December 2017

WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?
It’s quite varied. I do lots of different things. I am a
project manager and also deal with finances and
community work, so it depends on the day. We are
based in Finsbury Park in London, but there is a fair
amount of travelling in what I do. Last month I went
to Naples to speak about CoTech and how technology
can serve social co-operatives. I am invited to a fair
amount of events to speak, and some days I also
work from home, so overall it is all quite flexible. Our
governance structure is to have ‘circles’ which are
equivalent to traditional departments, so I am part
of the finance and project management circle and the
community business development circle.
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YOU ARE WEARING A LOT OF HATS ACROSS THE
CO-OP SECTOR - WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF
SO FAR?
I am most proud of delivering high-quality projects to
our clients like the one we did on school cuts with NEU.
There is also the fact we do a lot of work on business
delivery and showing people that technology is viable
and that it doesn’t have to be about the top ranking
people getting all the profits.
WHAT CHALLENGES ARE YOU FACING?
Some people are still a bit wary of technology so
getting people to engage is often always a challenge.
But I think once people realise that co-ops are
delivering high-quality products and proving that
we are capable of producing on the same level as
commercial agencies that will make a real difference.
HOW CAN CO-OPS USE TECHNOLOGY TO AID
COLLABORATION?
Every co-op could do with a bit more technology, and
it is our job to show how it can make life easier using
online tools like Loomio to keep communication
going, aid transparency and share ideas in an
open forum.
WHAT DO YOU THINK THE FUTURE HOLDS FOR
CO-OPS AND TECHNOLOGY?
I hope that on a national basis CoTech can provide coops
in the UK with their digital needs and help anyone
who needs it. It is a network they can speak to and
there also organisations like the Co-operative Group
where we want to start talking to more. Generally,
I would like to see more co-operation across the
movement. If we don’t do that, we may be in a little
bit of trouble.
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DECEMBER 2017 | 31