April 2022 for yumpu

APRIL 2022
CO-OPS STAND
TOGETHER FOR
UKRAINE
Plus … The benefits and
challenges of small-scale
co-operatives ... Report from
the Co-op Retail Conference
... A look back on the life and
work of social reformer
Robert Owen
ISSN 0009-9821
770009 982010
01
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Small is beautiful?
CONNECTING, CHAMPIONING AND
CHALLENGING THE GLOBAL CO-OP
MOVEMENT SINCE 1871
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Small is often beautiful, especially for co-operatives looking to maintain
their ethics and commitment to co-op principles. However, often their
size brings with it a unique set of challenges, especially if they start to
look at growing. What support is available to them, and can they scale up
without any compromise?
To explore this, we hear from a number of key actors in co-op
development (p34-38) – many of whom are frustrated at the barriers
to setting up co-ops and at the contraction of co-op development more
widely. We also bring you updates on the Hive and the Community Shares
Booster schemes delivered by Co-operatives UK (p44-45) and share a
pandemic success story: the growth of community pubs and shops, which
had critical roles as community hubs during lockdown, particularly in
rural areas (p39-41).
But co-ops are thriving in cities too: Cooperate Islington (p48-49)
and Cooperation Town (p46-47) are both London-based examples
of communities collaborating to create, support and unite small
enterprises: seeing a need and building a co-op ecosystem to address it.
From the smallest co-ops to the largest... In the UK, March saw the
Co-operative retail Conference (p26-29) return as an in-person event,
bringing together retail societies to discuss the culture change brought
about by Covid-19 and technological advances in retail. But here, too,
the focus was often on smaller, more local impact, with a concern for
members in the face of financial challenges leading many conversations.
This issue we also have a special section on Ukraine (p5-9). As the
war continues, how are co-operatives in the region supporting tattered
communities? And what has the response been from co-ops around the
world? A week into the conflict, Aroundtheworld.coop spoke with two
co-op developers in Ukraine – Sofia Burtak and Iryna Volovyk.
“[Ordinary people working in co-ops] are staying, to earn money, to feed
their families, to heal their communities, to protect communities and to
share food with people, with refugees and with military soldiers,” they
said. “So we are really heroes, we are not ordinary people any more.”
REBECCA HARVEY - EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Co-operative News is printed using vegetable oil-based inks
on 80% recycled paper (with 60% from post-consumer waste)
with the remaining 20% produced from FSC or PEFC certified
sources. It is made in a totally chlorine free process.
APRIL 2022 | 3

ISSN 0009-9821
9 770009 982010
01
THIS ISSUE
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT:
An extra news section looking at the co-op
response to the war in Ukraine – inside the
country and around the world (p5-9); young
co-operators talk peace at the Woodcraft
Folk (p13); the community pub model is
preserving local assets (p39-41); historians
look back on Robert Owen (p30-33); report
from the Co-op Retail Conference (p26-29)
APRIL 2022
CO-OPS STAND
TOGETHER FOR
UKRAINE
Plus … The benefits and
challenges of small-scale
co-operatives ... Report from
the Co-op Retail Conference
... A look back on the life and
work of social reformer
Robert Owen
£4.20
www.thenews.coop
COVER: CONFLICT IN UKRAINE
A special news section with updates
from Ukraine’s co-op sector and the
response from the global movement
[Photo: A man hugs his daughter and
granddaughter after they crossed the
border from Shehyni in Ukraine to
Medyka in Poland. Numerous Ukrainians
are leaving the country fleeing the
conflict. (Credit: Michael Kappeler/dpa)
Read more: p5-9
26-29 CO-OPERATIVE RETAIL CONFERENCE
New tech is going to transform the retail
landscape, which has also been marked by
a culture change from Covid-19. UK retail
co-ops gather to consider their response.
30-33 PERSPECTIVES ON NEW LANARK
Reports from a conference marking the
250th anniversary of the birth of Robert
Own, a forefather of modern co-operation,
with perspectives on his pioneering work
and lessons for today’s movement
34-49 SMALL CO-OPS
Small is often beautiful, especially for
co-ops looking to stick to their founding
ethos. What challenges do they face – and
can they grow without any compromise?
34-38 QUESTIONS OF DEVELOPMENT
We speak to a number of key players in
co-op development – Alex Lawrie, Phil
Beardmore, Cath Muller, Clare Alexander,
Oliver Sylvester-Bradley, Tiziana O’Hara
and Glenn Bowen.
39-41 SAVING THE LOCAL
Community pubs are a growing model
of small co-ops, whose local scale suits
their role as community hubs –and saw
them act as lifelines during lockdown
42-43 CASE STUDIES
A look at four small co-ops – Colne Valley
Care, Signalise, Unicorn Grocery and
Victory Gardens
44-45 FUNDING A MOVEMENT
Updates on the Hive and the Community
Shares Booster, two key funding options
delivered by Co-operatives UK
46-47 CO-OP COMMUNITY ACTION
Co-operation Town’s hyper-local model
offers savings on food bills to members –
but also gives them a schooling in
community activism
48-49 REMAKING A LOCAL ECONOMY A
look at Cooperate Islington, a new cooperative
development agency set up to
develop a fairer and more inclusive coop
based economy in the north London
borough
REGULARS
5-9 Conflict in Ukraine
10-16 UK news
17-23 Global news
24
25
50
Letters, comment
Obituaries
Events
4 | APRIL 2022

UKRAINE CONFLICT
Co-ops on the frontline:
Updates from Ukraine’s
consumer societies
Co-ops in Ukraine are defying the Russian
invasion by feeding the temporarily
displaced and making food kits and
camouflage for the military free of charge
– and at the same time continuing to serve
their communities.
The All-Ukrainian Central Union of
Consumer Societies (COOP Ukraine)
has been posting online updates of cooperative
efforts, based on reports from
the Visti co-operative newspaper.
“We coordinate enterprises and
organisations, restore chains of interaction
where the war destroyed any processes.
Bomb shelters and the whistling of rockets
have become our routine,” it said.
“Across Ukraine, consumer cooperatives
have stepped up the production
of bread to an emergency regime and are
making sure that there are essential goods
on the shelves of our stores.”
Disruptions mean that some co-ops
have had to find local suppliers, new
formats for purchasing goods and raw
materials for production.
Consumer co-ops estimate they
have already contributed hundreds of
thousands of hryvnias in donations to the
armed forces – some of it from employees.
They are also allowing their buildings
and shop basements to be used as shelters.
“We’re all here together at different
levels – from the residents of a
particular house, street, village, city and
nationwide,” Coop Ukraine wrote on 7
March. “Certainly, the system of consumer
co-operation of Ukraine feels confident
in this union. Because, probably, this is
one of the few areas where the principle
of unity and mutual assistance is the basis
of the philosophy of its existence. It has
always been so, it is so today.”
The apex added that its producers and
suppliers continue to work well and so far
there was no product interruption.
In the Transcarpathia region, the coop
sector is working closely with local
authorities, volunteers and churches
to host people. Three co-op bakeries
are working at full capacity, says Coop
Ukraine. Likewise, in Ternopil the
regional consumer co-op union provides
goods to commercial establishments
while delivering essential goods in close
collaboration with the local government
– with strict price controls and no
interruption of service.
The region is home to one of the
country’s several co-op colleges – the
Ternopil co-operative trade and economic
college, which has set up a hostel for
dozens of displaced families.
Those killed in the invasion include
Vasyl Bilak, a graduate of Mukachevo
Cooperative Professional College of
Business, Roman Pavlovych, a graduate
of the Lviv Cooperative Professional
College of Economics and Law, and Vanya
Karnaukh, a second-year student at the
Kharkiv Cooperative College of Trade and
Economics.
Kharkiv, the country’s second largest
city, has seen several apartment blocks
and schools hit by Russian missiles, and
the College’s building collapsed on 10
March. To support each other, College
staff set up a mobile messenger group to
communicate and report on the situation,
helping each other whenever possible.
Similarly, teachers and students of the
Lviv Cooperative Professional College
of Economics and Law are volunteering
while parents host displaced people from
other regions. Staff and students work
seven days a week in shifts to make food
for the military and those who have been
displaced due to the war. The products are
delivered by volunteers.
Similar efforts are being made by the
Zhitomir Cooperative College of Business
and Law, which is also used as a shelter
by 15-20 people. The college also cooks for
the military and supports an orphanage
with children with special needs.
In the city of Sumy, where heavy
Russian shelling continues, co-op staff
work mostly remotely but come to the
store if needed. The co-ops have set up an
aid collection centre. Some consumer coops
in the region have had to close while
others do not have goods due to logistics.
Similar consumer co-op efforts to
supply food to consumers, displaced
people and the military are reported
from the Vinnytsia, Zhytomyr regions
and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Supplies are
generally holding up with some shortages
of certain products in different areas.
In Odessa the infrastructure is still
working and there are products in the
shops but the prices on some of them have
increased slightly.
“The system of consumer co-operation
works, helps the government, local
government, the armed forces of Ukraine
and hopes for our victory,” a local co-op
told Visti newspaper journalists.
The Vinnytsia regional consumer
union received UAH 150,000 of material
assistance from the co-operative
community of Latvia, which it donated
to the military. The region’s confectionery
shops switched to baking bread, working
in three shifts to meet the demand.
In the Mikolaiv region, a co-op
department store and market shops were
burnt down. The co-ops in the region also
focus on baking and delivering bread.
Similar challenges are faced by co-ops in
the Kirovohrad region. In Novomyrhorod
co-operators are helping to address water
supply issues by accumulating water and
transporting it to catering establishments
across the city. Around 70% of consumer
co-ops continue to operate in some form
or another, says Co-op Ukraine.
APRIL 2022 | 5

UKRAINE CONFLICT
‘We are not ordinary people any more’: Agriculture sector faces ‘catastrophe’
On 1 March two co-op developers in
Ukraine shared their experiences in an
interview with Aroundtheworld.coop,
describing a “catastrophic situation” for
agricultural co-ops in the country.
Sofia Burtak and Iryna Volovyk are
members of Cooperative Academy, which
promotes and develops agri co-ops. Ms
Burtak told interviewer Sarah Vicari: “Our
producers are stuck with the produce and
no channel to actually sell [it on], and no
means actually for their life.”
Ms Burtak said some farmers are
under occupation and cannot proceed
with production, and others have had to
flee. She added: “Agriculture production
is very tied to the land and you cannot
put your land in your bag. So that’s why
the co-operative movement is in a very
catastrophic situation right now.”
The Russian army is destroying
“everything, not just economics,” added
Ms Volovyk. “They destroy people’s
values, all over the world. So I would like
to share with co-operatives all over the
world – this is true. I’m here. I live here
with my parents in Dnipro ... it’s true.”
Ms Burtak said Ukrainian farmers need
“ideas and facilities to process production
very locally, at least in the places where
it is safe. For example, if we have local
farmers of dairy production, we need to
process their milk – we cannot transport
it or do any kind of logistics. But we need
to process it right away, to a product which
can be stored for longer than milk can …
“And then we will think more globally
at the level of the federation of the cooperative,
how we can market or how we
can supply the food where it is needed.”
Ms Burtak also outlined a need for
expertise around crisis management as
well as material support and investment
to keep small producers in Ukraine alive.
Ms Volovyk said it is important to share
the stories of ordinary people working
in Ukrainian co-ops, but warned: “After
these six days, they are not ordinary
people. I feel that they are heroes, because
they are staying, to earn money, to feed
their families, to heal their communities,
to protect communities and to share
food with people, with refugees and with
military soldiers. So we are really heroes,
we are not ordinary people any more.”
Global impact
The crisis has put world supply chains
under huge pressure; Ukraine is a leading
exporter of grain, and there has also been
a reduction in fertiliser exports from
Russia and Belarus. Farmers around the
world also face rising energy costs as
the conflict hits oil prices. The situation
is especially urgent for poorer countries
which import a lot of wheat from Ukraine,
such as Egypt, Yemen and Lebanon.
Food systems have already been
disrupted by Covid-19, and from poor
weather which has hit harvests in China,
South America and Indonesia. “Ukraine
has only compounded a catastrophe,”
David M Beasley, the executive director
of the UN’s World Food Program, told the
New York Times. “There is no precedent
even close to this since World War II.”
Copa and Cogeca, the apex bodies for
Europe’s agri co-ops, says the crisis means
the continent “must equip its agriculture
with a food shield”.
“The impulse of solidarity of the
farming community with the Ukrainian
people is real and visible in all member
countries,” said Copa and Cogeca in a
press statement. “Farmers are starting
to welcome refugees to their farms, the
first convoys organised by farmers are on
their way, along with food, supplies and
financial donations.
“‘Copa-Cogeca will publish on its
website more information for farmers, cooperatives
and any citizen who wants to
support the actions undertaken by the EU
agricultural community.”
The Ukrainian agricultural organisation
UNAF (Ukrainian National Agrarian
Forum) is joining the European farming
community by becoming a Copa and
Cogeca partner, the statement added.
Copa and Cogeca warn that the
European agriculture faces reconstruction
challenges, with global repercussions
from the war set to last for several years.
“Most productions will be directly or
indirectly impacted,” it said. “It is therefore
essential to have a European response that
equals the humanitarian and economic
disaster. In this regard, Copa and Cogeca
are expecting comprehensive, robust,
out-of-the-box measures by the European
Commission. Some sectors already heavily
affected by the price increases resulting
from the Covid and energy crises must
be supported without delay, while other
farmers need clear policy guidance as
they start sowing.”
Copa and Cogeca add: “Everything
must be done to prevent disruptions in
supply chains, which will inevitably lead
to shortages in certain parts of the world.
This is an essential question of food
sovereignty and democratic stability.”
Tim Bailey, CEO of the Scottish
Agricultural Organisation Society (SAOS),
said his members are being “impacted by
the reduced availability of raw materials
and inputs. SAOS is a member of the
Scottish government’s newly formed Food
Security Taskforce, and our supply chain
expertise and knowledge of identifying
alternatives and building supply chain
resilience, will play an integral role.”
Farmer-owned dairy Arla has donated
€1m (£830,000) to the Red Cross and is
working with humanitarian organisations
to provide food aid to Ukraine.
It is suspending all its exports to Russia,
and halting its operations in the country,
as is New Zealand dairy co-op Fonterra.
6 | APRIL 2022

UKRAINE CONFLICT
‘A swift and positive co-operative response’: UK sector shows solidarity
p Central England Co-op pulls Russian vodka
UK co-ops have taken a number of actions
in response to the crisis in Ukraine.
After being “inundated with members
wanting to help”, Co-operatives UK,
together with its International Working
Group (IWG), is recommending
donations to be sent to the Disasters
Emergency Committee (DEC) Ukraine
appeal, launched on 2 March. The DEC
brings together 15 UK humanitarian aid
charities, which Co-operatives UK has
recommended as a reputable coalition
providing on-the-ground support. Funds
will help provide food, water, shelter
and healthcare to refugees and displaced
families.
The IWG includes representatives from
Co-operatives UK, the Co-op College, the
Worker Co-op Council and Co-op News,
as well as ICMIF, CCH and retail co-ops
Midcounties, Central England and the Coop
Group. It was established to support
the co-ordination and delivery of the UK
co-op movement’s international activity.
It has contacted co-op networks in
Poland to determine what help they
may need to support huge numbers of
displaced people from Ukraine. The
IWG has also spoken directly with coop
unions in Ukraine. In response, Illia
Gorokhovskyi, chair of the board of COOP
Ukraine, wrote: “The sense of justice and
the support we feel from co-ops around
the world gives us strength, and right now
it is the greatest help we need.”
Rose Marley, CEO of Co-operatives
UK, said: “We have been heartened by
the show of solidarity from the UK co-op
movement and will provide our support
through the IWG. Communication with
our Ukrainian and Polish counterparts has
been established but as you can imagine
this is patchy and it may be a while before
we can determine what practical support
they need from us. We will continue to
keep our members updated.”
Midcounties’ chief values officer,
Peter Westall, said: “The large consumer
co-ops, in particular, have been working
closely together under the lead of the IWG,
and Co-operatives UK, to ensure a swift
and positive co-operative response to a
humanitarian disaster.
“Rose Marley and Sarah Alldred [head
of international partnerships at the Cooperative
College] in particular have
facilitated swift co-ordination and cooperation
across the movement.”
Mr Westall added that in line with
other co-ops, Midcounties has messaged
colleagues and members, via email and
its member app, advising how they can
donate – whether in store at till points,
online or via text message. “The text
facility is again the same one that will be
used by ourselves, the Group and others
to ensure clarity and simplicity for all coop
members, regardless of the society they
are members of.”
Heart of England Co-op has also taken
steps to support Ukraine. It says it is
working in partnership with Co-operatives
UK and other societies nationally and is
placing collection tins in each of its food
stores and funeral homes.
CEO Ali Kurji said: “As a society, we
have been touched by the tragedy in the
Ukraine and have decided to support
wherever we can, through collections in
every one of our stores and funeral homes.
“We invite our members and
customers to donate anything they can
to help support the refugees and citizens
of Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, Lincolnshire Co-op is also
supporting a collection by the Polish
School in Lincoln by setting up donation
points at all its pharmacies. The collection
is gathering essential items including
toiletries, nappies, sleeping bags and
blankets and first aid supplies, which will
be transported to Poland and distributed
by Fundacja Ermed, a charity working
on the ground to support Ukrainians.
Lincolnshire has published a full list of
items currently needed on its website.
Worker-owned John Lewis Partnership
has announced a £100,000 donation to
the British Red Cross Ukraine Crisis Appeal
and will match public donations up to an
additional £150,000. The partnership’s
chair Sharon White said: “My thoughts are
with the people of Ukraine and everyone
affected by this terrible war. We all share a
common humanity and all conflicts – near
and far – strike at the heart of our values.”
In addition to fundraising efforts, a
number of retail co-ops across the UK have
removed certain Russian products from
their shelves, including the Co-op Group,
Scotmid, Lincolnshire, Midcounties,
Central England and Southern Co-op.
Central England Co-op has left the
shelves empty, with a statement reading:
“We stand with all Ukrainians and
Russians calling for peace”.
Southern Co-op told Co-op News: “We
are joining with others in doing what
we can to support those caught up in
this terrible conflict including making a
donation of £10,000 to the DEC’s appeal.
We will also be making it possible for our
customers to add to this by making their
own donations via our till points.”
Similarly, NFU Mutual has announced a
£150,000 donation to the DEC through the
NFU Mutual Charitable Trust.
Jim McLaren MBE, chair of the NFU
Mutual Charitable Trust, said: “Right
across the UK we are seeing extraordinary
efforts by farmers, rural communities and
the farming unions to support and show
solidarity with the people of Ukraine.
“This devastating crisis has touched
everyone and people are desperate to
help. Some will have worked alongside
Ukrainian colleagues on British farms and
are deeply concerned for their Ukrainian
friends and their families, others will
be watching the terrible events unfold
at home and want to do all they can to
support the victims of the crisis.
“Many NFU Mutual staff and agents are
already supporting the people of Ukraine
through their own efforts with a range
of activities, from setting up donation
stations to fundraising in the communities
they serve.”
APRIL 2022 | 7

