Impact Report 2025Impact Report 20252025 was the year ofsettling in and consolidation.
We continued reporting our impact according to the VSME Standard developed by EFRAG, refining how we apply it. We wanted to bring order to what we do, and to measure it with entirely new tools.
We gave continuity to our projects, strengthened the team, refined our processes. We stayed a small, close-knit team — it's from this human scale that we keep generating value.
We selected the Basic Module Only (disclosures B1-B11), the minimum set of basic information and metrics, consistent with our size and sector. It's a choice of proportionality: first consolidate the quality of data collection on the fundamental metrics, then possibly widen the scope in the coming years.
We changed our method for collecting data by introducing software based on LLMs trained on the official VSME template, to structure the data-collection process. The manual surveys and questionnaires that characterized previous reporting give way to a more systematic setup. Every metric is anchored to a specific disclosure in the Basic Module, uniquely identified by its reference code.
The 2025 metrics make up our first complete VSME baseline under the Basic Module. It will be the reference point for the 2026 Report and those that follow, enabling a real assessment of progress.
As a small studio, our main sources of direct impact are the energy consumption of our office and the team's devices. Our sector's most significant emissions are the indirect ones tied to the digital products we build (hosting, cloud infrastructure), which fall outside Scope 1+2.
B3 — energy and emissions
Scope 1 at zero confirms we don't operate direct combustion.The location-based Scope 2 captures the footprint of our electricity consumption.It's a modest baseline in absolute terms, but it's the reference point for measuring our trajectory in the years ahead.
B6 — water
These are typical values for a small workspace, with no production processes involving significant water consumption.
What we don't report
B4 pollution
The pollution disclosure doesn't apply to our sector.
B5 biodiversity
The office isn't located in areas sensitive from a biodiversity standpoint.
B7 waste
The volume produced is negligible for formal measurement purposes, though we still pay attention to waste sorting and reducing plastic use.
In 2025 BARR has a team of 5 people + 2 internship activations.
Staying small is a choice, because it lets us keep together quality relationships, decision-making autonomy and benefit commitments without compromising on scale.
Finally, we recorded only one team member departure, for a turnover rate of 22.22%.
We guarantee a safe workplace, equal opportunities and fair employment contracts.
In 2025 we dedicated about 200 hours to team training, a significant investment for our size. The team took part in Digital Design Days in Palermo and ĒTHNA 2025 in Catania, along with other industry events, plus specific courses on leadership and communication through Fondartigianato.
We ensure the team a healthy balance between work and personal life. We set up smart-working arrangements for flexibility and to support members who live far from the office. We also grant the team days off tied to their birthday and menstrual leave for our female colleagues.
BARR was born in Catania as the evolution of a design studio. Today it is a studio specialized in designing and developing digital products, with the goal of innovating by generating concrete, lasting and sustainable value.
We do this by integrating corporate social responsibility into our business model: transparency, sustainability and inclusion are the condition for creating digital products of quality and real success. A success that is also measured in the well-being of the people involved and in the health of the ecosystem we operate in.
The four principles that guide us every day
BARR is led by two founding partners: Francesco Fonte (CEO) and Antonio Merenda (Impact Manager).
Having an in-house Impact Manager is a precise strategic choice, since it ensures the benefit dimension doesn't remain a statement of principle, but is an actively managed function, with defined responsibilities for monitoring the impact generated.
Decisions on the business, services and the team's growth stay with the partners, but the organizational structure is designed to encourage the team's active participation in strategic decisions. Periodic meetings weigh strategy by holding the economic dimension and the benefit dimension together.
We innovate the digital world with reference to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We chose the four we can contribute to directly and verifiably.
We protect the work-life balance of the people who work with us.
We apply careful resource-management principles in our daily operations.
We design and develop digital products with attention to reducing our environmental footprint.
We contribute to the enhancement of natural heritage through dedicated projects.
BARR thrives thanks to partnerships and collaborations that share our own vision of innovating the digital world to generate concrete, lasting and sustainable value.
BI-REX Partners.
In 2025 we activated a collaboration with the national Competence Center for advanced manufacturing, aimed at developing sustainable digital products through European incentives. The path covered assessment, test before invest and building a Proof of Concept based on LLMs.
Alongside our in-house team, we rely on a network of trusted professionals. In 2025 Adriano Della Pietra and Stefano Ortisi collaborated with us. This is the model that lets us keep the human scale of the in-house team without giving up the ability to work on larger projects.
Measuring ourselves honestly is part of what it means to us to be a Benefit Corporation. Three things we carry into 2026.
Refining how we apply the VSME Standard changed the value of what we can say about ourselves. Fewer descriptions, more measurements. We want to keep going in this direction: a more structured collection each year, clearer boundaries, more grounded evidence.
The environmental data we obtained is modest in absolute terms, in line with our size. It becomes meaningful as a comparable baseline for the years ahead. For 2026 the goal is to keep the numbers stable even if the team grows. This is how we'll be able to tell if we're really improving.
In a team our size, every single person matters decisively. It's the principle that has always guided our choices on hiring, contracts, and training. In 2026 we want to consolidate the team, increase the share of permanent contracts, and always maintain balance, safety and equal opportunity. These are commitments worth more than any percentage target.
We chose Sortino as our operating base to stay close to the team and to help build an innovation hub in a small setting. This same choice has concrete effects on how we work with the local area.
We maintain our agreement with the University of Catania for training internships. In 2025 a previous internship turned into an employment contract.
In 2025 BARR's Impact Manager coordinated a PNRR project that mapped the digital skills of 11,500 residents of the Iblean area (Catania, Syracuse, Ragusa), promoted by the GAL under the European rural development policy. BARR wasn't directly involved, but contributed indirectly: the skills and company policies built up in-house shaped the approach the manager brought to the project.
2025 · Developed as part of Data Highway
In 2025 we built Living Pantalica. A project created to showcase the archaeological and natural site of Pantalica.
Living Pantalica is where three of our stated values meet in a single product: accessibility, promoting the local area, and the environmental sustainability of the product.
