December 2017

Shotley Pier receives £62k community ownership boost
BUSINESS
Ecology CEO celebrates
25 years at mutual
Paul Ellis, the longest standing chief
executive in the UK building society
sector, is celebrating a quarter of a century
at Ecology Building Society,
The ethical finance bank has enjoyed
30 years of profitability, with Mr Ellis
overseeing an increase in assets of more
than £150m (more than 900%).
“We are really contributing to building
the blocks, or pointing the way to a new
economy,” said Mr Ellis, who has spent
22 of his years as chief executive. “We’ve
proved the sustainability of our model
that pursues values.”
His time at the helm of the building
society, based in Silsden, West Yorkshire,
has seen it widen its remit from residentialonly
mortgages to lending for a wide
range of commercial and community-led
housing projects. Last year, Ecology lent
more than £30m to sustainable projects.
Mr Ellis was born in Hull but, with his
father serving in the Forces, lived all over
the world, giving him an “internationalist
outlook”. “I very quickly gained a
feeling we needed to protect our natural
environment,” he said. “I then allied that
into an interest in social justice.”
He studied European integration at the
London School of Economics (LSE), before
meeting Jean Lambert, a founder of the
building society and now a Green MEP.
Mr Ellis joined the Ecology team 25
years ago and in just three years rose
to the top position of CEO.
He said: “It’s about addressing
imbalances in the housing market.
We need a massive national retrofit
and renovation programme to get
things up to scratch if we are to have
any chance of meeting our climate
change commitments.”
Royal recognition for Co-op Funeralcare apprenticeships
Pub becomes community owned after £300,000 campaign
Seven Co-op stores opening in London
The renovation of Shotley Pier has been
given a boost, with the £62,000 invested by
local people matched by a further £62,000
from from the Community Shares Booster
Programme run by Co-operatives UK and
Locality, and funded by the independent
charitable trust, Power to Change. The
investment will allow the organisation to
purchase the pier for restoration.
Co-op Funeralcare has been awarded
a Princess Royal Training Award for its
apprenticeship programme. The Co-op
Group’s funeral provider opened its doors
to apprentices in 2013 and has since seen
around 500 people join each year. Only
40 organisations have received a Princess
Royal Training Award, which celebrates
best practice.
When the Kings Head, the last surviving
pub in Pebmersh, Essex, was up for sale,
locals rallied to save it as a communityowned
venture. The group completed the
purchase in June this year, securing its
long-term future as a community asset for
Pebmarsh and the surrounding area. The
pub, which has had necessary repairs and
re-opened last month.
The Co-op Group is investing £4.8m in
opening seven stores across London
throughout November. A variety of local
community groups are also set to get a
funding boost through the Group’s new
membership scheme, which sees 1% of
spend on own-brand goods going directly
to local causes. Around 100 jobs will be
created in the capital with the openings.
Robin Murray receives the Albert Medal posthumously
The 2017 Albert Medal of the Royal Society
of Arts (RSA) was awarded posthumously
to Robin Murray for pioneering work
in social innovation. A co-operator,
environmental and industrial economist,
Robin Murray passed away earlier
this year He was an associate of Co-ops
UK as well as the London School of
Economics (LSE) and the Young Foundation.
DECEMBER 2017 | 11