UKRAINE CONFLICT
How has the international co-operative community responded?
The International Cooperative Alliance
condemned the use of military force
against civilians and called on the
international community to bring peace
and advocate for diplomatic solutions to
the war in Ukraine.
In a statement published on 14 March,
the ICA said it was working to connect
co-operatives around the world that can
offer aid. “We would like to encourage
others to join with us in this vital effort to
mitigate the hardships being inflicted on
the Ukrainian people,” read the statement
signed by ICA president Ariel Guarco.
“Advocating for the immediate
cessation of violence in Ukraine, we
continue to call on governments,
international organisations, and civil
society organisations in general to build
a positive global agenda for peace based
on co-operation. Imposition by force will
never be the way.
“In the spirit of the ICA Declaration
on Positive Peace through Cooperatives,
we reaffirm that conflicts arise from
unmet human needs and aspirations.
The ultimate goal for co-operatives is the
satisfaction of basic human needs and
aspirations.”
Meanwhile, retailer Coop Estonia
and its subsidiary bank Coop Pank have
donated €1m to Red Cross Estonia to
support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
The retailer has also suspended its
collaboration with Russian and Belarusian
producers and stopped working with
Russian TV channels. It says it will soon
introduce Ukrainian products to its stores
and e-shop. Coop Pank is allowing its
clients to make free payments to Ukrainian
banks while Ukrainian residents can open
bank accounts free of charge.
Co-op retailers in northern Europe have
also responded. S Group, a customerowned
Finnish network of retail and
service co-ops, has removed 50 items of
Russian origin.
Around 150 products of Russian origin
will also be removed from its Sokos and
Emotion department stores, including
cosmetics and jackets.
It is also pulling Russian products from
its restaurants, and will stop showing
Russian television channels in its Sokos
hotel chain, while its wholesale company
Meira Nova is removing products of
Russian origin from its range – including
an entire selection of Russian foods and
cosmetics. These policies also apply to
Belarusian products.
S Group has also decided to close all
business operations in Russia – 16 Prisma
supermarkets and three Sokos Hotels and
has approximately 1,000 employees in
St Petersburg. “The exit process will be
done with due consideration to S Group
employees and Russian law. The exact
schedule is being evaluated,” it said.
The co-op is also supporting the Finnish
Red Cross, giving €100,000 (£83,500) from
its Disaster Relief Fund to support victims
of the conflict in Ukraine.
The co-op added that it does not make
direct crude oil purchases from Russia.
Coop Denmark, the second-biggest
retailer of consumer goods in Denmark,
is supporting the disaster relief fund
launched by Red Cross Denmark, and
is also sending five trucks with warm
blankets, canned food, diapers and
other items to Ukraine via Poland. It also
announced its intention to provide work
for refugees arriving from Ukraine.
Coop Norway, which has been a main
partner with the Red Cross for several
years, has donated 10 million NOK
(£870,000) to the Red Cross to provide
health care, food, water, and warm
clothes. “This donation comes in addition
to the donations we give as a partner each
year,” said head of communications Silje
Verlo Alisøy.
From 3 March customers have been able
to donate money in stores to support the
Red Cross’ relief work in Ukraine.
Coop Norway has also stopped all
imports of Russian products but will
continue to sell a few products that are
already on shelves to avoid waste.
The retailer was the main sponsor of
the Holmenkollen Ski Festival in Oslo on
5-6 March, and showed its support for
Ukraine by changing its logo to Ukraine’s
flag colours. This was displayed on the
equipment of all competitors and on
marketing materials displayed around the
stadium or given as handouts.
Samkaup in Iceland, one of the
largest retailers in the country, is using
its membership network to support
donations to Red Cross Iceland via its app.
Meanwhile, apex body Co-operatives
Sweden issued a statement saying its
member co-ops “stand by Ukraine and
its population. We send our thoughts and
support to the people of Ukraine, whose
entire existence is being destroyed before
their eyes.
“The Swedish co-operative movement
condemns Russia’s unprovoked and
illegitimate invasion of Ukraine. We
demand that Russia’s large-scale attacks
cease with immediate effect.”
Citing co-op values of democracy,
8 | APRIL 2022

social responsibility, autonomy and
independence and co-operation among
co-operatives, the apex said it “supports
our co-operative colleagues in Ukraine,
and we are in contact with Cooperatives
Europe about the opportunities for
providing direct support and aid.”
Swedish co-ops have made contributions
to Save the Children, UNHCR and UNICEF.
Furthermore, Coop Sweden members are
able to donate points, which are converted
into money for UNICEF.
In the USA the National Co+op
Grocers (NCG), an organisation of 148
food co-ops, has partnered with the
Cooperative Development Foundation
(CDF) and national apex NCBA CLUSA
to launch a fundraising drive for Ukraine.
The campaign had by 23 March raised
US$123,257.
NCBA CLUSA is coordinating with
the Worldwide Foundation for Credit
Unions (WFCU) to send donations to
Podolsk Regional Development Agency
(PARD), a Ukrainian non-governmental
organisation providing aid to internally
displaced Ukrainians.
On 15 March the WFCU announced
that the first $50,000 from its appeal will
be distributed to PARD. The funding will
be used to deliver food, water, medicine,
bedding and other supplies to those
seeking refuge in the Vinnytsia region of
western Ukraine.
On 1 March, Cooperatives Europe
president, Susanne Westhausen, made a
call for peace and diplomatic solutions to
the crisis. “As the pan-European association
of co-op, with members not only in
Ukraine but also Russia, Cooperatives
Europe is convinced that this collaboration
surmounts political or cultural barriers,
enhancing prosperity and strengthening
security,” she said. “But our co-operation
relies on a stable international community,
based on rules and principles that should
not be undermined.”
The Japanese Consumers’ Cooperative
Union (JCCU) also released a
statement on 1 March. Its CEO Hiroyuki
Shimada said: “As citizens of Japan, the
only nation hit by atomic bombs, we
cannot condone the fact that Russian
president Vladimir Putin has suggested
the use of nuclear weapons ... We reaffirm
the preciousness and importance of our
daily life and hope that the citizens of
Ukraine and also the people of Russia who
do not necessarily support this military
invasion will get back their daily life as
soon as possible.”
On 23 March the Japan Co-operative
Alliance (JCA) issued a statement
condemning the invasion and expressing
solidarity and support for Ukrainian coops.
JCA also pledged to work with cooperatives
in Japan and around the world
to provide as much support as possible.”
Members of the International
Cooperative and Mutual Insurance
Federation (ICMIF) have shown support
in different ways. Finland’s LähiTapiola
has donated €300,000 to the Finnish
Red Cross and Unicef, and Denmark’s LB
Forsikring has expanded its contents
and liability coverage to include
displaced Ukrainians who move in with
one its policyholders. Germany’s R+V
Versicherung provides non-contributory
insurance cover to refugees and volunteers
working with them. The insurer has also
donated more than €800,000.
On 1 March, ICMIF made a statement
on Twitter, saying: “We stand in solidarity
with the people of Ukraine. Key mutual and
co-operative values include democracy,
equality, equity, and solidarity, as well as
social responsibility and caring for others.
These values are fundamentally violated
by war. #PeaceforUkraine.”
MyCoolClass waives fees for Ukrainian teachers
My Cool Class, a UK-based international
teacher-owned platform co-op, has
waived its fees for Ukrainian teachers and
simplified its application process.
Set up in 2021, MyCoolClass says it
wants to offer a virtual home for teachers
who have left Ukraine, allowing them
to run their teaching business and give
classes to children, including those that
have been displaced.
Five Ukrainian teachers – two
still in Ukraine – have already joined
MyCoolClass, which enables teachers to
offer lessons in any language, subject,
skills or topic. The teachers can also set
their own schedule and prices as well as
offer free lessons to Ukrainian children.
The co-op is registered in the UK but has
members from all over the world. To join,
teachers have to pay a fee of £5-£25. While
this fee is waived for refugees, they will
still be given a £1 voting share at the end
of their probationary period.
Teachers, tutors, crisis counsellors and
psychotherapists who want to volunteer
can register and use the MyCoolClass
platform for free.
All paid classes on the MyCoolClass
platform have a contribution of 19%,
which goes to the co-operative. This charge
will not apply to free lessons or courses for
children or volunteer counselling.
MyCoolClass was set up in June 2021
by John Hayes, a Californian ESL teacher
who lives in Warsaw, Poland. His country
of residence has to date welcomed over 1.4
million displaced Ukrainians.
“My girlfriend and I will start hosting
refugees in our extra bedroom soon. We
hope to get some Ukrainian speaking
volunteers so MyCoolClass can launch
a separate programme providing free
lessons to displaced children but that
will take some time as everything is still
chaotic,” he said.
The co-op plans to organise free group
lessons for children from Ukraine and is
looking for volunteers who speak both
English and Ukrainian. The co-op deals
with all admin work and bookkeeping so
teachers can focus on doing their job.
MyCoolClass has launched a dedicated
page for Ukrainian teachers. The co-op
currently has a total of 282 active teachers.
The co-op is accepting donations to
cover some of the cost of waiving the fees.
APRIL 2022 | 9

NEWS
RETAIL
Steve Murrells to step
down as CEO of the
Co-op Group
Co-op Group CEO Steve Murrells is to step
down following this year’s AGM in May.
The board has appointed Shirine
Khoury-Haq, group CFO and CEO of Co-op
Life Services, as its interim group CEO.
Mr Murrells said: “It is important to
put a clear CEO succession plan in place.
This is especially the case as we begin the
process to appoint a new chairman. In such
circumstances I would either have needed
to commit for another five years or step
down now to allow a new CEO to become
established and allow a smooth transition,
ahead of a new chairman arriving. I have
therefore chosen to take that step now.
“I have had 10 wonderful years at the
Co-op and am very proud of all that we
have achieved and how we’ve shown that
a purpose-led organisation ... can make
such a difference. Thanks to our amazing
colleagues, we have been there for millions
of members and customers when they have
needed us the most.”
p Steve Murrells
Allan Leighton, chair of the Group, who
is expected to stand down in 2024 after nine
years in the role, said: “Steve’s decision will
ensure the transitioning of both chair and
CEO will take place seamlessly. Steve has
done a tremendous job and has been at the
forefront of our transition. He is a top class
leader and person and his legacy in the
Co-op is firmly embedded.
“Shirine has excellent leadership skills
and a deep level of operational experience,
gained globally across a number of sectors.
p Shirine Khoury-Haq
She understands our Co-op and I and the
rest of the board look forward to working
closely with her going forward.”
Ms Khoury-Haq said: “I am proud to
be part of a wonderful organisation that
contributes so much. We have lots to do and
I am looking forward to working with my
60,000 colleagues, Allan and our board to
continue to make the Co-op a special place
to work while providing great products and
services to our customers and members.”
u Lincolnshire Co-op CEO to retire: p14
POLITICS
Co-op Party condemns Sunak budget as missed opportunity
Rishi Sunak’s spring budget was
announced on 23 March, amid warnings
from the Office of Budget Responsibility of
a record fall in living standards.
Set against a backdrop of rising inflation,
a reduced growth forecast, the aftermath
of the Covid-19 crisis and the invasion of
Ukraine, Mr Sunak’s plans include a 5p
cut in fuel duty and an increase in the
National Insurance threshold.
The Employment Allowance, which
gives relief on business rates and National
Insurance payments to smaller businesses.
Homeowners installing energy efficiency
materials – such as solar, heat pumps
or insulation – will see VAT cut on these
items to zero for five years. Green tech
will also be exempt from business rates
from April 2022, and there are measures to
support the decarbonisation of buildings
and low-carbon heat networks.
But the Co-op Party said Mr Sunak
had failed “to confront the worst costof-living
crisis in a generation and help
support the UK’s economic recovery”.
Policy officer Daniel Monaghan added:
“We’re facing fundamental challenges
to our energy security, food security and
economic security – challenges to which
this statement failed to rise.”
Mr Monaghan said the war in Ukraine
had given new urgency to issues around
energy security and the need to invest in
“cheap, clean renewable energy produced
and owned right here in the UK”.
He added: “That’s why we welcome
the government’s move to bring in
our longstanding policy of zero-rating
renewable energy products.”
“Unfortunately,” he added, “the
government is allowing its only financial
support for the community energy sector
to lapse later this month. We’re calling for
a new National Community Energy Fund,
so more people can take advantage of the
transition to renewable power. ”
Mr Monaghan added: “Ownership is at
the heart of sharing power and wealth.
An effective way to do this would be by
committing to grow the co-operative
economy and help ensure more businesses
can be owned by workers, consumers and
communities – but this was another area
that the government overlooked.”
Tony Armstrong, CEO of community
business charity Locality, said:
“Community organisations are
concentrated in the places most in need
of ‘levelling up’, and our recent research
showed their extraordinary resilience
during the pandemic (see page 15).
But they could do so much more if the
government just trusted them to act.
“That means making the money the
government is spending on levelling
up more accessible to community
organisations. By making funds more
flexible and decentralised, the government
can put communities in charge.”
10 | APRIL 2022

DEVELOPMENT
Co-ops and community wealth building included in Scotland’s 10 year plan
The Scottish government has released
its National Strategy for Economic
Transformation, which it says will
“maximise the opportunities of the next
decade to achieve our vision of a wellbeing
economy” by 2032.
The document includes commitments
on a just transition to net zero,
education, entrepreneuralism, fairer
work and regional development which
all have implications for co-ops as well as
conventional businesses.
It says the Scottish government will
“undertake and publish a review of how
best to significantly increase the number
of social enterprises, employee-owned
businesses and co-operatives in Scotland,
supporting regional regeneration and the
wealth of local communities.”
There is also a pledge to “introduce
community wealth building legislation
that builds on the successes and
learnings of all of the Scottish government
community wealth building pilot areas”.
Community wealth building, which
sees councils, hospitals, police and
other anchor institutions support local
economies by targeting procurement
spending at local businesses, is a
cornerstone of economic programmes
by UK co-op councils such as Preston.
In Scotland, it has been practised by
authorities including the Ayrshire
Regional Economic Partnership (REP).
The report says: “The Ayrshire Growth
Deal is delivering projects focusing on
community wealth building and working
for a healthy economy. Both the Scottish
government and the UK government are
investing up to £103m each over 10 years,
with the Ayrshire councils contributing
a further £45.5m to the deal. Building
on the deal, Ayrshire REP are currently
developing a regional economic strategy
that aims to take a community wealth
building approach to economic activity
across the region.”
James Wright, policy officer at Cooperatives
UK, said: “We are really
pleased to see explicit reference to coops
in the Scottish National Economic
Transformation Strategy.
“We fed ideas on supporting cooperative
entrepreneurship into the
process, and have been working hard
to encourage Scottish government to
commit to supporting co-operatives since
the election. The challenge now is to get
appropriate resources allocated to the
right aspects to co-operative development
to make an impact.”
Tim Bailey, CEO of the Scottish
Agricultural Organisation Society, said
the Strategy “recognises the important
role for co-operatives to help fulfil the
vision of business models that provide fair
work and underpin and support the local
communities in which they operate.”
£4m fund to boost
social businesses in
North Tyneside
Community businesses and co-ops in the
north-east are being invited to apply to
the £4m Social Finance Fund, launched
by the North of Tyne Combined Authority
(NTCA) and community business charity
Power to Change.
The fund is part of a wider £15m
investment from the NTCA to help
businesses develop new and inventive
products and services.
The authority’s Labour/Co-op mayor
Jamie Driscoll said: “We don’t believe in a
top-down way of doing things. The whole
point of devolution is to bring powers
close to people. We know there’s a need
for an economy that works better for local
people. We know there are people that
want more socially trading organisations
and workers’ co-ops.
“We’re announcing a dedicated £4m
Social Finance Fund specifically for local
businesses working to improve our region
and communities.
“But this only works if it’s a partnership
between us and the people we’re funding
so we need you to come forward with your
ideas. This fund will help the co-ops and
community businesses thrive and we need
your help to shape it.”
Deputy mayor Carl Johnson said:
“Social enterprises have a critical role
in the creation of a more inclusive
local economy. As Social Enterprise
UK have shown, they are more diverse
organisations and employ more women
and people from minority communities
than other businesses, with a greater
proportion of these in leadership roles.”
Tim Davies-Pugh, interim CEO of
Power to Change, said: “Socially trading
organisations, including community
businesses, play incredibly important
roles in local economies. Rooted in the
areas they serve, these organisations
directly address the needs of their
communities. They also give local people
more opportunities to actively participate
in, and benefit from, economic activity,
even in the poorest communities.
“We look forward to working in this
exciting partnership with the North of
Tyne Combined Authority to create a
more inclusive economy through the
development of the fund.”
The Insights NE initiative at Newcastle
University will also contribute insights on
the development of the fund.
APRIL 2022 | 11

CO-OP FUNDRAISERS
Bristol gym, Belfast brewery: Community co-ops launch growth bids
Two community-based co-ops have
launched appeals for funds to help them
grow and innovate new services.
In south-west England, Bristol Cooperative
Gym is running a crowdfunder
to “build a gym that reflects our values
and make our current space accessible for
more people”.
The member-owned, volunteer-run
gym has offered fitness training to more
than 1,000 people in parts of the city
with limited access to health and fitness
facilities. Now it wants to offer “an
inclusive, welcoming space for exercise
free from assumptions around identity,
appearance and ability”.
It says its co-op model offers an
alternative to profit-driven commercial
gyms, and “supports an approach to
fitness unique to each member”.
“Our model works”, it adds. “We
survived the pandemic, when many other
gyms around us closed, without requiring
any external support or dipping into our
reserves.”
With the new fundraiser, it aims to:
• Build a culture of non-judgment through
celebration of each other’s progress
• Build a supportive and inclusive culture
that is free from assumptions
• Empower people to create healthy
training habits
• Engage people who are excluded from
training facilities
• Provide quality coaching and facilities
• Remain affordable by using fair pricing
• Be financially sustainable in day-to-day
operations.
Last October, the co-op took on sole
occupancy of a space in St Anne’s House
run by Bricks – a social enterprise
supporting local and creative communities
in the city.
Since then, it says it has welcomed 200
new people from the local area, offered
free weightlifting classes to NEET (Not
in Education, Employment or Training)
young people and free memberships to
refugees and asylum seekers.
But the site, a former council building,
needs an urgent refit, including
replacement flooring, improved
soundproofing and new equipment.
This includes a new layout that is more
suitable for beginners and members
with mobility issues or neurodiversity,
increased control over light and
noise levels to better manage sensory
stimulation, the option of a private
training area, and equipment that is more
adaptable to all abilities and body shapes.
Members and coaches worked with
local architects 2A1M to design the ideal
training environment, and the co-op has
taken advice from experts in accessible,
inclusive and community-engaged
approaches to fitness, offering something
“radically different to how conventional
gyms look and feel”.
“Our gym will include people who are
often excluded from fitness spaces by
partnering proactively with specialist
organisations in the communities we hope
to reach,” the team adds.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s
Boundary Brewing Co-operative is
planning to open the region’s first
taproom, next door to its brewery.
The co-op, which has run dozens of
pop-up taprooms and events and wants a
permanent venue, is offering membership
shares in the venture, in a bid to raise
£150,000 to fund the fit out costs; it has so
far raised £53,000.
It says the facility will act as a community
hub, with space for social events such as
book clubs, running clubs, finance classes
and board game clubs, as well as serving
beers from the Boundary brewery and
elsewhere, alongside wines and “carefully
curated local spirits”. Customers will also
be able to enjoy pizza from neighbouring
business Flout.
The co-op hopes to add to its 1,500
members with the share offer, expanding
its ability to work with its community
and local charities. It is planning to hire
a community engagement officer once the
taproom is up and running.
“If you have fallen head over heels in
love with Boundary, or just love beer,
and have always wanted a permanent
place to come to enjoy the freshest, most
interesting beers in Belfast, then this is
your opportunity to make a difference,”
it says. “If you are a current member, and
want to support us further, then this is
a great opportunity. If you are not, and
want to help open the first taproom in the
country, then come along.”
All members, new and current, will
continue to get 18% discount off Boundary
beer from the co-op’s shop, and they will
also now get 10% off all Boundary beer
from all its venues.
Also, during this community share raise,
they will receive 20% of their investment
back as a gift voucher for Boundary beer
in its venues; a £1,000 investment will
bring a £200 gift voucher for its venues.
Minimum investment is £100. Those
who invest £100 will be an ordinary
member. Those who invest £250 or more
will be a supporter member. The main
difference between an ordinary and
supporter member is that there are more
supporter member seats on the board of
directors.
12 | APRIL 2022

