September 2017

news
September 2017
FOOD
Celebrating
British Food
Fortnight
Plus ... 100 years of
the Co-operative Party ...
Crunch time for Croatia’s
co-ops ... Has Co-ops
Fortnight lost its way?
ISSN 0009-9821
9 770009 982010
01
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CONNECTING, CHAMPIONING AND
CHALLENGING THE GLOBAL CO-OP
MOVEMENT SINCE 1871
Holyoake House, Hanover Street,
Manchester M60 0AS
(00) 44 161 214 0870
www.thenews.coop
editorial@thenews.coop
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Anthony Murray
anthony@thenews.coop
DEPUTY EDITOR
Rebecca Harvey
rebecca@thenews.coop
EDITORIAL
Anca Voinea | anca@thenews.coop
Miles Hadfield | miles@thenews.coop
DIRECTORS
Elaine Dean (chair), David Paterson
(vice-chair), Richard Bickle, Sofygil
Crew, Gavin Ewing, Tim Hartley,
Erskine Holmes, Beverley Perkins and
Barbara Rainford.
Secretary: Ray Henderson
Established in 1871, Co-operative News
is published by Co-operative Press Ltd,
a registered society under the Cooperative
and Community Benefit Society
Act 2014. It is printed every month by
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readers as well as to other co-operatives,
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The Co-operative News mission statement
is to connect, champion and challenge
the global co-operative movement,
through fair and objective journalism and
open and honest comment and debate.
Co-op News is, on occasion, supported by
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cooperativenews
Our view: Solutions to a
growing food crisis
In 1844, the Rochdale Pioneers made food more affordable and much safer to
eat. Today’s co-operative pioneers are now ensuring production and consumption
are sustainable.
As the global population increases, so does the demand for food. The United
Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals – specifically goal two – calls for us to
rethink how we grow, share and consume our food, especially if we are to feed an
extra two billion people by 2050.
By 2030, the UN wants us to create sustainable food production systems and
implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production.
At last year’s International Summit of Cooperatives, UN ambassadors called on the
co-op movement to get behind these targets.
One of the solutions to creating this sustainable approach is through the sourcing
and production of local food. (Typically local food is produced within 20-30 miles of
an outlet, but policies vary by retailer.)
Retail co-ops across the UK support around 1,400 local producers, according to
our research into local food initiatives. What has also helped regional co-ops is the
relaxing of sourcing rules from the overall co-op buying group – Federal Retail and
Trading Services.
If we have a quick look at other retailers, Asda says it sources 6,000 products from
600 local suppliers, while Waitrose buys 2,500 products from 600 producers.
Earlier this year, Morrisons launched a drive to recruit 200 local producers after a
survey it commissioned found that only 52% of the food eaten in the UK comes from
UK farmers.
Collectively, co-ops are ahead of the competition when creating relationships with
local suppliers. This connection is made possible because we have regional co-ops
that have direct connections to the communities they serve.
During our research though, we found very limited numbers of small producers
organised as co-ops. If we are to help the UN achieve its goals, then we need to
find more pioneers who want to organise collectively to ensure a sustainable food
ecosystem for all.
ANTHONY MURRAY - 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.
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 3

the Co-operative Party ...
Crunch time for Croatia’s
Co-ops ... Has Co-ops
Fortnight lost its way?
ISSN 0009-9821
01
9 770009 982010
THIS ISSUE
CLOCKWISE FROM FAR LEFT
The Co-operative Party unfurls a banner
to celebrate its centenary (p24-31); what
are co-ops doing for Britain’s local food
producers? (p32-43); Croatia’s co-ops
include colourful crafts but what does the
future hold? (p44-45); and the Co-op Bank
announces a loss and agrees a deal that cuts
the Co-op Group’s stake to 1% (p7)
news Issue #7287 SEPTEMBER 2017
Connecting, championing, challenging
news
September 2017
FOOD
Celebrating
British Food
Fortnight
Plus ... 100 years of
£4.20
www.thenews.coop
COVER: Ahead of British Food
Fortnight, how are co-operatives
supporting local food producers?
