The findings come from Kin + Carta’s latest Business Resilience Index (BRIX), which assesses FTSE 100 and B Corp businesses in 10 sectors, indexing them across four key areas: agility, responsibility, humanity and maturity. The analysis takes into account considerations that include business model, working practices, long-term purpose and how they balance people, purpose and profit.

A strong performance in the responsibility area, in particular relation to diversity and inclusion (D&I), meant the British Red Cross took top position on this year’s BRIX with a score of 63.8%. It was also singled out for “leading on climate change transparency and performance”, as well as for the energy efficiency of its digital estate. 

The study found that financial services ranked as leaders across the board in business resilience, with Aviva, Hargreaves Lansdown and HSBC placed in the top 10 across all brands. Aviva, the strongest performer in the sector, took third place due to its modern architectural approach and overall digital maturity. In the maturity metric, it was beaten only by EasyJet and Marks and Spencer Group.

Financial services did not fare as well overall in responsibility, which comes in stark contrast to the sector’s strong performances across the agility, maturity and humanity sections. However, it is worth noting that Aviva bucked the trend, placing 10th across all brands and placing third overall on energy efficiency of digital estate. 

Claire Robinson, director of transformation and consultancy at Kin + Carta Europe, said: “While the early pandemic meant that agility was the key focus in last year’s Business Resilience Index, the dial has now clearly shifted towards responsibility. Sustainability and the fight for a greener planet are at the forefront of consumers’ minds. The British Red Cross performed really well across responsibility metrics and that helped it top the table this year.”

She added: “Banks and financial institutions are no strangers to digital innovation and were ahead of the curve, due to increased regulation after the 2008 financial crisis and the disruptive impact of the likes of Monzo.

“By being further along the roadmap than other industries, the financial sector was in a stronger position to weather the pandemic and therefore it is no surprise that they have performed strongly this year. There’s still work to be done however, and the index gives an indication of where focus could be placed to improve business resilience across industries, as well as individual brands.”