EDUCATION
Young co-operators attend PeaceCommunicators programme
p Members of the Woodcraft Folk were among those attending an international PeaceCommunicators seminar
Members of the Woodcraft Folk
have attended an international
PeaceCommunicators seminar, part
of a programme centred around peace
education. It aims to provide a space for
young people aged 16-30 to “develop the
skills, attitudes, values and knowledge
to help them build sustainable, just and
supportive societies”.
The Woodcraft Folk is a co-operative
educational movement for children and
young people which emphasises equality,
friendship, peace and co-operation. It
operates 300 volunteer-led groups for
young people across England, Wales and
Scotland.
“Woodcraft Folk promotes positive
alternatives to violence with their young
supporters and we were proud to have
some of their members selected for the
PeaceCommunicators, representing the
organisation and working hard for peace,”
said the organisation, adding that the
PeaceCommuniators project aligns with
its aims and values of “building a more
peaceful world, where all enjoy freedom
from war and want”.
The PeaceCommunicators project has
three phases; phase one took place on 21-
27 February in Belgium under the theme
‘Critical Peace Educators’, which aimed
to develop participants’ knowledge,
capacities, and skills on peace education,
non-violent conflict resolution, conflict
mediation, and conflict prevention.
Woodcraft Folk members Iolo Walker and
Robyn Brown attended the event, along
with member Bethan Manton-Roseblade
supporting the training team.
“The peace education training seminar
felt extremely poignant at a severe point
of international political distress,” said
Mr Walker. “We worked through the
week identifying what peace means on
the individual, interpersonal and global
scales and developed strategies on
reducing harm in our daily lives and the
wider world. Creating global definitions
of peace and violence was extremely eyeopening
as they are both so contextual.
“I felt very fortunate to have been born
in a country where most of the violence
I encounter is second hand. There were
participants in the seminar who came
from countries at the whim of violent
occupational projects such as Palestine
and Ukraine. Creating international
networks through participating in the
seminar forms possibilities for exchange
and support.”
The workshop focused on critical peace
education in the context of group work.
Participants also learnt skills to develop
online and offline training sessions on
peace education for young people from
their local groups. The seminar was led
by Aggie Taylor, European Solidarity
Co-ops volunteer with the International
Falcon Movement – Socialist Educational
International (IFM-SEI), who is on
placement from Woodcraft Folk.
“The aim of the week was to take
youth workers from around the world
and together, develop knowledge and
competencies on Peace Education in
order for them to become Critical Peace
Communicators,” she said. “We looked
deeply into emotions and the role they
play in understanding peace and conflict,
we tried out various methods of nonviolent
communication and we looked at
how conflicts are affected by structural
and cultural violence.”
Ms Taylor added that an emergency
session was planned in response to the
outbreak of the war in Ukraine where the
participants had a chance to recognise
and reflect on their emotional responses
to the war and to make plans and deliver
some concrete action which included
writing the official IFM-SEI statement.
“We finished the week looking at
mechanisms behind violence, including
propaganda, and returning to planning
a peaceful world. The participants will
now go forward as peace communicators
and plan their own sessions in their local
communities, funded and supported by
the project.”
Woodcraft Folk has recently released
a range of educational resources and
activities on peace for a range of ages in
response to the Ukraine war. “With the
war raising lots of questions for young
people and affecting their mental health,
the charity wanted to create resources to
support youngsters and youth leaders as
well as the charity groups providing safe
spaces for members to talk about the
war and what they may have seen in the
news,” it said.
APRIL 2022 | 13

RETAIL
Lincolnshire Co-op CEO Ursula Lidbetter announces retirement
Lincolnshire Co-op’s CEO Ursula Lidbetter
has announced her plan to retire at the
end of 2022, after a career with the society
spanning 37 years.
Ms Lidbetter, who started in 1985 as a
buyer and department manager, is in her
18th year at the helm of the independent
retail co-op, which has over 220 varied
outlets and recorded sales of over £355m in
2020/21.
She has also been at the helm of major
projects including the creation of the
Lincoln Science and Innovation Park
and The Cornhill Quarter development in
Lincoln. She received her OBE in 2019 for
services to the local economy.
Her career also saw her step up from
November 2013 – February 2015 for a brief
stint as chair of the Co-operative Group in
the wake of its financial crisis, where she
helped to steer it through the early stages
of its rescue process.
This year will see Ms Lidbetter turn
60 and, after almost two thirds of her life
working for Lincolnshire, she feels it’s the
right time to retire and spend more time
with family.
She said: “It’s a privilege to work
alongside my 2,900 colleagues to lead this
special business, where we aim to make life
better in our communities every day.
“It’s also wonderful to collaborate with
many like-minded people in organisations
across Lincolnshire and beyond to bring
forward schemes making such a difference.
“In due course, I will hand over to my
successor who will take us into the next
stage of our development.”
Lincolnshire’s board of directors will
conduct a recruitment process for the new
CEO over coming months.
Chair David Cowell said: “The board
would like to thank Ursula for the huge
contribution she has made to the success
of the society during her time here. She
will be leaving our co-op in great shape to
move on to its next chapter, based upon
the strong legacy that has been built over
161 years of trading. In the meantime, we
have a busy programme of work for 2022
and look forward to delivering this under
Ursula’s expert leadership.”
u Letters, page 24
EQUALITY
Central England gathers women co-operators for IWD 2022
To celebrate International Women’s Day on
8 March –which this year took the theme
of ‘Break the Bias’, Central England Co-op
held a Women’s Voices event.
The event – held the following day – took
place at the National Memorial Arboretum
in Staffordshire, gathering around 100
Central England members and employees.
Discussion took in issues such as biases
in the workplace, achieving career
progression and dealing with bereavement.
Central England also shared details about
its work with women’s groups in Malawi.
Participants heard from keynote
speakers Baroness Glenys Thornton,
Denise Scott-McDonald, president of the
Co-operative Group’s National Members’
Council, and Debbie Robinson, CEO of the
Central England.
Ms Scott-McDonald shared her story
of growing up in a family of co-operators
and political activists, before studying
journalism at Columbia University in the
US. While working as a journalist in New
York she had a brief interaction with
Barack Obama, back then just an activist.
Her key advice for women was to never
underestimate what they can achieve.
Sharing her tips for how to break
gender boundaries, Baroness Thornton
emphasised the need for solidarity, support
and sisterhood, mentioning the mentorship
she had received from fellow Labour MP
Harriet Harman and late co-operator Hilda
Smith. She encouraged women to question
norms and not pay attention to those telling
them to “keep their tone down”.
Participants also had the chance to
go on a tour of the Arboretum, a site of
national remembrance, which welcomes
over 300,000 visitors a year.
International Women’s Day has been
marked around the world since 1911 to
commemorate the cultural, political, and
socioeconomic achievements of women.
The International Co-operative
Alliance’s Gender Equality Committee
(GEC) published a statement which
highlighted the interconnectedness
between women’s rights, gender equality
and climate justice.
“Co-operatives, as people-centred
economic models – through their
values of self-help, equality and equity,
and principles of voluntary and open
membership and democratic control – are
well-placed to address many of the issues
that negatively impact women,” it said,
“especially to address the multifaceted
issue of poverty and shape women’s
wellbeing.”
The statement also pointed out the role
co-operatives play in promoting gender
equality “by increasing women’s access to
resources and economic opportunities; by
empowering them not only economically
but also individually and socially to
challenge the social and cultural norms;
by creating an enabling environment
for them to use those opportunities and
assets to achieve equal outcomes to men.”
The GEC also called for “peace and
diplomatic solutions” to the Ukraine
war “to prevent further suffering of
millions of innocent people, especially of
women and girls.”
GEC chair Maria Eugenia Pérez Zea
said: “As values-based enterprises, cooperatives
are by nature promoters of
gender equality. At times of crisis and
uncertainty, co-operatives continue to
care for their communities and provide
much-needed products and services while
making positive changes.”
14 | APRIL 2022

HOUSING
Preston Council
transfers Travellers’ site
into co-op management
Preston City Council has voted to adopt a
site for Travellers after Lancashire County
Council decided to dispose of it – leading
to fears it would be sold, its rents increased
and residents forced to move.
Residents will be invited to join the
newly established Leighton Street Cooperative,
which will take on its day-today
management.
The co-op plans fit in with the ‘Preston
Model’ ethos of the council, which
for several years has been running
community wealth building initiatives
to boost the local economy and increase
democratic ownership.
Travellers have been living at the site for
more than 30 years. It is one of three sites
established for the Traveller community
by Lancashire County Council in the late
1980s and the families are well integrated
into the area.
A recent decision by Lancashire
County Council to dispose of the sites
raised concern for their future but, as an
alternative to selling, Lancashire offered
Leighton Street to Preston City Council.
Community representatives proposed
that if the city council adopted the site, it
would be run by a co-op.
Preston Council leader Matthew Brown
said: “The Leighton Street community’s
proposal was very well received by the
city council. A key part of our commitment
to community wealth building is to
encourage greater democratic ownership
and management of local assets. Cooperatives
– business enterprises owned
by their members – can play a key role in
this. The readiness of the community at
Leighton Street to establish their own cooperative
to run the site provided a very
good fit with the council’s own approach.”
Covid proves the community business model’s mettle
(Photo: Alex Brenner)
Research from community business apex
Locality says the pandemic saw the sector
innovate, responding to local needs and
diversifying its revenue source. This has
left it stronger; the survey found 78% of
community organisations are optimistic
about the future – compared to just 68%
of small businesses. Locality says this
strengthens the case to give the sector a
share of levelling up funds.
Welsh firm quadruples staff after switching to EO status
BIC Innovation, a private consultancy
with offices in Anglesey and Bridgend,
has grown from 13 workers to 51 since
becoming employee-owned (EO) in 2018.
The Welsh government has committed to
doubling the number of EO firms in Wales
over the next Senedd term and Wales Cooperative
Centre has seen a surge in the
number of businesses looking to switch.
Co-op Group sticks with ethical compost for peat’s sake
The Co-op Group has reaffirmed its
commitment to selling only peat-free
compost, developed by Westland. Its
announcement comes as the government
closes consultation on measures to end the
retail sale of peat in England and Wales.
Peat is important in terms of habitat and
storing carbon to prevent climate change.
Southern Co-op scraps plastic carriers and bags for life
Southern Co-operative is removing all
single-use carrier bags and plastic bags
for life from sale, to help tackle pollution
and climate change. The society also
completed the rollout of WasteInsight
tech across its entire store estate in
January. This uses instant data analysis to
improve sales of marked-down produce to
eliminate food waste.
Just Credit Union celebrates 20 years of social impact
Just Credit Union has published a report
on its social impact to mark its 20th
anniversary. The Shropshire credit
union has seen steady growth since
its establishment in 2001, issuing its
30,000th loan last year and lending over
£15m to its members so far. Over 50% of
its members have reported being more
able to save since joining the credit union.
APRIL 2022 | 15

HOUSING
Wales Co-operative Centre calls for act to support affordable homes
p Derek Walker, WCC chief executive
A law to boost community ownership and
empowerment could help community
groups deliver affordable housing
according to a report from the Wales Cooperative
Centre (WCC).
Such an act would give community
organisations a statutory first right of
refusal over assets in their area when they
are proposed for sale or transfer, it adds.
The report, Community ownership of
land and assets: enabling the delivery of
community-led housing in Wales, says the
current market-led housing system is not
working in Wales, with prices soaring and
a lack of genuinely affordable options for
local people.
“There is growing potential for
community-led housing in Wales,” says
CEO Derek Walker. “We are working with
over 60 groups who wish to develop
their own affordable housing – but there
remain barriers that can only be overcome
with the support of Welsh government.
Not least among these barriers is the
difficulty for community groups to acquire
land on which to build affordable homes.
“The recommendations within our
report look to enhance democracy at a
local level and transfer the balance of
power away from wealthy landowners to
ensure that people across Wales have a
greater ability to shape their local areas.”
The report offers a number of
recommendations for Welsh government,
including establishing a commission
to stimulate innovative thinking on
community ownership of land and assets
in Wales, and introducing a community
ownership and empowerment act.
It also suggests the Welsh government
develops a land ownership registry/
database and a revolving loan fund
for community-led housing projects,
alongside a formal process for Community
Asset Transfers (CAT) so that there is a
standardised approach across all local
authorities and public bodies.
As well as transforming the communityled
housing sector in Wales, improving
community ownership rights would
benefit other sectors by growing the
community energy, farming and food
production sectors, helping to protect
the natural environment, and revitalising
dilapidated assets and buildings in cities,
towns, and villages.
“We will continue to work with partners
to ensure that any changes made meet
the needs of communities across Wales,”
adds the report.
Meanwhile, the Centre has become
the latest organisation to be accredited
by the White Ribbon UK campaign,
which sees it pledge to never commit,
excuse, or remain silent about violence
against women. White Ribbon is a transnational
movement that is committed
to ending male violence against women
and generating meaningful behavioural
changes in men and boys.
MEMBERSHIP
Outlandish withdraws membership of Co-operatives UK
Following the launch of Co-operatives
UK’s new branding and strategy, tech
worker co-operative Outlandish has
publicly withdrawn its membership of the
apex body.
“Co-operatives UK commissioned a
private limited company to develop their
brand. For us, this is at odds with their
strategy [which] prioritises ​enabling tech
and digital; embedding the values and
principles across all businesses; and
inspiring communities to grow the cooperative
economy,” said a statement
from Outlandish.
“We believe Co-operatives UK should
be held to high standards when it comes
to commissioning co-ops in their supply
chain [...] Whilst as a small worker co-op
our membership fees may be insignificant
compared to other members, we want
them to be used to support the co-op
sector, not the private sector.”
Outlandish described how the
co-op movement “is not lacking in highly
experienced designers”, giving the
example of CoTech, a UK-wide network of
worker co-ops in the digital sector.
“Frankly this feels like a slap in the
face,” added Outlandish, claiming that
Co-operatives UK also never put any
money into supporting CoTech or SPACE4.
Co-operatives UK denied this.
Responding to the open letter, Cooperatives
UK CEO, Rose Marley,
highlighted how in 2020 the organisation
consolidated six separate programme
websites into one central website,
awarding this contract to CoTech. “This
piece of work had a value of over £100,000
and was one of the largest digital projects
we have undertaken in recent years,”
she said, adding that a third of UnFound
Accelerator Workshops were also
commissioned from CoTech.
She said that Co-operatives UK operates
a ‘members first’ procurement policy but
that on this occasion, “we invited both coops
and non-co-ops to bid for this work”.
“Not only was the winning agency the
most creative and cost-effective approach
for members’ money, we have repeatedly
seen that our comms do not resonate
outside the movement,” said Ms Marley.
“A task all our members have been asking
us to do is communicate more effectively
beyond the movement and a fresh pair of
eyes was helpful on this occasion.”
16 | APRIL 2022

GLOBAL UPDATES
AUSTRALIA
Co-op sector responds to Queensland and NSW floods
Australian co-ops and credit unions have
been stepping up their relief efforts in the
wake of devastating floods in Queensland
and New South Wales.
Responding to the crisis, the Australia
Mutuals Foundation, the mutual
sector’s charitable fund, has activated
its emergency / disaster relief donations
portal to accept donations from the
Australian co-operative and mutual
community.
Sector body the Business Council of
Co-operatives and Mutuals (BCCM)
says many of its member co-ops are
at the epicentre of some of the most
extreme flooding, including Norco dairy,
Summerland Credit Union and TNR
Accountants in Lismore, and Heritage
Bank in Toowoomba.
On its website, BCCM reports that
bcu credit union branches are closed
in Brisbane, Murwillumbah, Lismore,
Ballina, Iluka, Grafton and Toormina.
Clarence River Fishermen’s Co-op “has
been taking it hour by hour for now.
Their community spirit and resilience
in managing the challenges has shone
through,” it adds.
The office of Koori Mail was destroyed
in the floods, forcing it to miss its first
publication date in its 30 year existence.
The Mail is a fortnightly newspaper for
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people, owned by five Indigenous
Australian community co-ops, and its
team have been helping evacuate remote
Indigenous communities.
Nundah Community Enterprises Co-op
lost $10,000 (£5,500) worth of stock and
equipment in soccer club canteens, which
it runs to provide work opportunities to
people from refugee backgrounds. Despite
this, Nundah Community Enterprises Coop
teams are assisting with cleanup.
Many other co-op and credit union
premises have been damaged and
destroyed, and multiple organisations
had to close branches, but co-ops have
also been helping with relief and recovery.
The Casino Food Co-operative, in
Northern Rivers, NSW, has been a centre
point for recovery and food distribution
hub, offering use of its refrigeration
equipment, forklifts, chopper pad, fuel
p One of the flooded facilities at Norco milk co-op
tanks, mobile generators and earth
moving equipment. Staff, including
plant workers and cleaning teams, are
cleaning homes and assisting with food
distribution.
In a Facebook message to members,
Norco dairy CEO Michael Hampson
said: “A huge region from South East
Queensland down into Northern New
South Wales and parts of Sydney have
experienced a flood event never before
seen in history.
“Our thoughts go out to all people
that are suffering devastation, loss and
hardship over this time. The Northern
Rivers region of NSW has been particularly
hard hit and unfortunately, the Norco
Lismore based facilities, including our
heritage-listed ice-cream factory, have
been inundated with floodwaters. We
are rallying together to get through the
clean-up process and it must be said that
the courageous efforts and support of our
community in the wake of this tragedy has
been nothing short of inspirational.
“The Norco team continue to work
diligently to get milk and supplies to
flood-affected areas and we will continue
to focus on this over the coming days and
weeks during the clean-up efforts.”
Other members with operations in
the flood areas in NSW and Southern
Queensland include RACQ, Great
Southern Bank, Queensland Country
Bank, Union Co-operative Society,
Marquis Macadamias, Ballina Fishermens
Co-op, Clarence River Fisherman’s Co-op,
OzGroup and Casino Food Co-op, which
has been a centre point for recovery and
food distribution hub from the outset.
Australia’s co-ops and mutual banks are
also stepping up with support packages.
BCCM added: “We know many
individuals from the BCCM community
will have their own stories of community
care and resilience as they carry the
co-operative spirit with them in all
they do.
“Our hearts break as we read the
emerging stories and try to comprehend
the magnitude of this disaster. In some
regions, the clean-up and recovery
will take months or even years. Stock,
infrastructure and capital losses have
a profound effect on businesses, not to
mention workers who are also faced with
personal losses at home. Off the back
of the pandemic, as well as bushfires in
some regions, this is yet another trauma.
However, as in previous disasters, we
know that co-ops and mutuals will play
a pivotal role in rebuilding their local
communities.”
The apex body’s chief executive Melina
Morrison travelled to Canberra to inform
policymakers of the impact of co-ops and
mutuals in flood-impacted regions, “who
are problem-solving and responding to
the disaster with local knowledge”.
u BCCM updates at bit.ly/36M26PY
APRIL 2022 | 17

GLOBAL
World Credit Union Conference keynote speakers announced
The World Council of Credit Unions
(WOCCU) has revealed the names of the
first three keynote speakers who will
be addressing its World Credit Union
Conference in July.
Due to take place in Glasgow on 17-
20 July, the conference is expected to
gather credit union practitioners from 60
countries to discuss issues related to credit
union leadership, cyber security, digital
technologies and the future of financial
services.
Speakers will include thought leader
Ian Khan, cyber security analyst Keren
Elazari and behavioural science expert
Belinda Parmar.
Mr Khan has worked with clients
in the finance, banking, HighTech,
manufacturing and credit union industries.
He is best known for creating the Future
p The event will take place on 17-20 July in
Glasgow (photo credit: iStock)
Readiness Score, an organisational metric
to measure and achieve future-readiness.
Also a filmmaker, he has explored issues
such as Blockchain, artificial intelligence
and the future of work in several
documentaries.
Ms Elazari has over 20 years of experience
in the field of cyber security, having worked
with technology providers, government
agencies, start-ups and Fortune 500
companies.
Her Ted Talk on cyber security and
hacking has been viewed by millions and
translated into 30 languages. It was also
chosen for TED’s ‘Most Powerful Ideas’
and is one of TED’s most watched talks on
the topic of cyber security and hacking.
Ms Parmar created a Global Empathy
Index – the first index to measure
empathy and inclusion at scale, which
was published in the Harvard Business
Review. She has worked with several large
companies and their leaders to change
cultures and bring more empowerment to
people’s lives.
The full programme is available on the
conference website. The conference will be
co-hosted by Woccu and the Association
of British Credit Unions Limited (Abcul).
USA
Credit union tech platform CFS rebrands as Co-op Solutions
CO-OP Financial Services, the tech
platform for the US credit union sector,
has rebranded as Co-op Solutions.
The launch, at the Governmental Affairs
Conference (GAC) of the Credit Union
National Association, presented the
business’s new name, corporate tagline
and logo, which represents its “evolution
as a proven innovator of reliable, secure,
digital-first payments for the modern
member, and fintech solutions”.
“Over the last few years we have
aggressively invested in the company
to produce a payments and financial
technology platform for credit unions
and their members, bringing us to a
rebranding as Co-op Solutions,” said Todd
Clark, president/CEO of Co-op Solutions.
“It’s a change on the outside that
better captures the change that has taken
place on the inside. Co-op is an essential
strategic partner committed to the success
and growth of the credit union movement,
and a provider of innovative solutions
ensuring our clients offer their members
leading-edge technology and services.”
Co-op has adopted “Make every
experience matter” as its credo, which
is supported by a new corporate mission
statement: “To connect credit unions
to the technology, strategic partnership
and scale they need to best serve their
members now and into the future.”
“As we roll out the new branding, our
focus remains true to the co-operative
spirit we were founded on – to deliver
integrated technology solutions that
enable member engagement and drive
usage and market share growth for credit
unions,” said chief experience officer
Samantha Paxson.
Co-op Solutions says it has evolved
from being a reseller of others’ products to
building “an ever-expanding technology
ecosystem to address the lifestyle needs
of members as they pay for things daily,“
adding, “not only do credit unions
have a true fintech company within the
movement, but a consultative partner in
providing complete solutions.”
“Members want to interact with
their institution whenever, however
and wherever they choose, and each
interaction must be simple, secure and
satisfying,” added Mr Clark. “Co-op
provides a complete digital payments
ecosystem that enables credit unions
to facilitate the daily lifestyle moments
of members. Each time a member pays
for something, it is an experience that
matters – bringing that member into a
closer relationship with their credit union.
Through our work, we help ensure that
credit unions stay relevant.”
The logo will continue to render the
company’s name in all caps, but will switch
to the conventional ‘Co-op’ in regular text
to “invoke the word co-operative, which
is core to Co-op’s business as a provider
owned by more than 900 shareholding
institutions and servicing 85% of the
nation’s credit unions”.
No immediate change is required
from the company’s clients. Signage
for Co-op’s consumer-facing services
– its 30,000-strong ATM network and
5,700-location shared branch network –
remains unchanged at this time.
18 | APRIL 2022