In a special feature supported
by East of England Co-operative,
we explore how local food
initiatives are being embraced
by retail societies, hear from the
next generation of farmers and
look abroad for an example of a
thriving community food store
Read more: p32-43
22-23 OPINION
Co-operatives Fortnight founder Chris
Herries wonders if we have forgotten the
purpose of the event
24-31 CO-OP PARTY CENTENARY
24-25 MEET ... ALEC SOBEL
Labour/Co-op MP for Leeds North West on
constituency work and climate change
26-27 The Party’s general secretary
Claire McCarthy says co-operation is
intrinsically political
28-29 The first 100 years – a timeline of
the Party from its foundation in 1917
30-31 We look at some of the notable
figures from the Party’s history
32-43 BRITISH FOOD FORTNIGHT
32-35 How co-op retail societies are
supporting the UK’s local producers
36-37 Case study: East of England
Co-operative and its Sourced Locally
scheme
37 10 ways to co-operatives can engage
with local producers
38 Case study: Openfield, the grain co-op
giant that supplies Warburton’s
39 The next generation of Cop-op Farming
Pioneers discuss the future of agriculture
40-41 A campaign to encourage students
to form food co-ops to help them develop
healthier eating habits
42 A People’s Food Manifesto
43 Interview: Jon Steinman, from
Canada’s Kootenay Co-op, on the impact
community food stores can have
44-45 CROATIA’S CO-OP MOVEMENT
The country’s tiny co-op sector is at a
crossroads – interest is growing since the
2008 financial crisis but a hostile legal
environment threatens its survival
46-47 CO-OP KEYWORDS
The Co-operative College compiles the
words that should be at the tip of every
co-operator’s tongue
REGULARS
6-15 UK updates
16-21: Global updates
23: Letters
48-49: Reviews
50: Diary
4 | SEPTEMBER 2017

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NEWS
TRADE UNIONS
IndyCube co-op joins
Community in new trade
union for workers in the
freelance economy
Trade union Community and co-working
office co-op IndyCube have joined forces
to offer a voice to the UK’s growing number
of self-employed workers.
The IndyCube Community, which will
provide services, representation and a
collective voice, aims to sign up more than
100,000 members over the next five years.
In addition to Community’s traditional
trade union roles of legal advice and
representation, the partnership will
offer specialist support on matters such
as contract disputes, copyright law and
shareholder agreements.
IndyCube Community will also
offer business advice for start-ups and
freelancers, covering everything from
invoicing and tax returns to insurance and
health and safety.
The venture comes amid growing
concern over working conditions for
millions of self-employed people, with the
aftermath of the economic crisis and the
rise of automation and the gig economy
forcing workers to take the freelance route.
The recent government-commissioned
Taylor review met a mixed reaction from
the trade union and co-op movements.
And Mark Hooper, founder of IndyCube
which offers office co-working space
and other support to freelance workers,
recently told delegates at Co-operative
Congress of his concerns over declining
working conditions for the self-employed.
p IndyCube’s co-working space in Swansea
IndyCube hopes to alleviate some of
these problems, including “the scourge
of late payments and cash flow crises”,
by offering a comprehensive invoice
factoring service.
“Late payments currently leave UK
small businesses and freelancers £26bn
out of pocket,” it says. “Invoice factoring
services are normally only available to
large, well established companies, but
using the collective strength of their
members, IndyCube Community will
give independent workers the security of
always being paid on time.”
Members of IndyCube Community
will also have access to IndyCube’s 30
co-working sites, which provide low-cost
desk space as well as facilities such as
creative studios and workshops. Most of
these are in Wales, but additional sites
will open across the whole of the UK in
the coming year.
Mr Hooper said: “For several years,
IndyCube has supported independent
workers by providing low cost spaces to
work, collaborate and socialise.
