movement.
Nature teaches us that there is a time for everything. Yes it’s going to be hard, but knowing that this is in our nature and it’s the way that our universe works gives us a deep sense of purpose.
So we invite you to join us on this journey; not just as an observer but as a participant of meaningful transformation; where the possibilities and potential to do good with our businesses are endless.
With courage and love,
Frieda
Plan Of Action
RADICAL TIMES CALL FOR RADICAL ACTION
How are we going to do it?
Instead of productivity alone we need to look at all aspects of our company through a lens of planetary and personal health, exploring how we can use Nature’s systems to improve the holistic design of our communities.
We defined the pillars of change that we need to look to make a positive impact with:
- Our internal community (our team, culture and practises)
- Our factory communities (our supply base, culture and practises)
- Our local communities in our brand neighbourhoods of London, New York and Cornwall
- Our business communities
- Our governance and financing
We started with setting the overarching aims around our mission to help drive out ideas and actions.
1 Our Internal Community
We want to foster a culture where everyone has purpose and comes to work every day feeling that they are participating in something for the greater good .There is nothing in Nature that serves just one purpose and we want to call on the creativity and intelligence of each of our team members to join the journey.
We want to help our team forge stronger relationships to Nature so that each person is conscious of her in all decision-making; to nurture them to become positive advocates for Nature within their circles of influence, creating an ever -growing continuum of advocates and activists. A deeper connection to Nature makes for happier, healthier people.
2 Our Factory Communities
How do we extend the aims of our team to our extended family - our factories - where we in turn work with them to grow their connection to Nature and raise their awareness of considering people and planet in all of their decision-making. How do we work together to find materials and processes that have a footprint of positive impact? How do we help support regeneration in our factories’ local communities? How do we fully trace back the source of our key materials, especially cotton and review its journey? Which materials do we need to find kinder alternatives to? How do we look at each product we are launching through a lens of it having a purpose and benefit?
3 Our Local Communities
How do we actively engage to make a truly positive long standing impact on our local communities? In a homogenised globalised world we are excited at the prospect of a local future. In the words of Satish Kumar,
“We need to think globally – one humanity, one earth family, one world future. But we need to act locally- we need to value the diversity of local community, local employment , local manufacturing, local arts…”
We have forgotten our sense of place. How do we nurture the life of our communities, leaving them better than how we found them?
4 Our Business Communities
As business leaders we have the opportunity to be part of the solution rather than the problem. We have a duty to optimise our systems as a whole rather than maximising short term economic gains for a few and the economic, social and ecological detriment of many.
We want to come together in collaboration instead of competition to share our wisdom and experience, ideas and solutions to co-create new models of regenerative business and nurture the movement. We want to hold to account exploitative financial models and welcome new ones that are in service to others. We want to learn how we can use our profit for better purposes and have a fair split between people, planet and shareholders’ interests. How do we make companies about relationships again? How do we bring a head-heart-hand approach to business?
Our Organisation
How do we consider Nature in all decision making?
Financing
Beyond profit and high growth, how do we create and establish new metrics of what a successful business looks like with a focus on the holistic health of our companies through collective action and input? Finance gives life to business, but from our experience many of the current forms are too short term and extractive, benefitting only the few.
Within this deep inquiry there will be small impactful pivots and long game actions; we will see the outcomes of some, while others will benefit future generations.
An Introduction
There is change in the air this Spring.
As I sit in the garden in Cornwall, Nature is bursting into life and the show of Spring is revealing itself day by day. It’s a time of rebirth and new ideas.
Reflecting on our story so far I’m grateful for the postage stamp backyard of our house in Hackney that was the catalyst in 2011 to create a brand that would bring the natural world into the home. Giving birth to and sustaining a business is an exhilarating rollercoaster of a ride; similar to the raising of a child and the deep life learnings it teaches the parent along the way. The journey has taught us so much. Mother Nature was our design muse from the start and we could only but try to imitate her perfect forms and palette. We couldn’t take such endless inspiration from her without acting in reciprocity - not just by observing her but by deeply listening to her. She has become our biggest teacher on how to be and the need to ‘inter-be’ - acting in togetherness with our Earth community.