IRELAND
Credit unions
want law change to
increase mortgage offer
The Irish League of Credit Unions (ILCU)
has asked the government to allow credit
unions to significantly increase their
footprint in the mortgage market.
The statement is a response to a Sunday
Independent article by credit unions
minister Sean Fleming, suggesting that
“credit unions should fill the gap left by
the departures of Ulster Bank and KBC
from the Irish market and start lending
more mortgages”.
ILCU said the sector was keen to seize
this opportunity but noted that credit
unions were “currently handcuffed by the
restrictive lending limits for mortgages
prescribed by the Central Bank of
Ireland”. ILCU explained that mortgage
and SME lending is limited to a combined
maximum of 7.5% of total assets for most
credit unions. As such, a credit union
with assets of €70m (£58.33m), taking an
average mortgage of €350,000 (£291,628),
can only offer 15 mortgages under the
current limits, exclusive of any SME
lending.
ILCU asked Minister Fleming to address
the restrictive regulatory lending regime
for credit unions.
Commenting on the article, ILCU deputy
CEO David Malone said: “The Programme
for Government committed to ‘Enable
the Credit Union movement to grow as a
key provider of community banking in
the country’. In order for credit unions to
become community banks, and to really
engage in the mortgage market, the ILCU
is asking minister Fleming to address
the imbalance caused by the restrictive
regulatory lending regime in his soon to be
published review of the policy framework
within which credit unions operate.”
Mr Malone added: “The publication
of this policy framework review presents
a once in a decade opportunity for the
Minister to empower credit unions to
realise their full potential in filling the
gap left by Ulster Bank and KBC and in
doing so, offering a community-based
alternative to the remaining banks to the
Irish public.
“The ILCU is ready and willing to
constructively engage with Minister
Fleming and his officials.”
Irish credit unions have also recently
asked for reform of regulatory capital
requirements for credit unions.
In a 2021 paper by the Credit Union
CEO Forum, credit union leaders argued
that these requirements were “excessive
and unjustified relative to the risk profile
of the Irish credit union balance sheet,
international credit union requirements
and the requirements on competing
financial institutions”.
PHILIPPINES
Co‐ops hit by
Typhoon Odette get aid
from government
The Philippines’ Cooperative Development
Authority (CDA) granted a total of PHP
350,000 (£5,100) financial assistance
to four micro co-ops affected by last
December’s Typhoon Odette, which killed
than 400 people, with over 500 others
injured and more than 380,000 displaced.
The four co-ops, based in the province
of Negros Occidental, received their
cheques from governor Eugenio Jose
Lacson, who said: “The distribution of
financial assistance will further our goal
to strengthen the capacities of our people.
An empowered people is the basic element
of development.”
Gil Montilla Agrarian Reform
Cooperative, San Jose Villa Multi-Purpose
Cooperative, and Sitio Flora Agrarian
Reform Cooperative received PHP 100,000
(£1,500) each while the Pulupandan
Transport Sector Consumers Cooperative
was granted PHP 50,000 (£750). The
funding came from the CDA as part of
p The co-ops received their cheques from
the province’s governor Eugenio Jose Lacson
(Photo: PIO Negros Occidental)
its Special Assistance for Recovery and
Alleviation Program.
The country’s electric and insurance
co-ops were among the first to provide
assistance to the affected regions.
The One EC Network Foundation
(OECNF), the charity arm of the Philippine
Federation of Rural Cooperatives
(Philfeco), used vehicles from electric
co-ops to send in relief goods such as
food, water, rice, and other essentials.
Likewise, CLIMBS Life and General
Insurance Cooperative helped farmer
members by offering assistance, with the
payment of the first claims through its
enhanced Weather Protect product.
NEW ZEALAND
Fonterra trials
electric milk tanker
Dairy co-op Fonterra will trial the first
modern electric milk tanker at its Waitoa
plant, near Auckland.
The tanker, part-financed by the
government’s Low Emission Transport
Fund, is being fitted out in the co-op’s
Morrinsville tanker depot and is due to
hit the road in early May. It has a range
of about 140km on a full charge, can
carry 25,700 litres of milk, and uses a cab
and chassis from Chinese construction
machinery group XCMG.
It will take about three hours to charge,
and Fonterra will operate it on a battery
swap system so it doesn’t sit idle while
charging. The team will be able to swap
the battery out in about six minutes.
Fonterra hopes the trial will give it a
clearer picture of the future of electric milk
collection and rural heavy transport as
the carbon transition takes place.​Factors
being assessed include how far it can go,
how easy it is to charge, milk collection,
maintenance, efficiency, cost, and driver
comfort and safety.
APRIL 2022 | 19

USA
REI relaunches membership programme,
while workers vote to unionise
US-based speciality outdoor retailer REI
Co-op is relaunching its membership
programme, including new lifetime
benefits that “make it easier for members
to engage with the organisation”.
In the first major update to membership
in its 84-year history, the co-operative says
it is making it easier for members to “make
the most of every experience outside and
be part of a community that supports a
new outdoor culture”.
“REI was founded in 1938 by 23 friends
who shared the belief that a co-operative
enabled a more rewarding outdoor life,”
says Vivienne Long, REI senior vice
president and chief marketing officer.
“Some of the new benefits for members
include free shipping within the US,
a 20% discount for bike and snow
gear servicing (tyre repairs and ski/
snowboarding machine wax service are
free), member-only used gear offerings
and new collections that will include a
“curated set of products just for members
that will launch each month, such as
brand collaborations, limited editions,
early access and special offers”.
Alongside this, members receive an
annual return through Co-op Member
Rewards (typically 10% of eligible
purchases each calendar year) and
discounts on equipment and activities.
Members can also participate in REI
Conversations, an online community.
For each member joining the co-op,
REI plans to donate US$5 to the REI
Cooperative Action Fund, a communitysupported
public charity introduced in
2021 “to harness the collective power
of the co-op’s members and employees
to build a more equitable and inclusive
outdoor community”.
The Fund supports organisations
that are focused on connecting people,
creating space and centring health
outside. REI expects to donate more
than $7m (£5.2m) to the Fund over the
next 12 months through the membership
program. In 2021, the Fund invested $1m
(£750,000) in 19 organisations. Today, REI
has 20 million lifetime members, with
plans to grow to a 50-million-member
community by 2030. It has 174 locations in
41 states and the District of Columbia.
In March, workers at the organisation
have also voted to join the Retail,
Wholesale and Department Store Union
(RWDSU), creating the only union at the
outdoor-equipment and apparel retailer
The vote, on 2 March, was conducted
by the National Labor Relations Board,
and came out 88 to 14 in favour of
unionisation.
“The workers of REI are ready to
negotiate a strong contract that will allow
them to uphold the co-op’s progressive
values while providing the top-notch
service REI customers have come to
expect,” said a statement from Stuart
Appelbaum, president of the Retail,
Wholesale and Department Store Union,
which helped organise the workers.
KENYA
Coffee co-ops cut out the middle man with Korean deal
Co-op coffee farmers in Kenya have made
their first direct export to South Korea,
marking the start of better revenues.
Kipkelion District Cooperative Union
(KDCU), an umbrella of 64 primary coffee
co-operatives, flagged off a consignment
of 134.4 tonnes of coffee beans to South
Korea in February. This is the first time
the farmers have been able to sell directly
to their buyers without going through
independent brokers, or taking their
product to auction.
The governor of Kericho County Paul
Chepkwony described the flagging off
ceremony that took place in Nairobi as
a defining moment for Kenyan coffee
farmers, Capital Business reported. Mr
Chepkwony encouraged more farmers
to cut out the middlemen in selling their
coffee for a better price.
The sale, valued at US$908,160
(KES103.21m; £667,520) will go to 9,582
co-op members from the Kericho, Nandi
and Bomet counties at an estimated
rate of KES 100 per kilo (65p). KDCU says
that if sold through the Nairobi Coffee
Exchange (NCE), the coffee would have
earned farmers a maximum of KES 50
per kilo.
KDCU recently set up a brokerage firm
to market their coffee, following reforms
in 2020 which allowed coffee farmers to
directly sell their produce; previously they
had no option other than to go through
independent brokers.
The deal made between KDCU and
South Korean company Good Beans was
made last July, following a four-day Coffee
Expo held in Seoul, at which Kenya was
the guest country. The event facilitated
conversations between a number of coffee
co-ops and South Korean importers.
KDCU’s CEO, Festus Bett, told Co-op
News that the direct sale to Good Beans
means that KDCU will now be able to get
more primary co-operatives on board,
to export more coffee to Korea and other
markets, for the best prices.
“Our production will go upwards
as farmers are motivated to do coffee
farming. We now have tea and cane
farmers inquiring about coffee farming”,
he said.
He added that other co-ops are planning
to follow KDCU’s lead and begin to sell
directly to buyers. “Most will engage the
buyers directly as the farmers will have
control over the prices. In fact, there are
already six more coffee unions from eight
counties who are going to export directly.”
20 | APRIL 2022

ROMANIA
Agricultural co‐operatives are on the rise in Romania
The number of agricultural co‐operatives
continues to grow in Romania, where 787
co‐ops were set up in 2021 alone.
According to a report by Ziarul Financiar,
the country is home to 4,041 agricultural
co‐operatives, more than in 1989 when
3,172 agricultural co‐operatives covered a
joint total of 8.9 million hectares, almost
the country’s entire agricultural land.
Back then agricultural co‐operatives
were a product of forced collectivisation.
Nowadays producers are free to choose
whether they want to form co‐operatives
or not. Advantages include being able to
achieve scale, invest in new technology
and cut costs.
Another benefit is being able to access
European funding for rural development.
The Agency for Funding Rural Investments
(Agentia pentru Finantarea Investitiilor
Rurale, AFIR) can fund up to 90% of
a project submitted by a co‐op or an
association of producers, as opposed
to the 70% usually allocated to other
initiatives.
According to data released by AFIR,
in the first eight months of 2020, 18
agricultural co‐ops attracted LEI 38m
(£6.45m) in European funding for
investments in expanding the business
and processing or storage.
AFIR also encourages co‐operation
within the agri‐food supply chain,
both between two or more actual or
potential competitors and between
businesses operating at different
levels of the production or distribution
chain, including public authorities and
institutions. In 2021 AFIR announced it
was making €230m (£190m) available for
young farmers, small farmers and projects
aimed at increasing co‐operation within
the sector, including projects involving
co‐operatives.
“I will say again and again that the
association of producers is perhaps the
only way in which they can increase
their productivity and competitiveness
in a world dominated by big producers,
big processors and big business chains,”
said Florentin Bercu, executive manager
of the National Union of Vegetable
Co‐operatives (UNCSV). “And this is an
indisputable truth. Therefore, before
talking about the benefits [of setting up
p Romania has an agricultural capacity of approximately 14.7 million hectares, of which only 10
million are used as arable land (Photo: iStock, GRECLAURENTIU)
co‐ops], I consider that the association
is a necessity to resist in Romanian
agriculture.”
He added: “The growing trend in the
number of co‐operatives is a natural one
based on the efforts we have made and
continue to make to guide farmers to
join. We introduce the Romanian farmers
to co‐operative models from countries
that have managed unquestionable
performances in the development and
capitalisation of co‐operatives.
“I am referring here to countries like
France, Austria, Italy, Denmark, Spain,
England, countries from which we are
constantly learning and with which we
exchange experiences that allow our
farmers to see that it is possible.”
UNCSV is a member of Copa‐Cogeca, the
European voice of farmers and agricultural
co‐ops, and has recently produced a guide
to successful co‐operatives through which
it engages with co‐operatives from other
European countries.
“Our Guide to Successful Cooperatives
was created to help newly established
or up to three‐year‐old co‐operatives
that need mentoring to stabilise,” said
Mr Bercu. He explained that while more
co‐operatives are being set up in Romania,
their profitability and sustainability
threshold is low, something his union is
trying to address.
“Only 45% of these co‐operatives are
over five years old, almost 20% made a
profit. Here, in fact, begins our mission
to guide them to grow harmoniously,”
he added.
In recent years a number of food
retailers have set up co‐ops to source
food from local producers. In 2017
Carrefour, the second biggest retailer in
Romania, founded an agricultural co‐op
in the village of Varasti, which now
supplies it with fruit and veg. The co‐op
enables farmers in the village to scale up
production and have a single collection
centre. Similarly, in 2021, Kaufland
Romania announced a partnership with
the co‐op Cooperativa Tara Mea, under
which it guarantees buying from the co‐op
as well as support it to diversify its range
of products.
Romania is currently working on a
National Strategic Plan for 2021‐2027
within the framework of the EU’s Common
Agricultural Policy. It is expected that the
new plan will place a strong emphasis
on associative structures, including
co‐operatives.
APRIL 2022 | 21

USA
Brazos Electric goes to mediation over $2bn storm power bill
Brazos Electric Power Cooperative,
the Texas electric co-op forced into
bankruptcy after last year’s storms left
it with a US$2bn wholesale power bill,
has agreed to go to mediation in its legal
dispute with the state grid operator.
The ice storm of February 2021 knocked
out half of Texas’ power supply and sent
wholesale electricity prices soaring to
$9,000 (£6800) per megawatt-hour –
compared with pre-storm prices of less
than $50 per megawatt hour.
Brazos, the state’s oldest and largest
electric co-op, filed for chapter 11
bankruptcy in March 2021 to protect its
members from the $2bn (£1.53bn) bill
and has taken state grid operator ERCOT
(Electric Reliability Council of Texas) to
court, contesting the sum.
It accused ERCOT of violating the terms
of their contract when it levied the peak
$9,000 charge for much of the storm, which
lasted for a week. The co-op has asked US
bankruptcy judge David Jones, in Houston,
to drastically reduce ERCOT’s claim.
Brazos, which had another $2bn
in funded debt at the time it filed for
bankruptcy, says the amount it owes
ERCOT is closer to $770m (£580m). It adds
that it cannot draw up a reorganisation
plan until a final settlement amount is
decided. The case has gone to mediation
after judge Jones said both parties should
“sit in a room and understand what the
options are”.
BELGIUM
Social economy
project provides €1.3m
to real estate co-op
Three social and solidarity economy
organisations are co-financing a real
estate co-op in the Wallonia region of
Belgium.
NewB, a co-op bank set up in 2019,
joined up with F’in Common, a sustainable
finance co-op, and W.ALTER, a public
sector body financing social and cooperative
economy projects in Wallonia.
Together, the three organisations
granted the Les Tournières co-op, based
in Liège, a first line of credit of more than
€1.3m (£1.08m). The funding enabled the
co-op to acquire a building in the Saint-
Léonard district of Liège, which will house
ASBL Infirmiers de rue, a charity that
provides free medical care to homeless
people and Thaïs, an association offering
emergency accommodation to women
victims of domestic violence.
The project was developed in response
to a call for social economy projects to
help real estate co-ops acquire private
housing in Wallonia for women victims
of domestic violence. The call for projects
was launched by the Minister of Social
Economy, Social Action and Women’s
Rights, Christie Morreale, and aims to
create 102 new such housing units in
Wallonia by the end of 2022.
Charlaine Provost, general manager of
F’in Common, said: “solidarity finance
and the social economy are a unique
opportunity to leave behind the excesses of
traditional finance. We are proud to unite
with such partners to help strengthen this
ecosystem.”
The funding represents the very first
loan allocated by NewB, which is made
up of 116,000 co-operators, 351 civil
society organisations and 11 institutional
investors.
22 | APRIL 2022

INDIA
Reserve bank fines
eight co-op banks for
breaching regulations
Eight co-operative banks have been fined
by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for
various regulatory violations.
Nabapalli Cooperative Bank in
Barasat, West Bengal: Rs 4 lakh (£4,020)
for not adhering to prudential interbank
(gross) exposure limit and or the
prudential inter-bank counterparty limit.
Faiz Mercantile Co-operative Bank,
Nasik, Maharashtra: Rs 25,000 (£251) for
granting a loan to a relative of a director.
Amravati Merchants’ Co-operative
Ban: Rs 50,000 (£502) for delayed
reporting of fraud.
Manipur Women’s Cooperative Bank
in Paona Bazar, Imphal, Manipur: Rs
2.00 lakh (£2,010) for not adhering to the
prudential inter-bank (Gross) exposure
limit or the prudential inter-bank Counter
Party limit.
United India Co-operative Bank in
Nagina, UP: Rs 1.00 lakh (£1,005) for
sanctioning an unsecured housing loan
to a director and failing to adhere to the
requirement of submission of return on
connected lending.
Baghat Urban Co-operative Bank
Limited, Solan, HP: Rs 3.00 lakh (£3,015)
for its violation of specific directions
issued under the Supervisory Action
Framework (SAF).
Navnirman Co-operative Bank,
Ahmedabad (Gujarat): Rs 1.00 lakh
(£1,005) for sanctioning a loan to a relative
of a director, and granting loans where
relatives of directors stood surety.
Jila Sahakari Kendriya Bank in
Maryadit, Narsinghpur: Rs 1.00 lakh
(£1,005) for failing to transfer eligible
unclaimed deposits to the Depositor
Education and Awareness Fund in
contravention of/ non-compliance with
the law.
Dutch supermarket chain Plus orders electronic shelf labels
Dutch co-operative supermarket chain
Plus is equipping 80 of its stores with
electronic shelf labels from Swedish tech
company Pricer. The electronic shelf
labels (ESL) allow stores to add realtime
flash functionality to the shelves
and are used in inventory processes and
stock management.
Co-ops to be listed on UAE financial markets
The government of the UAE has approved
a new law allowing the listing of
co-operative associations on financial
markets. The move will “attract strategic
partners and introduce new forms such as
digital and financial co-ops”, said Sheikh
Mohammed bin Rashid, vice president
and ruler of Dubai.
Black farm co-ops in US go to court for debt relief
Organic Valley invites small family farms into co-op
US farm co-op Organic Valley has invited
80 family farms to join after they lost
their supply contracts. The Wisconsinbased
co-op says the move is the “single
largest effort to save small organic family
farms” in the north-eastern states of the
US. It follows news last year that Horizon
and Maple Hill Creamery is terminating
contracts with more than 130 family farms.
Moroccan fishing co-ops adapt to climate change
Photo: UN Women/Mediating)
The Federation of Southern Cooperatives,
which represents Black farm co-ops in
southern USA, went to court in Texas
in February over debt relief. They want
the right to present their voice in a case
against a blocking action that is holding
back billions of dollars in federal debt
relief. The result is pending.
A women’s fishing co-op in Morocco has
received help from a UN programme to
develop climate-resilient fishing practices.
Moroccan fishing practices which have
been passed down the generations are
under threat from climate disruption
to marine ecosystems. This has led
organisations such as the Mahar Assahel
Cooperative – set up in 2019 to support
fisherwomen in Tiguert, near Agadir – to
look at adapting the way they work.
APRIL 2022 | 23