“Our partnership with Community is
the next step in our journey and will give
self-employed workers a collective voice
and access to support and services that
would normally be out of their reach.
“Whether someone is self-employed, a
freelancer, or working in the gig economy,
IndyCube Community will help make their
working world better. No one has tried this
before, and we are really excited about
working to give support, representation
and guidance to the millions of people in
Britain who work independently.”
John Park, assistant general secretary
of Community, said: “This partnership
between Community and IndyCube will
support self-employed workers like never
before. We are taking the best bits of
traditional trade unionism and making
them relevant to modern, independent
workers, and delivering them through an
innovative online platform.
“Millions of people in the UK survive
in precarious self-employment; IndyCube
Community has the potential to give real
power and control to those workers.”
FINANCE
Relaxation of audit
rules could save UK
co-ops up to £10,000 a
year, says government
Co-operatives could save up to £10,000 a
year thanks to new government proposals
requiring fewer of them to appoint an
auditor. The government has launched
a consultation on proposals to increase
the thresholds at which co-operatives
and community benefit societies have to
produce a full audit report.
At the moment, co-ops with a turnover
of less than £5.6m and assets of less
than £2.8m can choose not to appoint an
auditor. The government is proposing to
increase the turnover and asset thresholds
to £10.2m and £5.1m respectively.
This will mean over 70% of co-ops in the
UK will no longer have to undertake a full
audit, levelling the playing field between
co-ops and companies of the same size.
Ed Mayo, secretary general of
Co-operatives UK, which has been
lobbying for the changes for a year, said:
“We are pleased government has heeded
calls to remove this unnecessary extra
burden on co-operative and community
businesses. This is a great example of
the practical steps government can take
to support the UK’s co-operative sector,
which plays a key role in fostering a more
inclusive economy.”
Economic secretary to the Treasury,
Stephen Barclay, said: “We want to
6 | SEPTEMBER 2017

CO-OP BANK
Co-op Bank reports
interim loss of £135m
as shareholders agree
debt-for-equity rescue
The Co-operative Bank has reported a loss
of £135m for the first half of 2017 (2016:
£177m) in its first report since the Bank
agreed a £700m rescue package with its
investors in June.
This rescue deal was approved in
August by shareholders, by 90% of the
vote, reducing the Co-op Group’s share in
the Bank to 1%. The Bank confirmed that
it expects to complete the restructuring
and recapitalisation by 1 September.
This will leave it in the control of five
hedge funds – BlueMountain Capital,
Cyrus Capital Partners, GoldenTree Asset
Management, Anchorage Capital and
Silver Point Capital.
The deal follows a troubled time for the
Bank, which almost collapsed in 2013 after
a £1.5bn hole was found in its finances
before the first hedge fund rescue.
In February, the Bank put itself up
for sale after its capital base fell short
of regulatory requirements but this was
halted in June after the restructure plan
was drawn up.
And there are still issues surrounding
its IT systems, which earned it criticism
from regulators for missing a deadline for
new rules on customer overdrafts.
The regulator has now given the Bank
until 5 January, 2018, to comply and told
it to compensate any customers affected.
Releasing its interim results, the Bank
said lower operating income and increased
exceptional items incurred during the first
six months of 2017 were offset by reduced
operating costs and project spend.
Total operating expenditure fell 9.9%
to £200.8m in the first six months of 2017
(2016: £222.8m), reflecting “progress made
in the cost reduction programme”. Its net
interest margin decreased to 1.32% (2016:
1.42%). The bank’s total capital ratio stood
at 16.8% as at 30 June compared to 17.7%
at the end of 2016.
The Bank also closed 10 branches in the
six months to 30 June, bringing the total
number to 95. Current account numbers
fell by just under 2% as around 25,000
customers moved elsewhere, leaving it
with 1.4 million accounts.