We can’t take without giving back, and over time House of Hackney has evolved in its purpose to be a voice for the natural world. As founders of the brand, we humbly work to deliver on this purpose. This is a work in progress; as we become more aware, we need to seek more creative and innovative solutions. As Maya Angelou so beautifully said, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” We are dedicated to this mission.
As April 2023 marks 12 years of House of Hackney, we embark on a new chapter in the journey of the brand; one where we move the dial from being a ‘sustainable’ business to
becoming a truly ‘regenerative’ one. Instead of simply ‘sustaining’ our eco systems, we want to actively regenerate them, leaving our planet - our home - better than we found it.
Since our family moved to Cornwall 4 years ago, we’ve learnt a lot from our regenerative farmer neighbours about working with Nature’s systems and the benefits this can quickly bring to the health of the soil and people alike - so let’s look to Nature’s systems to regenerate our businesses. There is so much that we can learn from Nature. Nature takes just what it needs and doesn’t exploit; Nature champions the diversity of species through symbiosis; Nature fits form to function; Nature rewards cooperation and doesn’t value ownership; in Nature waste is never wasted. Nature doing well means everyone doing well and we want to embed these holistic principles in our company to benefit our people and planet. We have forgotten that we are Nature.
Consumerism has become the predominant story. It claims that a progressively greater level of consumption is beneficial to everyone; it promises endless growth as something worth striving for and asks how much value can be extracted from the Earth and the people who call it home?
However the future is not won by repeating the old ways. Infinite growth in a finite world is no longer sustainable. Radical times call for radical action. Business as usual is no longer viable.
The Covid pandemic reminded us of the fragility of our eco and life systems, of the importance of equilibrium in how we operate and of the importance of time spent in Nature .
In the absence of integrity and inspiring leadership in our governments, we need in Gandhi’s words, “To be the change we want to see in the world”. We believe in the power for business to be a force for good and that it has the ability to balance the needs of people, planet and profit. It’s time to unlearn the old and replace the capitalist story with a new one - one that speaks to how companies can positively impact the communities they touch, and where new metrics of collaboration, holism and happiness replace exploitation, separation and extraction.
Think of the beautiful origins of the word ‘company’. The wisdom keeper and life-long activist Satish Kumar reminds us in his 2023 book Radical Love, that the wordcomes from the Latin ‘companio’, meaning ‘one who eats bread with you’ and the French ‘compagnie’, which means, ‘friendship and society’. It originally described how merchants would gather, share stories, eat together, and trade.
House of Hackney was founded around our kitchen table; the sharing hub of our home. In our companies we need to move from a transactional business model to one which has relationships and community at the heart of it. As E.F. Schumacher’s landmark book Small is Beautiful celebrates its 50th year, its message is perhaps more important today than when it was written. Arguing for an economic landscape in which people and planet truly matter, he wrote about the importance of environmental sustainability, living within the limits of our planet and the bringing together of communities. He believed the principle purpose of economics should be the establishment of fulfilling livelihoods for all. Given today’s global financial, energy and food crises, climate change, growing inequality and social tensions, perhaps now is a good time to revisit his work.
In early 2023, my senior management team and I embarked on studying Regenerative Economics; an economic model that moves away from extractive business models and unlocks the potential for positive contributions to Nature and society. Using Nature as a blueprint for business is a fast growing movement and it feels as though we are on the cusp of seismic change and the birth of a new narrative. But right now, although the study of regenerative economics is gaining big traction there are as yet few practical examples of companies actively applying these principles in business. On paper House of Hackney is a pioneering, sustainable B-Corp brand. Year- on -year we set ourselves higher targets as our level of awareness rises. We are learning on the job. Where we used to plant trees we learnt that protecting ancient woodland is even more important to our ecosystems. In 2022 we helped protect 170 acres of sacred trees thanks to our partnership with the World Land Trust, and we proudly became a certified carbon neutral company. We value our people and a work life balance and we were an early pioneer of the 4 day week and shorter winter hours, honouring our natural circadian rhythms. But we know we can do more.
In the spirit of sharing and collaboration that is so needed right now, we are going to put our neck on the line and share our journey of stewarding House of Hackney towards becoming a regenerative business in the hope of inspiring others to join the movement.
