Purpose in Practice Series
Throughout 2026, we are showcasing a selection of Triple Bottom Line Accounting’s purpose-driven business and social enterprise clients. This series embodies our company’s purpose: To transform accountancy from a confusing closed-off process into a collaborative partnership — empowering purpose-driven businesses and reshaping a profession where people, planet, and lasting impact come first.
Raw Tipis: Proving That Luxury Events and a Healthy Planet Are Not in Conflict
We’re proud to support Raw Tipis, a Thames Valley-based, Certified B Corporation™ that is doing something the events industry has long claimed was impossible: delivering beautiful, indulgent, memorable events without a negative environmental impact. As a fellow B Corp, Raw Tipis is a business after our own heart — and their story is one well worth telling.
Born to Do Things Differently
Raw Tipis was founded with a clear-eyed view of what was wrong with the outdoor events industry. As they put it:
“Traditionally, the outdoor events industry has taken more from nature than it has given back. Single-use plastics, excessive travel, reliance on fossil fuels, and the mass purchasing of carbon-intensive products all contribute to increased carbon emissions and environmental harm.”
Rather than accepting that as the cost of doing business, Raw Tipis built their company from the ground up around a different model: one where luxury, creativity, and sustainability are not competing values but a single, integrated purpose.
Raw Tipis are transitioning from temporary events to venues. For six years, they supplied tipis and bespoke hand-crafted furniture for weddings, corporate events, festivals, and private parties. Now they are welcoming a new chapter at their venue, Tipis at Mapledurham. Just like before their tipis are sourced from a UK supply chain, and unique furniture is designed and built in-house using reclaimed, FSC-certified, and natural materials such as bamboo — chosen for its low life-cycle impact compared to non-plant-based materials
The Numbers Behind the Mission
Raw Tipis achieved B Corp™ certification in November 2024 — a rigorous process requiring companies to meet high standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. B Corp certification covers five areas: governance, workers, community, environment, and customers, and requires a minimum score of 80 on the B Impact Assessment. Raw Tipis performed strongly across all five.
Their carbon reduction work is central to their mission. They measure their carbon footprint annually with Climate Essentials and invest in verified nature-based carbon removal through partner Earthly, supporting the Rimba Raya Biodiversity Reserve project in Indonesia, which protects one of the world’s most endangered ecosystems and contributes to all 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Practical commitments underpin all of this: an 80-mile event radius (being reduced by 15% annually), fleet electrification by 2030, no fossil-fuel-powered tools in their warehouse, reusable cable ties instead of plastic, and FSC-certified or reclaimed wood throughout their furniture making.
Tipis at Mapledurham: Ambition Made Permanent
Raw Tipis’ most recent achievement is their flagship venue, Tipis at Mapledurham, a permanent 500m² tipi structure set within a breathtaking 12th-century Oxfordshire estate on the banks of the Thames. It opened in 2025 with an ambitious aim: to be the most sustainable outdoor event venue in the UK.
The venue is built on solid oak frames with 30-metre-wide movable panoramic windows — adaptable to all weathers and designed to flood the space with natural light. Furniture is reclaimed or sustainably sourced throughout: think reclaimed dining tables, bamboo lounge seating, and hand-made bioethanol fire pits that produce no smoke and burn cleanly for up to eleven hours. Every event at Mapledurham includes low-carbon options and full impact reporting — so clients can see the difference their choices make.
The setting itself is extraordinary. Guests can arrive by boat, mooring beside the last working watermill on the Thames, before celebrating against views of a historic estate that has inspired everything from The Wind in the Willows to a Black Sabbath album cover. It is just 25 minutes from London by train and 15 minutes from Reading — proof that low-impact does not mean out of the way.
Why Raw Tipis Chose Triple Bottom Line Accounting
For Raw Tipis, choosing an accountant was never simply a question of technical capability. As they explain:
“We knew that when we wanted to change accountants, we wanted them to be B Corp Certified. Aligning our suppliers with our values is important to us and we believe it helps build stronger, more trusted relationships.”
This is a principle we recognise and share. B Corp certification is not a badge to collect — it is a commitment to accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement. When both client and accountant hold themselves to the same standard, conversations about financial performance are grounded in a shared understanding of what good business actually looks like.
Supporting the Mission: What TBLA Does
Our work with Raw Tipis has covered the full breadth of what a growing creative business needs, including:
- Tax and VAT returns managed accurately and efficiently
- Support in forming and registering a new subsidiary company with HMRC
- Providing the financial clarity needed to plan confidently for the future
Moving forward we will be providing
- Management of accounts for both entities
- Financial advice and planning support as the business has grows
TBLA helped establish a clearer and more robust accounting and bookkeeping structure, creating a stronger foundation for the business’s financial reporting.
A key initial focus was on bringing greater clarity and structure to the financial information, so that the business has a more reliable foundation for producing meaningful and insightful management reports going forward.
“Having initial meetings at the start of our journey with TBLA really helped ensure they understood our business model and the opportunities for financial improvement. Having TBLA’s support to help us form another business has helped bring clarity to the businesses’ financials and therefore allows us to plan for the future better.”
A Business Built for What Comes Next
The events industry is under growing pressure — from clients, regulators, and the planet itself — to do better. Raw Tipis didn’t wait for that pressure. They built a business that is already ahead of it: certified, carbon-measuring, nature-investing, and uncompromising in the belief that how you do things matters as much as what you do.
With Tipis at Mapledurham now open and their emissions continuing to fall, the next chapter looks every bit as purposeful as the first.
If your business is ready to work with an accountant who takes purpose as seriously as profit, we’d love to hear from you. Contact us here.
Current TBLA clients: Want to be featured in our Purpose in Practice series? Let your account manager know!
Find Out More
- Website: rawtipis.co.uk
- Venue: tipisatmapledurham.co.uk
- Sustainability page: rawtipis.co.uk/sustainability
- B Corp profile: bcorporation.net — Raw Tipis Ltd
- Carbon impact: Earthly profile
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rawtipis
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rawtipis/
Fran leads TBLA’s sustainability services and HR function, delivering Net Zero Workshops and decarbonisation consultancy for SMEs and organisations. In her dual role at TBLA, she obtained B Corp certification and drives the company’s ongoing ESG momentum, while supporting TBLA’s commitment to environmental and social responsibility through practical sustainability solutions and a focus on inclusive team leadership through the company’s HR function.