“Since 2013, the Bank has faced
considerable challenges, the majority the
result of legacy issues,” said Bank chair
Dennis Holt. “During the last three years
we have focused relentlessly on reshaping
our business around how customers
want to bank today, with significant
improvements in our digital proposition
and investment in our product range and
ethical brand, and we are pleased with
the progress we have made so far. Our
customer service has remained strong and
we are in the top three banks for current
account customer service in the UK.”
On completion of its restructuring
and recapitalisation plan, the Bank will
become a wholly owned subsidiary of a
newly incorporated holding company,
Holdco. It is intended that, with effect
from the settlement date, Holdco will
change its name to the Co-operative Bank
Holdings Limited.
Holdco “has incorporated the principles
of values and ethics into its incorporation
articles as they relate to oversight of the
Bank”. The Holdco articles of association
continue to include core provisions on
values and ethics.
It is expected that, as of the settlement
date, and going forward, the membership
of the Bank’s board will be the same
as that of the Holdco board. Tom Wood
joined the Bank as chief restructuring
officer designate, subject to regulatory
approval, in July 2017, and will report to
the chief executive.
see co-operatives and community
benefit societies across the UK thrive
and grow. That’s why we’re reducing
onerous administrative burdens on these
societies, saving them money and freeing
them up to concentrate on what matters
the most – the needs of their members
and communities.”
Once the legislation is passed, the
change is likely to come into effect in
the first half of 2018. In order to take
advantage of the change, co-operatives
must pass a resolution to dis-apply the
requirement to produce a full audit report
through their members, and the society
must not be on the list of exempted
societies, such as credit unions.
Co-operatives UK says it is still lobbying
for changes to the auditors’ report’
requirement for societies with a turnover
over £90,000.
u You can download Co-operatives
UK’s consultation response template
at s.coop/25wel. Responses should be
emailed to retailbankingandmutuals@
hmtreasury.gsi.gov.uk.
q HM Treasury,
Westminster
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 7

AGRICULTURE
Farm co-ops ‘need to worker harder to find the right directors’
Farm co-ops in the UK are not doing
enough to recruit the right directors and
monitor their performance, says a report.
The study, from Co-operatives UK and
the Scottish Agricultural Organisation
Society (SAOS), looked at how farmerowned
businesses reward their directors.
Co-operatives UK, the national apex
body for the co-op sector, says director
recruitment is critical to a business’s
success and a remuneration package is
important in attracting the right mix of
skills and experience.
But of the co-ops surveyed, only 12%
have a formal process to review board
performance; just 37% have a director
development programme in place;
and only 36% are confident that they
are recruiting enough directors of the
necessary calibre.
There is also a need for greater gender
diversity, with only 13% of respondents
having women on boards.
To remedy this, Co-operatives UK
and SAOS say agricultural co-operatives
should build more regular director
and board performance reviews into
governance planning.
And boards should have a formal
process to monitor director remuneration
to ensure it reflects the business’s needs
and ability to recruit the right directors.
The report found that director
remuneration, and the amount of time
spent by directors on their roles, varies
widely – even among organisations with
similar turnover and employee numbers.
Richard Self, agricultural manager at
Co-operatives UK, said: “The board is the
engine powering your co-operative. It is
vital to regularly service your board just
as you would your car.
“What the figures in this survey show is
that, alongside some best practice, many
agricultural co-operatives are not taking
the time to time to ‘tune’ their boards.”
He added: “Whether through
performance reviews, board development
or ensuring there are appropriate levels of
diversity and the right mix of skills, there
is a clear need for more co-operatives
to put systematic processes in place to
ensure boards are best placed to drive the
business forward.”
Jim Booth, head of co-op development
at SAOS, added: “The quality and calibre
of directors is arguably one of the most
important factors in ensuring future
success for a co-op. Farmer directors
don’t expect to make lots of money
p The Rural Coalition wants more support for small communities in its statement for 2017
COMMUNITY
Plunkett joins Rural Coalition’s call for action
A rural lobbying coalition which includes
the Plunkett Foundation has presented
its 2017 statement outlining policies to
create a “living and working countryside
in England”.
