NOVEMBER 2018

championed, social enterprises are understandably more
hesitant to take the leap.
It could be argued that this puts Scotland at the forefront
of the take-up of co-operative models by the social enterprise
sector and in a position to influence a wider global trend.
Certainly, the majority of delegates were very much in
admiration of the supportive landscape we have in
Scotland, from Scottish government support at policy
level to the hands-on advisory support available to
social enterprises and co-operatives.
CDS is partner in two initiatives to promote take-up of
co-operative models in the social enterprise sector: Partnership
for Procurement and Community Shares Scotland. The former
provides support to social enterprises wishing to collaborate
to bid for contracts. The latter supports the creation of new
community owned businesses. Co-operative structures have an
important role to play in both.
It’s now up to Scotland’s co-operative and social enterprise
communities to make the most of this environment and seize
the opportunity to drive progress in a fledgling movement
“The main issue which was
repeatedly cited as a barrier to
consortium working was the lack
of resource – finding the time
to attend additional meetings with
fellow members was acknowledged
as a challenge”
where the aligning of two business models could not be a more
suitable fit.
When social enterprises thrive, so too do the communities
they serve: the impact of Directions Council, comprising 30
member organisations, and the Ability Wood Products Cooperative,
with a total of eight, are testament to this. The
opportunity for social economy to use co-operative structures is
considerable – we just need to continue working collaboratively
across communities to make it happen.
p Samuel Barco from Sokio, Mike Townsend from Directions Council, Sarah Deas from CDS and Ross Young from Ability Wood Products
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