YOUR VIEWS
REI relaunches membership
programme
Same REI which is trying to prevent their
workers from unionising. [Although this
has now gone ahead: p20.) Relaunching
your membership programmes to improve
your PR image is more important than
workers having a right to organise,
apparently.
Sean Farmelo
via Facebook
Lincolnshire Co-op CEO
Ursula Lidbetter to retire
Ursula is the last of the specially
trained co-op chief executives (page
14). Trained by the Co-op College to run
retail consumer co-ops as memberowned
and controlled co-operatives. It
was once almost mandatory to
have the qualification to be
considered for senior management
positions. The training scheme was
wound up long ago. Most senior
executives now were trained at normal
business schools which have no co-op
culture whatsoever.
Bob Cannell
via Facebook
It should be noted that Ursula
was previously an undergraduate
in Operational Sciences and
Management at Hull University before
she attended the Co-operative College.
If I recall correctly Ursula attended the
Management Training Scheme at the Cooperative
College which was designed
specifically for graduates or for those
worthy applicants sponsored by cooperative
societies. Robert Marshall,
the college Principal, and Bill
Shearer, the course tutor, were
excellent teachers, not only in co-op
but also in management. They were able
not only to see the many failings in the
operations of co-operative societies but
also the potential within them.
Brian Taylor
via Facebook
Like Graham Melmoth, Ursula was the
Secretary of her Society before becoming
CEO, and so had a thorough understanding
of the importance of membership. I think
she was also the first female CEO of a
major society.
Martin Meteyard
via Facebook
Have your say
Add your comments to our
stories online at thenews.
coop, get in touch via social
media, or send us a letter.
If sending a letter, please
include your address and
contact number. Letters may
be edited and no longer than
350 words.
Preston Council transfers
Travellers’ site to co-op
Travellers and Roma face discrimination
and racism every day (page 15). I really
hope this is all good and the Travellers
organisations are fully behind this
development. They are treated appallingly
by councils up and down the country.
Niall Mulholland
via Facebook
A long struggle but it’s happened. Praise
for the residents and the committed/
determined support group.
Gareth Nash
via Facebook
SWIFT action from bankers’
co-op on Russia
SWIFT functions as much as co-op as IMF.
Co-operative News, Holyoake
House, Hanover Street,
Manchester M60 0AS
letters@thenews.coop
@coopnews
Co-operative News

Several private banks created their own
private venture as an alternative to the
public LIBOR rate, and their paid services
are open to the other clients.
Private co-ops are the opposite of
workers run and workers owned coops.
Libor Von Schonau
via Facebook
Libor Von Schonau It is true. But if SWIFT
was owned only one person the result
could be different. The team is more
resistant to undemocratic decisions.
Zuzana Fabianová Lukácová
via Facebook
So was it the SWIFT exec that decided t
kick out Russia or was it imposed on them?
Joe Baker
OBITUARY
Joe Russo
1984 – 2022
Jim Lee, former chair of the Co-op Party
(1996 – 2001), remembers Joe Russo,
a tireless worker for the Co-op Party in
Scotland.
Many young co-operators, and some of
us who are not so young, were shocked
to hear of the death of Joe Russo at the
tragically early age of 38.
Joe was a strong character who
touched the hearts of many co-operators
during his time in the movement.
His focus on young people and his
determination to introduce them to the
values and principles of the co-operative
business model brought many people of
his generation into the Movement.
I first met Joe when he appeared at a
Co-op Party Summerfest in St Andrews
when he was in his early twenties.
Despite his youth, he was already the
manager of a small credit union in south
Ayrshire and spoke with great authority
about the challenges facing a community
credit union serving a post-industrial
community. His grasp of the intricacies
of managing a credit union, and the no
nonsense approach he portrayed, would
give you the impression that he had
been doing the job for decades rather
than a couple of years.
Having become active in the Co-op
Party, Joe went on to work for the Party
concentrating on its youth strategy.
When Joe started working for the party,
you could count the number of young
members on one hand. By the time he
had moved on, it counted thousands of
young people in its membership. This
remains the case and is Joe’s greatest
legacy for the Party and the movement.
Joe was supposed to work in the London
office but resisted that vehemently
and under great pressure from people
who hadn’t realised the world had
changed. Instead, he worked out of the
Co-op Group’s Glasgow office. With the
addition of Joe, there were eight of us
in the room but only seven desks. The
charm he used to ensure he was never
without a desk endeared him to all of us.
Joe quite rightly argued that in the
modern world you can work from
anywhere. While the rest of us spent
hours preparing mailings, Joe sat in
the corner appearing to play computer
games. Those of us who were only
beginning to appreciate the wonders of
the internet slowly realised that there
was something called social media and
Joe was using this to communicate and
campaign. The proof of his success was
when, at the first Summerfest after he
began to work for the Party, dozens of
young people appeared to hear about
the Co-operative Movement, reducing
the average age of Summerfest attendees
by around 40 years.
Joe’s father is American and Joe held
dual British and American citizenship.
He spent a great deal of time in the
United States and knew the country
very well. He also spent some time in
Germany and spoke fluent German.
His language skills were so good that
he was accepted for a PhD in German
language at Glasgow University after he
ceased working for the Party and went
on to teach German at the university.
In the summertime, he augmented his
income by acting as a representative
for a German tour company. One of the
last times I met Joe before the pandemic
was when I bumped into him by chance
in the Scottish Highlands rounding
up a group of elderly German tourists,
prompting them, in what seemed like
perfect German, to get back on the
coach.
Joe had so much more to give and
those of us who knew him well mourn
his passing and the fact that life’s
journey came to such an abrupt end
for such a brilliant young man. He will
always remain in our hearts.
Joe Fortune, general secretary of the
Co-op Party, adds: “It was with shock
and sadness that we learnt that Joe had
passed on. Joe was a former member of
Co-operative Party staff, and he worked
hard to ensure there was a growing
voice for younger members in the Party.
He bought great passion and fun to his
work, and was a real advocate for the cooperative
and credit union movements.
“I worked with Joe and I know that his
former colleagues from those years will
have happy memories of their work with
him, and, of course, our thoughts will be
with his friends and family.”
APRIL 2022 | 25

2022 Co-operative
Retail Conference
ON 11-13 MARCH, LEADERS,
MANAGERS AND DIRECTORS
FROM THE UK’S RETAIL
SOCIETIES GATHERED FOR
THE CO-OPERATIVE RETAIL
CONFERENCE ORGANISED
BY CO-OPERATIVES UK AND
SPONSORED BY VME CO-OP.
HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED ...
Rebecca Harvey
and Alice Toomer-
McAlpine
p Rhian Thomas,
head of shopper
insight at the
Institute of Grocery
Distribution (IGD)
RETAIL TRENDS AND ANALYSIS
“The retail landscape has changed rapidly
over recent years” said Rhian Thomas, head
of shopper insight at the Institute of Grocery
Distribution (IGD), sharing key insights and
predictions at the opening session of the
Co-operative Retail Conference. “We have
seen changes in weeks and months that would
normally take years.”
Ms Thomas said that while some shopper
behaviours have returned to pre-Covid levels,
other changes may be permanent – such as more
time spent on meal planning (and therefore
fewer impulse purchases). People are shopping
around for the best grocery deals and two thirds
of those surveyed by IGD said they were cutting
down on out of home spending, such as dining
out, creating opportunities for retailers to offer
‘dine-in’ alternatives. There is also likely to be
a division in how shoppers are coming out of
Covid-19, she said, with a stark rise in meal
skipping seen in families with children.
When it comes to sustainability, IGD has
identified a heightened awareness from shoppers
of food waste, which Ms Thomas believes is a
result of people spending more time eating at
home during the pandemic and therefore seeing
how much food gets thrown into their own bins.
IGD’s research has identified that around a third
of shoppers want to do more to reduce their
impact on the environment, but don’t know what
they should do, and want guidance from their
retailers; Ms Thomas said that one growing area
of interest for IGD is environmental labelling.
Changes in technology, such as ‘just walk out’
tech used by the likes of Amazon Go, and facial
recognition, which is starting to be used in retail
in countries such as China, were also discussed.
Considering how co-ops might make the most of
this innovation whilst being mindful of ethical
values around privacy and data ownership is
likely to be an ongoing conversation for co-ops.
NAVIGATING THE POST-COVID
LANDSCAPE:
Also presenting analysis at the event was
Professor Jonathan Reynolds from the Saïd
Business School at the University of Oxford.
He explored the challenges and opportunities
for co-ops – particularly around the economy,
technology and place.
He highlighted how the legacies of Covid,
Brexit and the war in Ukraine each contributed
to the accumulating impacts of inflation,
disrupting supply chains and increasing energy
costs – in turn impacting businesses, the labour
26 | APRIL 2022

market and the ability of consumers to reach
those businesses and trade with them.
“Nobody has had a good pandemic either
from a trading or a human point of view,” he
said, but added that the impacts will be different
depending on where a business is in relation to
consumers and channels.
He believes there are also lessons to be
learned, particularly around online trading
and the role of technology, and he echoed Ms
Thomas’ assessment of the rapid advances in
e-commerce during the pandemic.
“Retailing has always been driven in part
by technological change … but look around
the world, there are places where the future is
already happening,” Prof Reynolds said, citing
some of the advanced AI, VR and volumetric
telepresence (holographic) capabilities being
tested to resolve different customer problems,
from queuing to sustainability and food waste.
In most places, though, the focus is on “finding
a way of reviving communities who have been
badly affected by Covid” and looking at how to
reimagine retail in this new economic reality.
“Post-pandemic there’s been a redistribution
of demand, which is not economic from a
commercial point of view – but there’s a social
angle to this which is really important, and
which co-operatives can address.”
PRINCIPLE 6: SOLIDARITY AMONG
RETAIL SOCIETIES
The sixth co-operative principle (co-operation
among co-ops) is a key part of the co-operative
movement, and yet UK law is not set up to
support this way of working. This is particularly
evident when looking at competition law, which
creates a difficult environment for retail coops
wishing to work together. Aaron Stewart
(VME Coop) and Linda Barlow (Co-operatives
UK) spoke about the newly formed Co-op Law
Association (CLA) and how, when it comes to
co-operatives working together, competition law
risk may require a pause, but doesn’t need to be
a full stop.
Competition law exists to try to maintain an
even playing field among businesses: though
it is important for co-ops to be mindful of
competition law, “we shouldn’t let fear paralyse
us”, said Mr Stewart, adding that there are
ways co-ops can practise principle 6 without
contravening competition law.
This includes contributing staff time to other
co-ops through volunteer days that would
normally be spent at charities, or making it a
policy to actively seek co-operative suppliers.
RETAILING HAS ALWAYS BEEN DRIVEN IN
PART BY TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE … BUT
LOOK AROUND: THERE ARE PLACES WHERE
THE FUTURE IS ALREADY HAPPENING
The idea of co-ops lobbying the government
for changes to the law which may be more
accommodating for the way co-ops work was
also raised, receiving a warm response from a
number of people in the room.
Competition law is just one issue co-ops have
to deal with that could benefit from a dedicated
space for legal practitioners. Because of this,
the aim of CLA is to be a place “where lawyers
and practitioners working in co-ops can come
together to bounce ideas around, especially
where the law doesn’t quite fit with the way
co-ops operate and govern themselves”, said
Ms Barlow.
BUILDING A MOVEMENT
Ahead of the Retail Conference, Co-operatives
UK unveiled its new branding and strategy,
and a new aim: By inspiring everyone to be a
member of a co-op, and every co-op to be one
of our members, we will help create a fairer
society together.
Alongside a new logo, the co-op marque is
now being used by the organisation in a badge
to help build a national movement. Continuing
the conversation on ‘Building a movement’,
delegates heard from a number of co-op leaders.
At Lincolnshire, CEO Ursula Lidbetter found
herself being asked why a shop selling milk and
groceries is also building a science park. u
p Aaron Stewart
(VME Coop) and
Linda Barlow
(Co-operatives UK)
spoke about the newly
formed Co-op Law
Association (CLA)
APRIL 2022 | 27

p From left: Don
Morris (Radstock
CEO and CUK
chair), Denise
Scott-McDonald
(Co-op Group NMP
president), Rose
Marley (CUK CEO),
Phil Ponsonby
(Midcounties
Group CEO) and
Ursula Lidbetter
(Lincolnshire CEO)
discuss building
the co-operative
movement
u Debbie Robinson
(Central England
CEO) and Ewan
Vinnicombe-Wallis on
youth engagement
“I could have a 15-minute talk with that person
– and great, they might get it,” she said. “But
my colleagues on the checkout don’t have 15
minutes to explain what the co-op is to people
who might be interested. How can we boil it
down so it’s in the language of someone who is
in our communities, not in co-ops?”
The result at Lincolnshire is a new purpose:
to bring together ideas, energy and resources to
make life better in our communities. “It doesn’t
say co-op, but it explains what a co-op does.”
Lincolnshire has strong roots in the region
and collaborates with local businesses and
institutions. “Co-operation has to happen
because people want and need to come
together,” says Ms Lidbetter. “You need to start
with the urgent need and collaborate in the
right structure to add power to addressing that
need. It’s about bringing people together with a
philosophy of co-operative effort. By doing that,
you can make a massive change in the world.”
Midcounties CEO Phil Ponsonby believes
that embracing a wider co-operative ecosystem
is a vital part of building co-operation: “It’s
partly about will and desire. We need to think
braver, be a bit more humble and acknowledge
that biggest isn’t always best. We also need to
embrace technology and fix the problem of not
being able to use member cards in other co-ops.”
At Midcounties, the long-term ambition is to
be a member-first organisation. “In reality, most
of a retail co-op’s transactions are with nonmembers,”
he said. “We want to change that.
We’re there with energy and childcare, but not
with food yet.” Alongside this, he adds, there is
space for the movement to grow by co-ops being
‘trusted brokers’ for goods and services from
other co-ops.
“We’re all trying to recruit members to be part
of our co-op, but what we should be saying is ‘if
you join our co-op, you’re also becoming part of
a co-op movement’.”
For Don Morris (CEO at Radstock and chair of
Co-operatives UK), awareness and collaboration
are key. “Members of Co-operatives UK have
access to services and advice – that’s vital to a
small business,” he said.
Similarly, at Radstock, there is a strong
local presence and good relationships with
local suppliers, but the connection to [coop
buying group] FRTS and other societies
are very important. “We’re part of something
bigger; sometimes we have gone to our larger
neighbours, asking advice from those who have
been there and done what we are trying to do
and have been inspired,” he said, adding that
co-operation among co-operatives is critical for
building a strong movement together.
Cllr Denise Scott-McDonald was elected
president of the Co-op Group’s National Members
Council in 2021, and also serves as the deputy
leader of Greenwich Council. “Education is so
important to the co-op movement,” she said,
highlighting the Co-op Group’s activity around
co-operative member education, training and
information (CMETI). “Ordinary people can
do extraordinary things in a co-op, but it’s a
question of how we have all those conversations
in the first place.”
PLANTING TREES YOU’LL NEVER SEE:
HOW TO ENGAGE YOUNG PEOPLE
Former Blue Peter producer, Ewan Vinnicombe-
Wallis, shared insights into how he breathed new
life into the Blue Peter Badge scheme through
competitions and campaigns. He described the
excitement he felt as a child receiving a badge
and a letter, and how he wanted to recreate that
experience for his young audiences.
Despite being in an increasingly digital age, Mr
Vinnicombe-Wallis saw the value of the personal
touch a paper letter can bring and during his
time at Blue Peter increased the amount of
physical post the show received.
28 | APRIL 2022

COMMUNICATE YOUR GREAT
ACHIEVEMENTS – YOU’RE NOT
BRAGGING, YOU’RE TELLING
PEOPLE ABOUT IT, AND THEN
OTHER PEOPLE BRAG
Central England Co-operative CEO Debbie
Robinson also shared experiences of working in
the community with children and their families,
including a community garden, art projects
and outdoor events. Central England runs over
500 community events every year, which Ms
Robinson highlighted as a key part of getting
young people and families to build a relationship
with the stores and the society as a whole.
Mr Vinnicombe-Wallis stressed that coops
don’t need to be shy about blowing their
own trumpet: “Communicate your great
achievements – you’re not bragging, you’re just
telling people about it, and then other people
brag.”
THE APPRENTICESHIP LEVY
Russell Gill, head of community delivery at
the Co-op Group, shared how the organisation
is working with other employers to bring
together funding to support thousands of
apprenticeships.
“It’s a real co-operative success story coming
as a result of trying to solve a real-world
problem,” he said. “It fundamentally gives more
opportunities for young people and underrepresented
people in the workforce.”
The Apprenticeship Levy is an amount paid at
a rate of 0.5% of an employer’s annual pay bill if
that bill is more than £3m. Employers can spend
the levy on apprentice training and end-point
assessment – but must do so within two years.
The Co-op Levy Share Initiative brings together
pledges of otherwise expired levy contributions
from donating employers and matches them to
suitable requests, with a specific focus on underrepresentation.
A criterion of the scheme is that
any employer has to be paying the national
living wage.
So far, the scheme has attracted pledges of
£9.75m from 34 organisations, with 503 matched
apprenticeship opportunities.
“The organisations participating are a real
mix,” adds Mr Gill. “We’ve got support from the
mutual sector, from the public sector, from major
corporates and co-operatives: an effective bunch
of employees all recognising that we can all play
our part by co-operating and working together
to provide opportunities for young people to
participate.”
CAMPAIGNING FOR SHOP WORKERS
In the final session of the day, Co-operative Party
general secretary, Joe Fortune, highlighted how
the organisation campaigned co-operatively
for the greater protection of retail workers. “We
were motivated to see what we could do to bring
change to an awful set of circumstances. It really
was a collective effort that the co-operative
movement came together for,” he said.
In 2018, the Co-op Group launched its Safer
Colleagues, Safer Communities campaign to
address violence and crime affecting colleagues.
As the pandemic unfolded, violence against
shopworkers increased, and the Co-op Party,
co-operatives, other retailers and trade unions
came together to raise awareness, incentivise
police action and strengthen existing laws.
“We knew there was an opportunity for
change, but we needed to ensure that we
used all the networks we could to bring about
those changes,” said Mr Fortune. “We worked
together. We didn’t work on our own, in silos,
or as individuals within independent societies,
we worked all together and showed co-operative
leadership.”
WHAT ELSE HAPPENED?
A raffle was held with prizes donated by cooperatives,
including hampers and a new
Fairphone, which raised over £1,000 for
Kandoroo – a co-operative addressing food
poverty by working with care professionals
to distribute electronic vouchers through an
app or card for eligible clients to use within
participating stores. Kandoroo wanted to raise
£100,000 and asked for pledges, with Central
England Co-operative making the first pledge.
On the Sunday, Liz McIvor presented the work
of the Co-operative Heritage Trust and a new
35 minute film, supported by Co-op News, that
gives a whistle-stop tour of the movement.
Sunday morning also saw delegates take
part in a workshop on Innovation and growth.
A 90-minute design sprint was led by Naomi
Timperly of Growth Strategy Innovation and
Tech North Advocates on themes including
Principle 6, engaging young people and
digital inclusion.
p The Co-op Group’s
Russell Gill on the
Co-op Levy Share
Initiative
APRIL 2022 | 29