Plunkett, which promotes community
ownership, is one of 12 national bodies in
the Rural Coalition, which also includes
the National Farmers Union and the
Campaign to Protect Rural England.
The coalition calls for:
u an annual target for the number of
new affordable homes built in rural areas
and a dedicated rural affordable housing
funding programme
u a support programme for rural
businesses and community entrepreneurs
u extra costs of delivering services in
rural areas to be properly reflected in any
funding formula, such as those used for
local government and the NHS
u an infrastructure support programme,
which recognises the pressures on
volunteers, helps those places with less
capacity and spreads good practice.
while serving on their co-op board but
equally they should not subsidise the rest
of the membership.
“The remuneration level for directors
needs to be appropriate to attract and
retain the right calibre of people.”
It also wants rural interests to be
carefully considered in the Brexit
settlement, with a fair provision of
funding and devolved decision making.
Plunkett is advocating co-op and social
enterprise models through the coalition.
General manager James Alcock said:
“Throughout the UK, rural communities
have been taking action themselves to set
up and run essential services and assets
of community value.
“They do this because they know no
one else is going to do it for them, and
without it, their communities would be
much poorer in comparison. From the
village shop, pub and post office, through
to woodlands, farms and fishing ports,
Plunkett Foundation has supported over
500 such community-owned businesses
to establish and thrive, but we are seeing
their journey to open taking longer, and
the barriers put in front of them making it
harder for them to survive.
“We are calling on the government to
recognise their vital contribution.”
8 | SEPTEMBER 2017

q Alistair Rowland
(inset) says
Midcounties will
service businesses’
travel needs with the
new venture
BUSINESS
Midcounties looks to fill gap in corporate travel market left empty by Group
Midcounties Co-operative Travel is
preparing for the launch of a business
serving corporate customers.
Co-op Travel Management, which
offers a single portal where clients can
book transport and accommodation –
including from their phone – will operate
as a subsidiary of the travel business at
Midcounties, the largest independent
consumer co-op in the UK.
Alistair Rowland, Midcounties’ group
general manager – specialist retail, says
the move brings the society closer to
filling a gap left by the Co-op Group’s
travel division. The Group created a joint
venture for its travel outfit with Thomas
Cook in 2011, before pulling out last year,
selling full control to Thomas Cook.
The venture, based at Midcounties’
Walsall head office, will be led by Mike
Crotty, who was director of operations
and business support at the Group’s travel
business before the merger.
“Mike brings knowledge,” said Mr
Rowland. “He knows the market very well,
and he knows co-ops very well. He’s done
a number of things since the Group – and
he has set up new ventures before, so he’s
perfectly placed to build from a zero start.”
Mr Rowland, who was director of
distribution at the Group‘s travel business
until 2011, said he’s made it his “life’s
work” to rebuild a co-operative travel
business over the past five years.
“Midcounties decided to carry on
running a travel business,” he added.
“Many people from the Group moved to
Midcounties rather than going with the
Thomas Cook venture. We wanted to build
up a co-operative travel business.”
Since then, the team has grown
Midcounties Co-op Travel, increasing
turnover from £70m to £400m.
“We’ve got that business in place,” said
Mr Rowland, “but the other successful
element at the Co-op Group was corporate
travel management, which sold services to
small and medium enterprises.”
The Group’s corporate travel division
became part of the joint venture with
Thomas Cook but was subsequently sold
and rebranded as Clarity.
“It still has lots of the old management
in place,” said Mr Rowland, “but what it
lacks is the Co-op brand, which is really
important for corporate travellers.”
He said he wanted to build the new
business to match the old corporate travel
offering from the Group. “It was very
successful – it had 14 offices round the UK,
£125m turnover, making £2m profits.
“Under the Group, it was called
Co-operative Travel Management. The
new business under Midcounties is called
Co-op Travel Management.”