Nature teaches us that there is a time for everything. Yes it’s going to be hard, but knowing that this is in our nature and it’s the way that our universe works gives us a deep sense of purpose.
So we invite you to join us on this journey; not just as an observer but as a participant of meaningful transformation; where the possibilities and potential to do good with our businesses are endless.
With courage and love,
Frieda
Plan Of Action
RADICAL TIMES CALL FOR RADICAL ACTION
How are we going to do it?
Instead of productivity alone we need to look at all aspects of our company through a lens of planetary and personal health, exploring how we can use Nature’s systems to improve the holistic design of our communities.
We defined the pillars of change that we need to look to make a positive impact with:
- Our internal community (our team, culture and practises)
- Our factory communities (our supply base, culture and practises)
- Our local communities in our brand neighbourhoods of London, New York and Cornwall
- Our business communities
- Our governance and financing
We started with setting the overarching aims around our mission to help drive out ideas and actions.
Base 1 Our Internal Community
We want to foster a culture where everyone has purpose and comes to work every day feeling that they are participating in something for the greater good .There is nothing in Nature that serves just one purpose and we want to call on the creativity and intelligence of each of our team members to join the journey.
We want to help our team forge stronger relationships to Nature so that each person is conscious of her in all decision-making; to nurture them to become positive advocates for Nature within their circles of influence, creating an ever -growing continuum of advocates and activists. A deeper connection to Nature makes for happier, healthier people.
Base 2 Our Factory Communities
How do we extend the aims of our team to our extended family - our factories - where we in turn work with them to grow their connection to Nature and raise their awareness of considering people and planet in all of their decision-making. How do we work together to find materials and processes that have a footprint of positive impact? How do we help support regeneration in our factories’ local communities? How do we fully trace back the source of our key materials, especially cotton and review its journey? Which materials do we need to find kinder alternatives to? How do we look at each product we are launching through a lens of it having a purpose and benefit?
Base 3 Our Local Communities
How do we actively engage to make a truly positive long standing impact on our local communities? In a homogenised globalised world we are excited at the prospect of a local future. In the words of Satish Kumar,
“We need to think globally – one humanity, one earth family, one world future. But we need to act locally- we need to value the diversity of local community, local employment , local manufacturing, local arts…”
We have forgotten our sense of place. How do we nurture the life of our communities, leaving them better than how we found them?
Base 4 Our Business Communities
As business leaders we have the opportunity to be part of the solution rather than the problem. We have a duty to optimise our systems as a whole rather than maximising short term economic gains for a few and the economic, social and ecological detriment of many.
We want to come together in collaboration instead of competition to share our wisdom and experience, ideas and solutions to co-create new models of regenerative business and nurture the movement. We want to hold to account exploitative financial models and welcome new ones that are in service to others. We want to learn how we can use our profit for better purposes and have a fair split between people, planet and shareholders’ interests. How do we make companies about relationships again? How do we bring a head-heart-hand approach to business?
Our Organisation
How do we consider Nature in all decision making?
Financing
Beyond profit and high growth, how do we create and establish new metrics of what a successful business looks like with a focus on the holistic health of our companies through collective action and input? Finance gives life to business, but from our experience many of the current forms are too short term and extractive, benefitting only the few.
Within this deep inquiry there will be small impactful pivots and long game actions; we will see the outcomes of some, while others will benefit future generations.
Entry One
APRIL 2023
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Designed to be a think tank for change, the Garden of Tomorrow
is a story of hope and solution. Our aim is to inspire other leaders,
entrepreneurs and consumers to do things differently and to be an
advocate for our beautiful planet and fellow kin.
- Co-Founder, Frieda Gormley
Designed to be a think tank for change, the Garden of Tomorrow is a story of hope and solution. Our aim is to inspire other leaders, entrepreneurs and consumers to do things differently and to be an advocate for our beautiful planet and fellow kin.
- Co-Founder, Frieda Gormley
‘Nature is Everyone's Business’
Since the day our House was built, a sense of compassion for people and planet
has served as the foundation of everything we do.
Our Values
Our Purpose
‘Nature is Everyone's Business’
Since the day our House was built, a sense of compassion for people and planet has served as the foundation of everything we do.
Our Values
Our Purpose