NEW LANARK CONFERENCE EXPLORES
Robert Owen’s role within
the co-operative movement
Anca Voinea and
Alice Toomer-McAlpine
When it comes to Robert Owen’s legacy, the
co-operative movement is split. Some see the
Welsh manufacturer and social reformer as the
founder of co-operatives while others attribute
that role to the Rochdale Pioneers.
Trust manager Liz McIvor and archivist Sophie
McCulloch from the Co-operative Heritage Trust
tried to shed some light on this debate during
a session at the conference New Lanark: A
living legacy. Held on 1-3 March, the conference
celebrated the 250th anniversary of the birth of
Robert Owen, born in 1771.
The session looked at the influence of Owen’s
ideas on the Rochdale Pioneers and the wider
co-operative movement. While co-op ideas were
something that preceded Owen, he brought
them back into discussion, said Ms McIvor.
Letters sent by Charles Howarth, one of the
founding Rochdale Pioneers, suggest that he
had been influenced by Owen’s writing. Howarth
wrote the Rochdale Society of Equitable
Pioneers’ rule book, which included its objects
and its “Law First”.
There were also differences of opinion between
utopian communities like Owen’s and those
trading with capital, such as Rochdale Society
of Equitable Pioneers. “A lot of the utopian
communities didn’t survive whereas consumer
co-ops did,” said Ms McIvor.
“People influenced by Owen failed because
of infighting, they couldn’t agree how things
should be run,” added Ms McCulloch.
In the 1830s Owen was in New Harmony,
Indiana, USA, where he attempted to create
a new utopian community based on “unity
and co-operation”. During this time other
communities across the UK tried to set up cooperatives
but failed to sustain their projects. As
a result, co-operation became more industrial,
separate from Owen. His followers moved on
from utopian ideas into something that worked
far more integrally with the economy and social
systems through which they lived.
Later on, George Jacob Holyoake re-established
Owen after getting hold of his letters, which are
now part of the Co-operative Heritage Trust’s
archives. A co-operator and editor, Holyoake
presented Owen as an influential figure within
the movement partly to suit his own purposes of
explaining what a co-op is. Holyoake reclaimed
u Liz McIvor and
Sophie McCulloch
from the Co-operative
Heritage Trust
30 | APRIL 2022

the narrative, using what suited the co-op
movement at the time to help shape the still
developing co-operative identity.
So where should the movement stand with
regards to Owen’s legacy?
“He doesn’t need to be the father of the
movement, he’s part of the story, of what makes
co-op history,” said Ms McIvor.
“Because we have Robert Owen’s collection
[of letters] and we have George Jacob Holyoake’s
collection, both provide context to each other.
And we think that actually he’s been able to
be used by Holyoake to be more significant
throughout the history of our movement. He is
someone who is used as a cornerstone to go back
to,” she added, explaining that Owen’s views
were controversial at the time of his writing
but were rescued and presented back to the
movement by Holyoake.
Owen’s ideas also continue to influence
modern day worker co-operatives, social
co-operatives and social enterprises.
OWEN AND CO-OPERATIVE
EDUCATION
Owen also had a huge influence on education
both in the co-operative movement and wider
society. New Lanark’s Institute for the Formation
of Character was one of a number of programmes
set up by Owen to provide free education for
young people and adults, who stated: “It is…the
interest of all, that everyone, from birth, should
be well educated, physically and mentally, that
society may be improved in its character”.
The co-operative movement has placed a
similar emphasis on the role of education
throughout its history, with education being
one of the key co-operative principles. Although
Owenism and co-operativism share a history
when it comes to education, it is a history that
contains conflict in both ideas and practice.
Professor Tom Woodin explained in his talk
on Resuscitating Cooperative Traditions of
Education that while “Owenite influences
suffused co-operative activities”, there were
tensions over the idea of agency. Whereas Owen
favoured grand, paternalistic schemes designed
on behalf of the working classes, co-operators
that came later were more focused on workers
taking ownership of these programmes, as
reflected in the Rochdale Pioneers’ objectives
which state: “this society shall proceed to
arrange the powers of production, distribution,
education and government or in other words
to establish a self-supporting home colony of
united interests”.
OWEN HAD ‘A VISION OF A NEW SOCIETY,
ONE BASED ON HUMAN DIGNITY AND
EQUALITY’ WHICH HE KEPT ALIVE AND
IN FRONT OF EVERYTHING HE DID
“The Rochdale Pioneers saw themselves as a
very practical group of men”, said Prof Woodin;
but, he argued, their practice was rooted in the
utopian ideals of Owen. Both Owen and later
co-operators promoted learning in both adults
and young people as an intrinsic good, but the
Pioneers saw education as a pathway to equity.
Prof Woodin shared this quote from Pioneer
Abraham Greenwood: “Some approximation
to intellectual equality, by the extension to the
many of the knowledge and tastes developed
amongst the comparatively few, so that a cooperation
for common purposes has been
rendered possible”, to demonstrate this point,
and added that the early co-operators aimed to
distribute knowledge much in the same way they
distributed profits. u
p Robert Owen
APRIL 2022 | 31

NEW LANARK IS REGARDED AS A ONCE
LIVING EXAMPLE OF OWEN’S UTOPIAN
SOCIALISM, PUTTING INTO PRACTICE HIS
IDEAS OF WORKERS’ DIGNITY, WELFARE
AND EDUCATION
p New Lanark Mill
(Photo: Scotland By
Camera/CC BY-ND 2.0)
LESSONS FROM NEW LANARK
The conference took place at New Lanark, a
purpose-built 18th century mill village, which
was at one time one of the largest cotton mills in
the UK and the largest in Scotland. New Lanark
is regarded as a once living example of Owen’s
utopian socialism, putting into practice his ideas
of workers’ dignity, welfare and education. Owen
described his work at New Lanark as “the most
important experiment for the happiness of the
human race that has yet been instituted in any
part of the world”. It influenced the co-operative
movement too – the village store set up by Owen
at New Lanark is said to have laid the basis for
the retail co-operative movement which came
later with the Rochdale Pioneers.
In his talk, “Changing the World One Step at
a Time by Example”, Professor Morris Altman
explored the legacy left by the New Lanark
project. He explained that New Lanark may
be able to teach us something we can apply to
today’s conversations around sustainability,
when thinking about the topic in a broad sense:
“When we talk about sustainability, what’s left
out of the equation is actually workers and their
level of wellbeing.”
Prof Altman said that Owen’s ideas and work
around engaging with workers and their families
has a lot of implications for contemporary
investor-owned corporations as well as co-ops
and mutuals. But he was also keen to emphasise
that New Lanark was not a co-op, and Owen was
not a co-operator.
“In New Lanark, workers’ and their families’
wellbeing was very much at the discretion of this
paternalistic, yet humanistic, investor-owner,
Robert Owen”, said Prof Altman.
The key lesson from New Lanark, he said, was
that investor-owned firms could be run in a way
that treated workers more humanely, and still be
financially viable, though this is still a marginal
idea in much economic thought. Education
through business and economic institutions can
change this, he added.
Prof Altman talked about the need for
“practical utopias” – that is, real life examples
32 | APRIL 2022

of how doing things differently can work in
practice, of which New Lanark is one. “New
Lanark is not this weird idea, it’s an example
of how we can improve the real world market
economy one step at a time. It’s practical, and it
should inform economic theory.”
NEW LANARK – A PART OF SOCIAL
AND CO-OPERATIVE HISTORY
New Lanark’s legacy is now preserved in the
New Lanark World Heritage Site, which was
granted UNESCO World Heritage status in 2001.
The final day of the conference was dedicated
to conversations around the restoration
and preservation of New Lanark and other
historical sites.
New Lanark meets a number of the criteria
needed for its status as a UNESCO World Heritage
Site, including criterion vi, which requires
the site to “be directly or tangibly associated
with events or living traditions, with ideas, or
with beliefs, with artistic and literary works of
outstanding universal significance”.
The way in which New Lanark meets this
criterion is stated in its listing: “The name of
New Lanark is synonymous with that of Robert
Owen and his social philosophy in matters
such as progressive education, factory reform,
humane working practices, international
cooperation, and garden cities, which was
to have a profound influence on social
developments throughout the 19th century
and beyond.”
In her presentation on New Lanark and
Scotland’s World Heritage, head of archaeology
and world heritage at Historic Environment
Scotland Dr Rebecca Jones highlighted New
Lanark as a site which acts as a “milestone in
social and industrial history”.
Speaking about New Lanark’s relation to
the work of Robert Owen and the co-operative
movement, she added: “In many ways, across
all the sites in Scotland, it’s New Lanark that
really embodies the intangible evidenced in the
tangible.”
NOW AND THEN
The conference also explored Owen’s legacy in
the context of today’s global challenges, looking
at how co-operative solutions could help to
address issues such as climate change or tackle
inequalities.
Ed Archer, chair of the Lanarkshire Heritage
Forum Archaeology, pointed out that while
not all of Owen’s endeavours were “a startling
success”, important lessons could be learnt from
his New Harmony or Orbiston projects.
“What he did was to sort of trail blaze and
inspire other people as we’ve seen today.
Personally, I think there’s a lot of need these
days for working in a co-operative sense and to
have more ethically directed businesses whether
it is your Scotmid supermarkets and stores or
energy,” he said.
Martin Meteyard, a co-op development
consultant in Scotland, said that Owen had “a
vision of a new society, one based on human
dignity and equality” which he kept alive and in
front of everything he did.
“He emphasised the necessity of education,
and how it’s most important, he emphasised
practical endeavour,” said Mr Meteyard. “To
own his legacy the co-operative movement
added democracy, which wasn’t necessarily
one of his strengths; he was a bit dismissive in
later years of the abilities of ordinary working
people to take charge of affairs themselves.
But despite Owen’s opinions, the co-operative
movement in the UK and elsewhere showed
that it was possible for ordinary working
IT IS…THE INTEREST OF ALL, THAT
EVERYONE, FROM BIRTH, SHOULD BE WELL
EDUCATED, PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY,
THAT SOCIETY MAY BE IMPROVED IN ITS
CHARACTER – ROBERT OWEN
people to come together and to make huge
strides for a new mode of existence under their
own control.”
Owen’s approach can still serve as an
example for co-ops, added Mr Meteyard. Today’s
challenges may be different from those of 250
years ago, but co-ops can still be involved in
transforming human society in a positive way.
Issues co-ops can aim to address could include
promoting racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ
inclusion, or engaging with young people,
he said.
“To go back to Robert Owen,” he added,
to reiterate, “precept upon precept, however
excellent, without decisive measures, to put
them into practice, is a waste of time. It is far
more necessary to act than to speak.”
APRIL 2022 | 33

THE CHALLENGES FACING SMALL CO-OPS
– AND HOW TO OVERCOME THEM
A bumpy road
to co-operation?
Rebecca Harvey and
Miles Hadfield
q Oli Sylvester-Bradley
and Alex Lawrie
There are over 5,000 co-ops in the UK; 3 million
around the world. But how easy is it to set up
a new one, and find the right support? We’ve
spoken with four co-op development workers
and three regional organisations who are often
the first port of call. What support and funding is
available, and what are the biggest challenges?
According to Oliver Sylvester-Bradley of
The Open Co-op, setting up a small co-op
is fundamentally easy. “People waste huge
amounts of time worrying about their legal
structure, but you can set up a simple co-op
by forming a co-operative association between
a few founding members in minutes, by
agreeing to follow the co-operative principles,”
he says.
“It’s very easy if you are of the DIY persuasion,”
adds Alex Lawrie of Somerset Co-operative
Services. “A very basic legal structure can be
set up for £30 or so using free guides available
online; and of course, an unincorporated group
can (for a small scale, simple activity) can just
start trading with no legal costs at all, and no tax
to pay if it is fully mutual.”
Cath Muller of worker co-op support agency
Radical Routes agrees: “It’s easy to register a
company for £15 with a mate, copy the Articles
of Association from Radical Routes’ How to Set
Up a Workers Co-op and start advertising your
services on social media. How far that gets you in
terms of generating a liveable income is another
matter! But for many who are already working in
a gig way, slowly ramping a business organically
is doable. The financial problems come with
licences, permits, equipment, premises, safety
procedure and GDPR etc.”
But others warn that setting up a co-op is
harder than it should be.
“The people I help to set up small co-ops
have usually spent days, months or even years
searching the internet for information on how
to set one up; there is information out there,
but it doesn’t solve their problem,” says Phil
Beardmore, who has been helping to set up coops
in the West Midlands for around 25 years.
For a start, the different legal and governance
options can be overwhelming.
“Most people will need expert help from a cooperative
development worker,” he adds, “but
the problem people have is finding one – the
coverage of co-operative development agencies
(CDAs) is uneven and patchy across the country.”
In Mr Beardmore’s region, there is a small fund
administered by Co-operatives West Midlands,
from Central England Co-operative, which offers
half a day with a CDA to help with legal and
governance options. There is also a national
network of support run by and for emerging
worker co-ops.
“I would always recommend joining the
Worker Co-op Loomio group and Facebook page,
and Worker Co-op Solidarity Fund,” says Ms
Muller. “These are good places to garner crowd
wisdom, make connections and possibly get a
tiny bit of funding.”
Mr Lawrie highlights how Co-operatives
UK provides a nationwide service through
its website, but organisations rooted in local
regions differ greatly in terms of what they can
34 | APRIL 2022

do – and who pays for it. “Some are funded to
provide free advice (eg Co-op Futures and the
Wales Co-operative Centre), some aren’t funded
but offer some free advice anyway (us), and
others are consultancies that can only help once
a source of funding has been identified.”
He adds: “CDAs have been through two
decades of a catastrophic decline in which their
business models have been disrupted by political
change in local authorities and by the internet.
They have failed to work together to develop
new business models – despite promising
experiments such as Stirchley Co-operative
Development’s ultra-localism, our use of social
investment, Co-operative Assistant Network’s
suite of models and diagnostics, Co-op Futures
‘strong relationship with Midcounties, or HCED’s
property development.
“The result has been that the co-op sector in
the UK has contracted every year for at least the
last five years and maybe longer, with market
share leaking away to for-profit businesses.”
SMALL CO-OPS, BIG
CHALLENGES
Making the transition from a group of volunteers
with a good idea to a trading and sustainable
co-operative business is another challenge.
“It’s a big threshold to cross from your existing
world to something that might be economically
riskier,” says Mr Beardmore. “But we know that
co-ops are more likely to survive than other
social business models.”
These challenges vary by sector, he says.
“Among small energy co-ops, for example,
those that thrive have scaled up, employed
staff, and collaborated with other co-ops. Those
who haven’t moved beyond small projects, that
are heavily reliant on volunteers, are prone to
burnout.”
“Fundamentally, the challenges usually
depend on existing levels of resource, time,
capabilities and the capacity for risk,” says
Ms Muller. “It also depends on the nature of
the business and whether people are starting
something new to them or transitioning from
an existing business. Some people are able
and willing to borrow to fund the set-up and
development period, some are not. Some models
are easy to copy, others are pioneering.
“Working across cultural differences is
difficult – that’s true whether it’s a co-op or not.
But it does exacerbate the difficulties of creating
a well-functioning collective – non-hierarchy
requires very good communication and value
CDAS HAVE BEEN THROUGH TWO DECADES
OF A CATASTROPHIC DECLINE ... THE
RESULT HAS BEEN THAT THE CO-OP
SECTOR IN THE UK HAS CONTRACTED
EVERY YEAR FOR AT LEAST THE LAST FIVE
YEARS AND MAYBE LONGER
alignment.” Because of this, one of the biggest
challenges she sees is a group learning “how
to work collectively and managing different
expectations”.
The lack of funding at different stages is
another recurring theme: “Without investment
to help get off the ground small co-ops usually
rely on the sweat equity of their founders, who
can often get burned out or demoralised before
the co-op is generating enough income to pay
fair wages,” says Mr Sylvester-Bradley. “This
capital conundrum is one of the issues we are
aiming to solve at coopdata.club, by providing
a mechanism for co-ops to leverage other coops’
email lists for cross-promotion. Co-ops
want to help other co-ops, so it makes sense for
them to promote each other to reduce customer
acquisition costs.”
People’s personal situations also make it
more of a challenge, adds Cath Muller. “It is
harder [to set up a co-op now] than it was pre-
Universal Credit,” she says. “It was harder on
JSA than it was on Unemployment Benefit u
p Phil Beardmore
and Cath Muller
APRIL 2022 | 35

efore that. It’s been getting harder over the
years as the government makes it more difficult
or more time-consuming to not have an income
from employment, which is a common way that
small co-ops manage to develop their co-ops,
particularly if they don’t have a good credit rating
or can’t risk borrowing money. And undoubtedly
the sky-rocketing cost of housing is making
everything harder that involves life changes and
risking one’s income.”
TO CO-OP OR NOT TO CO-OP?
With patchy support and challenges to face, is
the co-op model always the best option?
“If you have a group of people with a good
idea to create economic or social value, who
want to co-operate with each other, then there
is usually a co-operative model that will fit, but
there are times when the choice between a coop
and another model is very difficult,” says Mr
Beardmore.
Ms Muller agrees. “It’s really tempting if you’ve
got a co-op and community empowerment
mindset to think that co-ops are the solution
for everything, but trying to help other people is
basically charitable.
“Unless you’re able to do enough education,
persuasion and inspiration to get people to
want to help themselves and to find the capacity
for that, the chances of a co-op (particularly
a workers’ co-op) succeeding with extremely
limited resources is low. Co-ops in those
circumstances often need funding to get to a
secure position and often it’s easier as a charity.”
For a small business owner looking to move on,
they would be giving up a lot if they transferred
their business to a worker co-op rather than to
an employee benefit trust model, where tax
breaks mean they get paid back in five years,
adds Ms Muller. “Hopefully that will change, as
Co-operatives UK is lobbying for an extension
to the tax incentive to cover worker co-ops. On
the other hand, if you want to do anything with
a group of freelancers or anything collective with
an app, a co-op is the absolute no-brainer way to
go. There is a huge amount of goodwill around
and some actual mutual aid and support through
CoTech, through UnFound, through the Platform
Co-operativism Consortium.”
Mr Lawrie sees a lack of awareness of co-ops
as part of the problem. “Most people who are
open-minded [are] unaware that co-ops exist –
so they start a company by default. A great many
people wish to not share control or profits fairly
and so a company is the only option for them.
And charities are a better bet when the intended
beneficiaries of the activity are not realistically
capable of directing it (eg a wildlife sanctuary).”
Another issue he sees is co-op culture – or
the lack of it. “The co-op movement itself is
divided between huge retail co-ops prone to
conglomeration and executive capture, and
tiny co-ops fuelled by individual ego,” says
Mr Lawrie. “Although progress has been made
connecting social investors to emerging co-ops,
this is only really working in low-risk sectors.
It adds up to a business culture that is lacking
in confidence and dynamism, unable to adapt
quickly to threats and opportunities, and falls
under the sway of accountants and consultants
with no interest in co-op values. Worst of all,
the inherent advantages available to a director
of a co-op are routinely neglected in favour of
half-hearted attempts to ‘be more like a proper
business’.”
SO WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?
“Firstly develop a range of equity investment
funds so more ordinary people can make taxadvantaged
investments spread across a number
of co-ops generally, but early-stage co-ops and
CDAs especially,” says Alex Lawrie. “Describe the
business model and professional practice of cooperative
development work in a standard and
replicable format. And identify sectors where
opportunities for growth overlap with concern
for the community (eg advanced recycling;
low-input farming; autonomous rail and water
vehicles; integrated transport services; social
purpose AI; heat pumps) and incentivise the
formation of new co-ops in those sectors.”
Collaboration is also key. Phil Beardmore gives
the example of fuel and energy co-ops: “We are
seeing millions of households thrown into fuel
poverty for the first time. There are co-ops doing
great work to help people in fuel poverty, but it
is difficult to sustain this activity. We don’t have
co-operative models to help the fuel-poor that
are easily replicable; community energy models
that are focused on generating renewable energy
or retrofit, haven’t fully crossed over into helping
the fuel-poor.
“A lot of the best work in fuel poverty is
delivered not by energy experts, but by advocates
working for locally based community anchor
organisations. These organisations are charities,
but of the entrepreneurial kind, and they are well
placed to help with fuel poverty because they
can attract charitable funding that co-ops can’t
because fuel poverty alleviation is essentially
36 | APRIL 2022

philanthropic. We need to explore collaboration
between charities and co-ops.”
Plenty of small co-ops thrive (see more case
studies on page 42-43). In Northern Ireland, craft
beer co-ops like Lacada and Boundary have
worked very well and the Belfast Food Co-op is an
emerging consumer co-op working to establish
a strong membership in north Belfast. Rabble
is a worker co-op with a strong ethos in human
rights and activism that offers IT solutions to
like-minded campaigning organisations. Jubilee
Farm is a successful community benefit society
using a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
model, and NICE is a community energy solar
bencom created in 2014.
In Wales, Arfon Timber Co-operative is
another great example of a flourishing smaller
worker co-op, designing and building resilient
timber structures, fusing traditional techniques
with contemporary eco-building technology. All
the timber is sourced locally and processed at its
own sawmill.
“As a collective, we found we were able to
go for bigger, more interesting contracts and
invest in better tools and infrastructure,” says
Jane Davidson, one of the co-op’s six worker
members. “We are able to team up on some of
the necessities of running a business – things
like insurance, administration and advertising,
which frees up more time and resources to do
what it is we actually do. We find we work in less
of a hand-to-mouth way – allowing us to take
a step back and look at where the business is
going – and where we would like it to go.”
NORTHERN IRELAND
We also spoke with regional organisations in
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
“Economic development is now a power
partially devolved to local authorities but out
of the 11 council areas in NI, only the Belfast
City Council explicitly mention co-operative
development in their strategy and have allocated
resources for the support of new co-ops in
the area,” says Tiziana O’Hara, who heads up
Northern Ireland’s Co-operative Alternatives, a
CDA based in Belfast. “The Department of the
Economy and Invest NI do not have any strategy
to grow the co-operative sector in NI, nor to
financially support and resource a co-operative
development agency for the region, although we
asked repeatedly and publicly.”
Co-operative Alternatives sustains itself mostly
through resources from outside the region (such
as Co-operatives UK’s The Hive and the Co-op
Group’s charity arm, the Co-op Foundation) or
direct payments from its members. The only
programme of support that was funded by NI has
been the Community Shares Ready! programme
between 2013-2018; this was £300,000 and it
raised in excess of £950,000 shares from local
people.
“Currently, the hard-won support for cooperatives
from Belfast City Council consists of
a limited amount of mentoring days (in average
3-4 days per emerging co-op), with seed funding
to pay for the registration fees and the use of
model rules and, in the past two years only,
some additional support for raising awareness
of the co-operative model,” she says.
“In addition, we have also secured a Co-op
Foundation grant for a two-year project called
‘Cultivating Community Farming’. We will work
with 10 groups and organisations helping them
to develop communities interested in farming
and farmers interested in communities.”
She adds: “There are some development gaps
– for instance, lack of skills in democratic u
p The six members
of the Arfon Timber
Co-operative
APRIL 2022 | 37

