MAY 2018

Recently, Co-operatives UK set up a
Co-operative Governance Expert Reference
Panel with representatives from all kinds of UK
co-ops, from retail to housing, working with lawyers
towards good practice and better governance.
“Co-operatives are businesses and need to be run
properly and be accountable to members,” says Ms
Barlow. “The elected board has to be able to do
its job. So we provide lots of resources, training,
guidance notes and toolkits so people know what
they are getting themselves into.
“The panel works with people within the different
sectors of co-ops to develop good governance and
see what it looks like within the co-op context.”
Since the financial crash of 2008, the co-op
sector’s impact on wider society has broadened,
with many local communities working to save
services at risk from austerity cuts.
“Within the co-op sector there has been a lot
of growth at community level where people have
the opportunity to become members and have a
say, particularly in areas like energy and saving
local assets like libraries, shops and pubs. People
are waking up, they don’t want to be passive
participants any more and they can have a real say
in how a service is run collectively.
“The normal commercial enterprise is just there
to see investment grow. In a co-op the relationship
is different; people know they are entering into
it for different reasons. The reward is collective,
you can work alongside people who share the
same values.”
For more than 15 years, Social Enterprise UK
has worked with government, charities, and the
public and private sectors to champion the cause
of sustainable businesses with a positive impact
on communities.
A major boost to its work was the Social Value
Act, which came into force in January 2013,
requiring public bodies, including councils, to
consider choosing providers based on the social
value created in an area and not on cost alone.
While social enterprises and co-operatives are
not interchangeable, there is much common
ground to work on.
Deputy CEO Charlie Wigglesworth says:
“There are a lot of different structures, lots of
Community Interest Companies (CICs) and a
range of others, including industrial and co-op
societies, who we work with. What they share is
a social purpose written into their governance
documents and owned in that way. What we see
in terms of demographics is a much stronger
diversity and inclusiveness than you would find in
mainstream business.
“The other thing we find is we all take a very
holistic approach to being a good business.
If you look at the information we have about fair
pay, salary ratios are all very strong. We have a
lot of data and statistics on those areas which we
share with co-ops, for example the importance of
structure and governance locking in important
aspects of how business operate within the social
enterprise sector.”
At a time when more than 66% of consumers
have reported they are willing to spend more for
goods and services that are committed to making a
positive social impact, Mr Wigglesworth agrees the
time has never been better for social enterprises
and co-operatives to work together for the
common good.
“Every time we have done a survey recently,
we have seen a growth in start-up rates. That’s
consistent growth and real expansion.
“We know there is a better way of doing business
than the mainstream model. A recent state of social
enterprise survey compared how we perform against
the mainstream sector. 30% of social enterprises are
based in more deprived areas, compared to 8% of
SMEs; 79% of social enterprises recruit the majority
of their workforce locally and 58% the entire
workforce. They are also much more representative
of their communities. 41% of social enterprises are
led by women and 12% from BAME communities.
The need is great in terms of societal impact.
However, what we want to see is social enterprises
of different scale and different markets.
“There are a lot of social enterprises that are
not co-operatives but their priority is still social
purpose and re-investing profits.”
MAY 2018 | 39