CONSUMERS ARE THINKING MORE ABOUT
HOW THEY SPEND THEIR MONEY. THEY WANT
TO BUY THINGS IN A WAY THAT DOESN’T
HARM THE PLANET
p From left: Tiziana
O’Hara (Co-operative
Alternatives); Clare
Alexander (Co-op
Development
Scotland); Glenn
Bowen (Wales
Co-operative Centre)
governance and decision making, membership
engagement, capital raising etc. but also
barriers such as access to land and no seed and
development funding to support early stages.”
Ms O’Hara believes there is an opportunity for
co-ops to create a model of growth that would
connect well-established co-operatives with
emerging co-ops and more collaborations across
the sector. But she is wary of too much scaling
up. “‘Scaling up’ enterprises may distract from
the opportunities that co-operation can offer
and the development of value-driven supply
chains,” she adds.
SCOTLAND
Clare Alexander at Co-op Development Scotland
sees the start-up stage as “quite straightforward”,
but here too the issue is funding: “Co-ops can
face difficulty accessing capital as their structure
means there isn’t always clear ownership,
making it more difficult for traditional lenders
to invest. Achieving scale is another reason
that some co-ops fail. It can be challenging
making sure that they have enough production
to feasibly and consistently supply markets.
Keeping the membership engaged after a co-op
is set up is also a challenge we see.”
She adds: “Co-ops exist to serve their members,
whether they are customers, employees or the
local community. Because they do not need to
bring benefits to outside shareholders, co-ops
focus on making sure members get the best
service. The model is ideal for groups looking
for a fairer, more just and ethical way to trade
or communities looking for a way to collectively
buy into a project to help their local area.
“The pandemic generated further interest
in alternative business models as many of our
norms were questioned and there was a desire to
live differently. As we look to economic recovery,
Scotland’s National Strategy for Economic
Transformation (see news, page 11) seeks to
reorient our economy towards wellbeing and fair
work, delivering more employment and better
wages. Inclusive models such as co-operatives
have a critical role to play in this.
WALES
The Wales Co-operative Centre delivers Social
Business Wales (SBW), which provides support
to new and established social businesses – coops,
social enterprises and employee-owned
businesses. Groups are allocated a business
adviser who will help them look at strategic and
business planning and the right structure.
“Funding is still a challenge,” says enterprise
programme director Glenn Bowen, who notes
that many traditional lenders still require
personal guarantees. “Blended finance options
are available through Social Investment Cymru
that is run by Wales Council for Voluntary Action
(WCVA) and we also work with a number of
other funding bodies, including Co-operative &
Community Finance.
“Time is also a barrier. If you are setting up
as a sole trader the individual is able to make
decisions and act very quickly. Within a co-op,
we have to keep all our stakeholders aligned.”
He believes there is an opportunity for co-ops
“as consumers are thinking more about how they
spend their money. More and more they want to
buy things in a way that doesn’t harm the planet,
consumers want to use their purchasing power
to improve their communities. The challenge will
be the funding needed to scale up – particularly
around digital and platform co-ops.”
In Wales, many will register as a company but
will use specialist articles that include co-op
principles. Others starting out will choose the
charity model. “One big advantage that charities
have is rate relief (80% mandatory rate relief
and a 20% discretionary rate relieve). Charitable
Community Benefit Societies are also eligible
but many local authorities are not aware of this.”
38 | APRIL 2022

Community pubs
still going strong
AFTER TWO YEARS OF LOCKDOWNS
Anca Voinea
p Exelby Green
Dragon Community
Pub
Small community pubs have had two difficult
years with several enforced closures and
lockdowns. While this fluctuating trading model
brought new challenges for the hospitality trade
sector, it also enabled community businesses to
show their resilience.
Chris Cowcher, head of policy at the Plunkett
Foundation says that only one community
owned pub closed during the pandemic with the
rest proving to be “remarkably resilient”.
“What’s even more amazing is that there have
been new pubs opening,” he says. “In 2021, 15
new community pubs and 11 new community
shops opened their doors. Despite all the
challenges facing these communities, groups
are still finding a way of coming together, raising
funds and pursuing community leadership on
behalf of their community.”
The Plunkett Foundation is a charity that
helps rural communities in the UK create and
run community-owned businesses. While these
businesses are now trading as usual, the losses
and debts incurred over the last two years
and rising costs will continue to impact their
operations.
“Local engagement and community
consultation remains key to making sure their
services remain relevant, supported and used by
the local area,” says Mr Cowcher.
One of the advantages community businesses
had was having reserves in the bank at the
beginning of the pandemic, which enabled some
of them to cope with the loss of income.
“These businesses are owned and run by local
residents, for local revenue, which means that
there was a willingness to adapt immediately,”
explains Mr Cowcher. Some pubs started offering
deliveries and takeaway services while others
ran micro shops and repurposed themselves.
“While there are some amazing examples
of privately owned pubs also doing this, those
that are community owned and run have that
direct link with the local residents, which then
becomes the customer base,” he says. “[These
enterprises] made sure that the most vulnerable
in the community were being supported u
APRIL 2022 | 39

LOCAL ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNITY
CONSULTATION REMAINS KEY TO MAKE SURE
THEIR SERVICES REMAIN RELEVANT AND
SUPPORTED AND USED BY THE LOCAL AREA
p Winter fire and
bedroom at the Exelby
Green Dragon
to live independently, particularly if they were
shielding from Covid-19. And these people
were more easily identified because within that
customer base, and within the shareholding of
the business, are community representatives
and residents that are likely to know who needs
the support services most.”
The Plunkett Foundation was affected by
the pandemic as well, with some of its funding
programmes being paused by funders. However,
it continued to work with community businesses
whilst working remotely. In March 2020 it ran a
training hub with webinars and various activities
to enable community businesses to deal with
issues such as short-term cash flows or how to
access government support.
“That kind of remote working led to us
engaging even more communities than we
would normally – in fact, we saw a 49% rise in
calls to our inquiry line from groups wanting to
access advice and support.”
It also meant the organisation could operate in
extended geographic areas. “Pre-pandemic there
were times when we might be limited in reaching
the highlands and the islands, for example,
through not having that capacity,” says Mr
Cowcher. “But connecting online has made sure
that we have truly served business across all four
UK nations, and connected groups.”
Plunkett also convenes and administers
Facebook groups for community-owned shops
and pubs, which over lockdown witnessed an
increase in engagement among members, who
were exchanging information and supporting
each other.
“The peer support and mutual aid that
community businesses have afforded one
another have been an absolutely integral part of
how the sector has responded to and navigated
the last two years,” said Mr Cowcher.
And the pandemic led Plunkett to engage even
more with the government, funders and local
councils to make the case for small community
businesses, particularly those in rural areas.
The charity has also recently launched an
online business appraisal tool, which enables
community businesses to assess their strengths
and weaknesses. The tool, which is available
for free, asks community businesses a series of
questions and based on their answers issues a
report with recommendations on how to take
things forward.
“For some it will be just keep doing what
you are doing. For others, it might suggest
considering bringing in new share finance or
diversifying your delivery services,” explains
Mr Cowcher.
“It also means that we’re being much smarter
in terms of understanding the needs of the
businesses that we work with, because we’re
reviewing those appraisal tools. And actually
it gives us an opportunity to offer bespoke and
unique training opportunities.”
40 | APRIL 2022
APRIL 2022 | 40

He adds that the tool also enabled Plunkett to
have “much more current and relevant evidence
to support our advocacy and representational
activities”.
In 2001 there were just four community pubs
across the UK. By 2021 there was 147. Likewise,
the number of community shops increased from
67 in 2001 to over 400 by the end of 2021.
So what might the future bring to the sector?
“I think the reality is that these sectors are going
to continue growing,” says Mr Cowcher, adding
that community ownership was particularly
appropriate in rural settings.
“If a community doesn’t come together and use
a community-led or community-owned solution,
then that service is lost. In a rural setting,
that may well impact not only the immediate
community, but a number of surrounding
areas too.”
Mr Cowcher believes the scarring of the
pandemic is something that is going to be seen
for many years to come.
Plunkett will be launching a new strategy
this year, which will aim to ensure community
ownership plays a responsible role in making
the countryside accessible and available to
everybody. Other areas of focus will be ensuring
community businesses are “inclusive, innovative
and impactful”.
The charity will also continue to work closely
with Co-operatives UK, the Wales Co-operative
Centre and other bodies across the UK to
make sure UK legislation around community
ownership supports a community first approach.
“The community right of first refusal or a
right to buy that exists in Scotland has some
faults in its current form, but is definitely the
principle that we would want to see replicated
across all four nations” says Mr Cowcher. “So
if communities want to bring an asset or a
business into collective community hands, the
legislation is there to empower them to pursue
that project.”
At the moment in England, such projects are
supported only to the point of creating a bid
on an asset; the bid could potentially be turned
away by a vendor that is not supportive of
community ownership.
One of the community businesses that have
received support from the Plunkett Foundation
is Exelby Green Dragon Community Pub in North
Yorkshire. The pub had been a focal point for
the community for many years until it was sold
to the Ei Group (Enterprise Inns) in 2016. The
new owner was considering selling the pub to
housing developers, but local residents stepped
in to save it.
Purchase negotiations with Ei lasted 18
months. “We made the offer in conjunction
with a local developer to buy the pub and
land associated with it,” says John Walker, the
secretary of the pub, which was purchased in
2018 and is now a registered community benefit
society. “Now we not only have a community
pub, we also have a café, shop and the space to
be that vibrant community hub once more.”
The local community raised the capital
required to purchase the pub through a
community share offer. They benefited from
advice from the Plunkett Foundation, who
supported them in the process. They also
received a grant from the local authority, and
Pub is The Hub, a not-for-profit organisation,
which helped them set up an audiovisual suite
in the venue. And they were able to access some
funding from Power to Change.
In addition to the café, shop, and bed and
breakfast businesses, the pub also purchased a
small cottage, which was turned into affordable
housing. They chose the community benefit
society model due to its democratic structure.
“We wanted all of our shareholders to have an
input and a say into what we’re doing. And what
we’re doing is for the benefit of the community.
It does what it says on the tin really, ‘community
benefit’ society. And that structure has been
really, helpful. It’s a democratic structure where
every shareholder has a say,” adds Mr Walker.
One of the main challenges faced in the early
stages was getting the word out there. They used
social media and the local press and were able to
attract the attention of the local MP, Rishi Sunak,
who became its first shareholder and helped to
raise the pub’s profile.
While the pandemic posed many challenges,
Mr Walker says the local community behind the
pub was able to pull together and help each other.
The pub was even able to launch a community
garden. It also runs a community library and a
community safe space, where locals can go for
some peace and quiet.
“The whole period saw the community coming
together and learning the value of working
together and working with each other,” adds
Mr Walker.
As to the future, the Exelby Green Dragon
Community Pub plans to refurbish one of its
dining rooms.
Their advice for other groups looking to
acquire local pubs is to persevere.
“Perseverance is key. If you have the conviction
and commitment towards your project, just
persevere,” says Mr Walker.
“There’s lots of help out there. Come and visit
us! We welcome visitors all the time on their
journey. And also seek help from people that
have specialist resources for helping people in
that situation.”
APRIL 2022 | 41

SIGNALISE (MERSERYSIDE, UK)
What is Signalise?
A multi-stakeholder platform coop
that provides sign language
interpreting and other communication
professionals to services who need to
communicate with Deaf people.
Founded: 2019
Number of members: 315 in total,
including 192 investor members, 82
worker members and 41 user members.
What challenges or opportunities
have you faced as a small co-op?
The challenges we have faced have
included operating as a bilingual coop,
engaging with as many members as
possible, especially in a pandemic, and
not always being recognised for the
special set up we have as a co-op - i.e.
being community owned.
As for opportunities, there are
many! This includes creating a shared
understanding and shared goals of how
we want a co-op to be run, involving
all users in the co-op, including Deaf
people for the very first time, and
moving towards a business model that
is created by, owned by and enhanced
by everyone involved.
Do you wish to grow your co-op? If
so, to what size, and why?
We would like to expand to other
regions and bring the same benefits
to workers, users and customers of
services. As we rely on technology, the
larger we are, the more we can share
the benefits of community ownership
as well as the tech and keep business
costs down.
We are stronger together!
COLNE VALLEY CARE CO-OP (WEST YORKSHIRE, UK)
What is Colne Valley Care Co-op?
A multi-stakeholder co-op established
to provide both high-quality
domiciliary care for older and disabled
people in the Colne Valley, and fair
and proper terms and conditions of
employment for care staff.
Founded: 2019. In March 2022 we
celebrate our first year anniversary
of offering care and support in Colne
Valley.
Number of members: As a
multistakeholder co-op we’re currently
setting up systems so that our staff,
user members and family and friends
can become members formally while
already embedding co-operation,
co-production and consultations as
key ways of working. At the moment,
we have eight staff, support 16 user
members and there are eight board
members. We have just over 100
investor members who have financially
supported us to set-up and get the care
co-op off the ground.
What challenges or opportunities
have you faced as a small co-op?
Being an emerging care co-op has
been really challenging – the ongoing
pandemic, staff shortages and rising
living costs have all added to the
already complex environment in the
care sector that does not work for
anyone. Generally, apart from a few
amazing places and areas, those who
need support are not getting it in such
a way that supports living good lives,
and the staff are not being treated
with respect and don’t get the pay and
recognition they deserve. We have been
working hard and learning loads about
how we can start changing this and
share the learning with others too.
Despite all this, it has been amazing
to witness that it is possible to offer
great care and support, that people can
thrive, that the staff team appreciate
being listened to and are able to
influence how the co-op is run.
Do you wish to grow your co-op? If
so, to what size, and why?
We do believe that small is beautiful
and at the same time we would love
for everyone to live their lives well and
get great care and support when it’s
needed. We plan to grow similarly to
strawberry plants - there are a lot of
them alongside one another. We can
and will support groups, communities,
local authorities to set up care co-ops
in their areas/localities. This way we
could share resources and support
mutual learning and development.
42 | APRIL 2022

UNICORN
(MANCHESTER, UK)
What is Unicorn?
A worker-owned, ‘bricks and mortar’,
grocery co-op in South Manchester.
Running since: 1996
Number of members: We currently
have 67 co-op members. We’re a
workers’ co-operative with a pretty flat
structure – members are all workers
and also directors.
What challenges or opportunities
have you faced as a small co-op?
Twice named the nation’s ‘Best Food
Retailer’ at the BBC Food & Farming
Awards, we offer our Manchester
customer-base an unbeatable range of
affordable, fresh and wholesome food
with an emphasis on organic, fair-trade
and local produce.
We’re the size of a supermarket but
run as a workers’ co-operative, owned
and democratically controlled by the
staff you see here in the shop. Although
we’ve grown a lot since 1996, those
things remain true today. We’re proud
to have proven that we can compete
with national chains and provide a
genuine alternative to the supermarket.
In recent years we’ve been named
the Soil Association’s 2018 Best
Independent Retailer, followed
in 2019 by Lancashire Life’s
Independent Retailer of the Year
award and Manchester Food & Drink
Festival’s Food & Drink Retailer of the
Year. Oh and we came top of Ethical
Consumer’s national supermarket
ranking.
We’re not in it for the glory but
we are proud to demonstrate what a
worker-owned business with values
can achieve ... and not despite those
factors, but because of them.
Do you wish to grow your co-op? If
so, to what size, and why?
On the whole we’re not looking to grow
our own co-op past this size, but we are
pretty passionate about growing the
worker co-op economy as a whole!
We hope to inspire and support others
to use what we’ve learned to set up or
develop their own co-ops; to that end
we have a guide to our business model
– Grow a Grocery – that is completely
free to access, and (capacity allowing)
we can offer support on the phone or
host visits from people who are further
along in the journey. We are also active
members of Solidfund – the UK’s worker
co-op solidarity fund – and we’ve sat
on the Worker Co-op Council for almost
a decade. We bang on about worker
co-ops in the shop all the time - we want
customers to know how important it is
to us!
VICTORY GARDENS (VANCOUVER, CANADA)
What is Victory Gardens?
A worker co-op that transforms urban
environments into food-focused
ecological landscapes.
Running since: 2013.
Number of members: Three
What challenges or opportunities
have you faced as a small co-op?
As a small *seasonal* co-op, we
have struggled in the past with
maintaining income through the
winter months and retaining seasonal
staff year over year.
However, we also find that
as a small co-op, we are able to
adapt more quickly (especially to
changing factors like a pandemic!),
collaborate as a team in a meaningful
and productive way, and keep our
operations efficient.
Do you wish to grow your co-op? If
so, to what size, and why?
We are interested in growing our coop,
but only to a “medium size”.
We find we need more members
in order to keep the business
sustainable in terms of the services
we offer and to capitalise on sales
opportunities.
Victory Gardens is exploring
options for membership in different
sectors of the business (ie operations,
sales), so that our board of directors
can remain focused on management
and long-term vision.
APRIL 2022 | 43

The Hive and
Community Shares
Booster Programme
Alice Toomer-McAlpine
p Growing the
community: Sutton
Community Farm
Co-ops looking to grow face a number of
challenges: not least, raising funds, finding
the right skills and responding to changing
circumstances. In the UK, one of the places they
can look to is The Hive, a support programme
delivered by Co-operatives UK with funds from
the Co-op Bank.
Petra Morris, co-op development manager at
Co-operatives UK, says that although The Hive is
open to any co-op or business wishing to convert
to a co-op, it tends to be smaller business who
find it most useful: “I think generally because
they’re either new or they haven’t got that access
to their own resources, they tend to come to us as
a first port of call.”
The Hive offers up to 10 days of bespoke
support, training and mentoring for groups who
want to set-up a co-op, existing co‐operatives in
need of support or businesses looking to convert
to co-op or community ownership.
“We try to be quite tailored and specific, and
quite flexible, according to the needs of each
co-operative,” says Ms Morris. “But it’s often
around finance and strategy and continuing to
be sustainable good businesses going forward.”
For start-ups, the focus is often around
registering, getting set up and developing a
business plan. But existing co-ops can also get
support, including help with strategy, marketing
or member engagement, or anything else that
might help them be more sustainable.
In 2020, Northern Irish brewery co-op Lacada
sought help to reinvigorate their business after
five years’ trading and received advice around
governance and membership engagement.
“Now our margins are better, our meetings are
much shorter and our board members are much
happier,” they reported.
Many co-ops who seek help from The Hive
are pursuing some form of growth. But that can
mean a number of things. “It doesn’t necessarily
mean it has to be about greater profits or higher
turnover or more employees,” says Ms Morris,
“because growth for co-ops often is different
from traditional businesses. So we emphasise
that growth can be about changing the business
model, going into new markets, developing new
products, it can be about more members, it can
be about better engagement.
“Co-operatives are there to serve their
members and they have a purpose. And some
are very geographical and community based…
so growth for them is more about the quality of
the service they are providing.”
Co-operatives UK also delivers the Community
Shares Booster Programme, which supports
44 | APRIL 2022

groups in England looking at community share
offers with development grants and matched
funding. Community shares is a form of equity
only available to co-operative and community
benefit societies. It enables the co-op to raise
flexible finance and gives members a stake in the
business, on the basis of one member, one vote,
regardless of how much they put in.
“Community shares is very patient, flexible
finance,” says Isla McCulloch, community
shares standards manager at Co-operatives UK.
“You’ve got access to capital that’s not on strict
repayment terms and you can spend it how you
like, within the parameters of your business.
Access to that kind of money is really difficult
to find in the third sector and the social sector.
You’ve either got grants with lots of conditions or
you’ve got loans which are often quite expensive.
So the nature of the money is appealing.”
But it also requires community buy-in, says Ms
McCulloch: “The asset, whether it’s a skate park
or a pub, needs to be something that people feel
strongly about enough as a community that they
want to be maintained for generations.”
In 2017, Sutton Community Farm launched a
community share offer with the support of the
Booster Programme, raising almost £100,000,
with nearly £50,000 coming from the Booster
match. The funds enabled it to build a barn and
increase its membership from 141 to 408.
While many community co-ops have small
staff and less than a £1m turnover, they are larger
when it comes to membership. “It’s all about
lots of people putting in a little bit of money and
getting this big total that enables them to buy the
pub or community hub or whatever it is. You’re
talking about small co-ops that have hundreds,
potentially thousands, of members.”
Many of these groups are also volunteer-led,
meaning that the economic transaction of the
co-op is less than that of a traditional business.
“It’s driven by passion, it’s driven by this real
care for community,” says Ms McCulloch. “But
it has certain challenges associated with that.”
Where societies have board members with
the required skills, knowledge and time to run
a business, things progress much faster. But this
can mean that some members of the community,
such as parents or young people juggling work
commitments, may find it harder to get involved,
she warns. “And that’s the point in the fund and
the grant, to try to augment that capacity, bring
in external expertise so they don’t have to have it
all in house, and really help move groups along
and help take them to the next level.”
While launching a community shares offer can
be a boost, it is easier in certain sectors.
“[When it comes to shops and pubs] co-ops
can better exist in that ecosystem, because
there’s a precedent for other small, ethical or
independent businesses to operate. But there are
sectors of our life where that’s very hard,” says
Ms McCulloch, citing energy and care as two of
these particularly challenging sectors.
“With a lot of the community shops and pubs,
there’s market failure, so communities and coops
are stepping into address market failure,
and the co-operative model has a competitive
advantage, either through things like volunteer
time or community buy-in, that then enables
the business to succeed and provide the service
that’s required. Whereas in [other sectors] there
is competition with private finance backing.”
One opportunity for growth that is seen across
the co-operative movement, is replicability – one
of the reasons that the “community shop and
pub model has just boomed” says Ms McCulloch.
There is evidence it works, and guides on what to
do and how to do it.
The word replicate “is the key to cooperatives”,
says Ms Morris. She explains that
this is where The Hive’s peer mentoring work
comes in, embodying the sixth co-operative
principle of co-operation among co-ops. “I
think this distinguishes co-ops from traditional
businesses … co-operatives are always keen to
see more co-ops in their sector and are keen to
support them and share their knowledge and
experience.”
Ms McCulloch adds, “It’s the most satisfying
thing to help others set up, and then they make
it their own,” adding “I think running any kind
of co-op business is hard work so you don’t really
want to keep growing and keep growing.”
“What I’m excited to see is new sectors coming
through like housing, and other community
hubs. And you see it in parts like West Yorkshire,
or even Manchester, and the South West as well,
there’s a lot of community activity and there’s a
snowball effect. Where there’s been successful
ones, people are like, ‘yes, we can do the same’.
And then they work with each other to make
it happen.”
p Top: Nudge
Community Builders
secured £206,750
with 165 investors
in 67 days to bring
former pub The
Clipper back into use
for community benefit
p Above: FC United
of Manchester – a
community owned
football club
APRIL 2022 | 45

When small
means strong:
COMMUNITY POWER AT COOPERATION TOWN
Miles Hadfield
Launched in Camden, north London, in
2019, Cooperation Town is a network of small
community co-ops that organise hyper-local
neighbourhoods into food-buying clubs.
The scheme means members can save 30-40%
on food bills through shared bulk purchasing,
but it is also leveraging its small-scale model to
empower working class neighbourhoods through
non-hierarchical, autonomous, collective action.
It has 14 co-ops in operation, with another 10
ready for launch and many more in the pipeline.
The team has also produced its Starter Pack, a
guide for people looking to set up a co-op, and
has so far distributed around 1,000 copies.
Organisers are working on a drive to see one
running in every neighbourhood in Camden,
which will also be the site of a new logistics hub.
Cooperation Town hopes this warehouse can
help them achieve greater economies of scale
without individual co-ops having to get too big.
“A 20 household co-op can buy a big bag of
rice and share it, which brings savings for each
member – but at the warehouse, we can buy
five tons of rice,” says co-founder Shiri Shalmy.
“It’s almost like a co-op of co-ops, but there’s no
membership relationship to us – the individual
co-ops are not members of our co-op. They’re
autonomous. The reason that we’re able to do
that is because we were able to secure funding
from the Lottery and from the Joseph Rowntree
Charitable Trust, and from local authorities.
That means we’re not reliant on our members
to sustain the network or ourselves as an
organisation – that would not be okay.”
New co-ops on the Cooperation Town model
are formed in two different ways – people hear
of it through word of mouth and approach the
group. “Or we might be working with another
organisation like a local food network, a
community group or a local authority and reach
out to people already in those networks – it could
be a tenants and residents’ association (TRA), a
faith group, the users of a community centre. We
present the idea and support them in organising.”
The small scale works because it keeps the
model to “people who already have some link
between them,” adds Ms Shalmy. “It could be
just that they live on the same street or estate.
But they’re small for different reasons; one is
that we don’t want to make people’s lives more
difficult, it shouldn’t be about having to travel
somewhere far to be part of a food co-op.
“And we want everyone to have a role in the
co-op; keeping it to 20 members means that
everyone gets to do something – at least on
rotation, it could be picking stuff up, it could be
unpacking, it could mean being the treasurer.”
Limiting the size helps keep decision making
and communication “democratic, open and
inclusive,” she says. “Some co-ops are bigger
than 20 households, some are smaller. We don’t
tell people what to do, but we do suggest that,
once they get to, say 25 or 30, they split. So we
end up with more co-ops, and more people who
have developed the confidence to organise as a
co-op, who are feeling that they have the skills
and experience to share with new neighbours.
They don’t need us anymore, because they are
already community organisers.”
This is hopefully a way of building local power,
she adds. “It’s people on the same estate, the
46 | APRIL 2022

same street, organising around something that
is very low risk, that everyone needs. It’s multigenerational,
it’s multicultural, it’s people from
different backgrounds who had been connected
only by a postcode. They’re now sourcing quality
food for less money, sharing recipes but also,
crucially, learning to solve problems together.
“It’s a kind of power that is transferable to
other issues – we’re already seeing our members
incorporate co-ops organising around other
things, like childcare, gardening or housing,
because they have learned to build power around
something very easy. To me, this is something
that needs to be practised on a hyper-local
level. These are local issues that affect people
immediately. They’re not big campaigns. They’re
not national policy changes. This is building
power with our neighbours.
“We are seeing people getting involved in other
things because they have met their neighbours
and realised there are other common issues
beyond affordable food. The best example is
members of Cooperation Walthamstow in north
London, one of the members was being evicted
from her house with three children. She’s not
a political organiser, not somebody who knew
how to resist this, but her co-op rallied around
her and defended her. There was an eviction
resistance and the bailiffs did not enter this
house. This member and her children got to
stay in their house that day because her co-op
organised the neighbourhood to defend her.”
The hyper-local model also means things
don’t get too bureaucratic, says Ms Shalmy,
with little scope for management capture or one
individual taking too much power. Meanwhile,
the co-op structure elevates members who
would otherwise be marginalised. “When we
first started organising, some people said,
‘where’s the manager?’ Then we talked about it
and realised that we don’t need one. These are
the things co-op members are learning together,
talking about ownership and collective decision
making; allowing room for mistakes and
learning from those.”
She adds: “Our own organisation, which is a
worker co-op, is quite small. We have four core
members and at the moment, we’re employing
three other people on a project basis. We are
looking to grow, but we’re trying to grow slowly.
We get calls from local authorities, probably once
a week, asking to roll out the model, but we’re
not going to do it right now, because we want to
grow slowly. We want to make sure we’re doing
it well. Councils come to us because we provide
a solution that doesn’t cost a lot of money; it’s
basically the cost of a part time organiser, and
“WHEN WE FIRST STARTED ORGANISING,
SOME PEOPLE SAID, ‘WHERE’S THE
MANAGER?’ THEN WE TALKED ABOUT IT AND
REALISED THAT WE DON’T NEED ONE
it is sustainable, it’s long term. You can build it
and then you can let it replicate and grow. We’re
in this weird place where local authorities love
us, without us hiding our politics. We’re really
open about our politics, we’re talking about the
real problem being poverty wages on the one
hand and parasite landlords on the other. We’re
working with Co-operate Islington, which is the
first co-op development agency set up since 1974,
and we’re pushing to set another up in Camden.
“And if someone else has come up with
something that can work well within the model,
we’ll be happy to work with them. If you’re a
childcare co-op, or a food-growing co-op, we
would work with you where we already have
food co-ops organising, before we work with
another local authority.”
Food and energy prices are rising – but, says
Ms Shalmy, “poverty was there already. We hear
people talking about energy costs and food costs
and that could mean more people who haven’t
so far felt squeezed – we might see middle class
people looking for a collective solution.”
But Cooperation Town does not want to dilute
its purpose. “If it means there are more co-ops,
that’s a good thing, as long as the structure is
robust enough to make sure that there isn’t a
middle-class takeover. We’re very clear about
our politics, that this is a working class project,
we’re organising for power in our class.”
APRIL 2022 | 47

COOPERATE ISLINGTON
Collaborating
for co-operation
Susan Press
q Tenants meeting at
Space4
A radical wave of co-operative initiatives is
aiming to transform life for local people in
Islington. The ambitious plans are inspired by
innovative ideas on community wealth building
which made Preston and its council a beacon of
hope, despite over 10 years of economic austerity
for local government.
What became known as the ‘Preston Model’
offered new opportunities for businesses to play
an active role in shaping their local economy,
working with the local authority to supply
goods and services so money stayed in the local
economy for those who needed it most.
The recent launch of Cooperate Islington
offers more opportunities. Here, a consortium
of co-operatives and community organisers is
working in partnership with Islington Council
to build a local authority-funded co-operative
development agency (CDA) – the first of its
kind for 40 years – offering funding, advice,
workspace and other resources, working with
some of the biggest institutions in the borough
and helping them adapt supply chains to buy
goods and services locally from ethical providers.
Stir to Action, a long-established co-operative
supporting economic change and strategic
development, is closely involved in the
partnership.
Jonny Gordon-Farleigh, Stir To Action cofounder,
says: “Many people have been looking
at how the Preston Model might apply in a
different context, such as a metropolitan borough
where there are immense levels of private capital
coexisting with areas of deprivation. This is
the culmination of a lot of work supporting the
co-operative, inclusive economy and we’re in
position to continue to build on it. This is a big
moment – there hasn’t been a new CDA funded
by a council for a few decades.”
In 2010, Islington Council’s Fairness
Commission took serious steps to tackle stark
inequalities. Statistics showed Islington might
be home to some of the wealthiest people in the
country, but it was also an area where over half
its children were growing up in poverty.
Islington Council became one of the first
boroughs to pay the London Living Wage. It
introduced free school meals for all nursery and
primary school children, and created a new inhouse
employment services team – iWork – that
has supported 5,500 people back into work.
The social impact was impressive but fast
forward to 2022 and the figures show there is still
a massive disconnect between the big flows of
capital and multi-national businesses and small
businesses facing the impact of rapidly rising
prices for office space.
Islington’s new Community Wealth Building
directorate has been tasked with ensuring things
become more inclusive and that money stays in
the local economy.
A driving force behind it is Cllr Asima Shaikh,
executive member for inclusive economy
and jobs. With a background in international
economic development and a previous role
in the Economic Unit of the Greater London
Authority, she is passionate about improving
lives, particularly for the borough’s working
class and BAME communities.
“By traditional measures Islington is wealthy
– but this supposedly successful and wealthy
economy doesn’t work for many local people. We
needed to look at how we can have an economy
48 | APRIL 2022

which delivers the best for local people, spending
resources on the poorest. Everything we did had
that lens to it, targeting communities where help
is needed.”
The council is using its £1.2 m funding from the
mayor’s Good Growth Fund (which it matched
with another £1m) to intervene in a number of
ways, including increasing the amount of social
values expected from procurement – doubled
from 10 to 20%.
It is also working with anchor institutions
– large social buyers and employers – like the
Whittington Hospital and City University to
maximise employment opportunities.
Among the five social value indicators that
feature in the bidding process is the extent to
which providers plan to support women and
unemployed residents to get back into work,
and how many disabled, young ex-offenders,
and black or minority ethnic staff they expect to
employ. To date, the programme has generated
over £1m of additional value.
Affordable Workspaces, a council-led market
intervention, already offers long-term leases of
10-20 years on peppercorn rents to create office
space for co-operatives, social enterprises and
other entrepreneurs. It has now delivered more
than 2,520sqm of space and secured a further
2,824sqm from new developments to deliver in
the next five years.
In 2019, the first tender was awarded to
Outlandish, a local tech co-operative, which is
now managing Space4 as a co-working space for
pro-social tech businesses. The anchor tenant is
Founders & Coders, a tech non-profit that offers
training programmes in web development.
The space is operated on a ‘pay what you can’
model, with 50% benefiting from a partial or full
discount. Outlandish is also at the forefront of
the development of the new CDA.
One of the initiatives benefiting from the
scheme is Wings, an ethical courier co-operative,
launched in July 2021, with many riders who
were part of an initiative to deliver emergency
food parcels during the first Covid-19 lockdown.
It’s currently the only food courier business that
guarantees the London Living Wage, offering sick
pay and benefits, unlike most other competitors
in the gig economy.
Similarly, a disused retail space in Fonthill
Road, Finsbury Park, is now home to the FC
Designer Collective, a partnership between
Islington Council, local communities and
garment industry co-operative Fashion-Enter,
providing local designers with a high street
outlet to sell their work. In lieu of rent, it provides
business mentoring and training in tailoring and
needlework to local creatives and community
groups, to help kick-start their careers in the
garment industry.
In late autumn 2021, Islington council granted
£250,000 to Outlandish and Hackney Cooperative
Development, in partnership with
Stir to Action and Principle Six, to launch an
advice and grants programme – with at least
40% of beneficiaries from women and BAME
backgrounds – and to support the development
of the new CDA.
The plan is to launch an independent body
in Autumn 2022, working with the council’s
Community Wealth Building directorate, the
council’s partnerships, and networks within
Islington to build new capacities and create a
pipeline of co-operatives.
It is still early days but so far, over 250 people
have been supported into employment through
new job opportunities, overcoming previous
barriers in the process.
And it is hoped the new CDA will be a real
game-changer, inspiring other local authorities
across the country to follow suit.
Councillor Shaikh said: “All the initiatives
mentioned are attempting to get benefits for
local residents. We want to support co-ops to
link in with our procurement team and would
love to commission them to develop services that
are currently outsourced.
“We have a good track record but now in the
context of the post-Covid world, we need to look
again at how you restructure the economy and
make things different, challenging ourselves to
have more grassroots, community-based co-ops
in poorer communities.”
p Top: Wings
co-founder Rich
Mason and Cllr Asima
Shaikh launch the new
ethical food delivery
co-op
p Above: Jannaty
women’s group, led by
Majida Sayam (in the
white hijab). is one of
the groups using the
shared space
APRIL 2022 | 49

DIARY
Do you have a co-operative
event – taking place in
person, online, or as a
hybrid – to be featured?
Tell us at:
events@thenews.coop
UK Worker Co-op Weekend
29 April-1 May (Devon, England)
A weekend for worker co-ops to learn,
share and be inspired – and take part in
a conversation about the future of the
worker co-op movement.
bit.ly/3Ibil78
Cooperatives Europe General Assembly
24-25 May (Cardiff, Wales)
The General Assembly will open the
first day with a conference on youth and
sustainable business in coordination with
the Youth European Cooperative Network
(YECN). The second day will be dedicated
to statutory business and by-elections.
The GA will be an opportunity to exchange
in a dynamic way on its vision for the next
four years.
bit.ly/3vbPXxX
ICA General Assembly
20 June (Seville, Spain)
The next ICA General Assembly will be
hosted by the Spanish Confederation of
Worker Cooperatives (COCETA) in Seville,
Spain, and will include the elections for
the ICA President and board of directors.
bit.ly/3IhUvqu
50 | APRIL 2022
UK Co-operative Congress
24- 25 June (Birmingham, UK)
Details tbc.
International Day of Co-operatives
2 July
Playground for the New Economy
12-14 July (Devon)
Stir to Action’s Playground for the New
Economy Festival is returning to its
residential campus at Selgars Mill in Mid
Devon for three days of panels, workshops,
open space, virtual reality experiences,
sustainable food, and live music.
stirtoaction.com/festival
World Credit Union Conference
17-20 July (Glasgow)
The World Council of Credit Unions will cohost
its conference with the Association of
British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL).
Speakers include cyber security analyst
Keren Elazari and behavioural science
expert Belinda Parmar.
wcuc.org
Co-op Party Conference
8-9 October (Leeds)
The Co-operative Party’s showcase of
co-operative politics and the largest
political online gathering of the year for
the UK co‐operative movement.
party.coop/event/annconf022
ICMIF Centenary Conference
25-28 October 2022 (Rome)
The ICMIF Centenary Conference will be
an event that stimulates original ideas for
better business performance; that offers
clear insights into the trends that are
shaping the future of our industry; that
provides a full and clear understanding
of the powerful role that the sector too
can play in redesigning insurance. The
Centenary Conference will be hosted
by the Unipol Group, one of ICMIF’s
founding members, in Rome, where the
organisation was founded 100 years ago.
icmif.org/icmif-conference/

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Full coverage of the ICA’s 33rd
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Full coverage MPs of debate the debate ICA’s the 33rd
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MPs debate debate the
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Leading the movement in workspaces for those who lead the change,
with spaces currently available to rent
Space for
change
Visit www.ethicalproperty.co.uk Email sales@ethicalproperty.co.uk or call 01865 207 810 to find out more
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JANUARY 2021
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... Kay Johnson’s work on food
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SEPTEMBER 2021
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MAY 2021 Connecting, championing, cha lenging
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JULY 2021
CONGRESS 2021:
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ISSN 0009-9821
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Plus … New international
working group for UK co-ops
... Kay Johnson’s work on food
fairness in Preston ... New York
taxi drivers launch fundraiser
for platform co-op
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WHY AREN’T
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01
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APRIL 2021 Connecting, championing, cha lenging
Connecting, championing, cha lenging
affect co-op businesses ...
Latest statistics from the
World Co-op Monitor... The
Hive begins another round of
funding and support
JANUARY 2021
ISSN 0009-9821
9 7 7 0 0 0 9 9 8 2 0 1 0
www.thenews.coop
Plus … New international
working group for UK co-ops
... Kay Johnson’s work on food
fairness in Preston ... New York
taxi drivers launch fundraiser
for platform co-op
ISSN 0009-9821
01
Plus … Credit unions
consider the merger question
... A globa look at youth
empowerment ... Robert Owen:
anniversary of a co-op icon ...
Nigel Todd: A tribute
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WHY AREN’T
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ISSN 0009-9821
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www.thenews.coop
JANUARY 2021
ISSN 0009-9821
9 7 7 0 0 0 9 9 8 2 0 1 0
ISSN 0009-9821
9 7 7 0 0 0 9 9 8 2 0 1 0
www.thenews.coop
wo
... Kay
fairness
taxi drivers
for platform c
Plus
consider
... A global
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Nigel Todd: A tribut
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1 Connecting, Connecting, championing, championing, chalenging
lenging
FEBRUARY 2021
WHAT’S NEXT
FOR THE CO-OP
MOVEMENT?
Plus … How Brexit will
HOW CO-OP
DEMOCRACY
PLAYS OUT
ISSN 0009-9821
www.thenews.coop
MAY 2021
Plus … Where do
co-operatives fit in the new
retai landscape? ... The
humanisation of healthcare
... 90 years of the Rochdale
Pioneers Museum
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APRIL 2021
IS RESILIENCE
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the UKSCS c
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co-ops rush to help afte
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