The ethical values of a co-op business
are more relevant than before, he said.
“Now, customers want corporate social
responsibility covered – how many CO2s
are they burning off? Another element is
quality management. Through the portal,
corporates can control what all their
operatives do. For example, they can set a
hotel price cap in London to control costs.”
Mr Rowland said the ambition was
always to open a corporate travel arm but
“we’ve just been too busy. When you’re
trying to rebuild a travel group, you have to
have a strong base of leisure travel to work
from. You have to get that sorted.”
In terms of costs and fees, Co-op Travel
Management will offer a “fully transparent
service”, he added. “Customers will know
exactly what they’re paying for.
“The corporate market has had a few
years of consolidation, with big players
buying up smaller ones. That’s left a need
in the market, with unhappy customers
who have found their service transferred.
“One thing big companies are not good
at – that the old Co-op Travel business
did well – is the public sector, which can
be difficult. If a doctor wants to travel,
the travel company needs to offer three
separate quotes. Big companies don’t want
to do it, it’s cumbersome – but we will be
very good at it.”
The venture also benefits from a lack of
legacy problems over IT development.
“Technology has improved hugely in last
two years. Where big corporations have
spent millions trying to develop things as
obvious as a single sign-on for a user, that
technology is now available.
“Tech and travel is pretty grim but with
the apps now available we’ll be using
working technology pretty much off the
shelf, and what we offer will look good.”
He added: “There’s not a lot of new players
in the market, and we have knowledge of the
market. And because we don’t have to work
on our tech, we can work on the customer
base. You don’t need to be too clever – you
just need to be offering the best service.”
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 9

CO-OP GROUP
Unite ballots members
at Co-op depot over
alleged dismissal of
disabled drivers
Trade union Unite is balloting drivers
at the Co-op Group’s distribution depot
at West Thurrock, alleging ‘appalling
treatment’ of three disabled workers.
Unite says its members, who deliver
to 600 Co-op stories in London and
the South East, are “extremely angry
that three of their colleagues have been
dismissed or are facing dismissal due to
their disabilities”.
It claims the disabled drivers had been
given work they were able to undertake,
but this is no longer available because of
outsourcing or internal reorganisation.
The union says it called for the workers
to be given redundancy, but claims local
management rejected this and “opted to
use a capability process which resulted in
two of the workers being sacked and the
third expecting the same”.
Unite regional officer Paul Travers said:
“The Co-op has acted in an appalling
Tackling AGM crime
The Co-op Group is introducing a device
to spray traceable gel on anyone who tries
to break into one of its ATMs.
The water-based gel, which remains
invisible on clothes and skin – as well
as the stolen cash – for five years, is the
creation of forensic technology company
SmartWater and saw a 90% cut in ATM
crime during a pilot scheme last year.
The Group is now rolling it out across
2,500 cash machines at its UK food stores.
Chris Whitfield, director of retail and
logistics, said: “ATM crime impacts
customers and communities – it can also
have a disproportionate impact on rural
police force areas where cash dispensers
are more of a lifeline.”
manner. We have argued that the disabled
drivers should have been made redundant
because their revised duties were agreed
under the Equalities Act as reasonable
adjustments. The company knows the
drivers are unable to deliver to stores and
has been happy for them to undertake
other driving roles, when it suited it, and
now it just wants to discard them.”
A spokesperson for the Group told
Co-op News: “The Co-op is committed to
equal opportunities and will always try
to make adjustments to accommodate the
different abilities of colleagues and have
done so in this case.
“We have tried to seek alternative roles
for the two colleagues but the roles found
have not been suitable for them. Clearly
Member app trialled
A new app for Co-op Group members is
being trialled at its Manchester HQ store
before roll-out to selected shops.
Research by interaction designer
Jack Sheppard and service designer
Kathryn Grace found that customers and
stakeholders wanted digital coupons,
a mobile membership card, updates on
the 5% reward balance and the chance
to choose a local cause for the additional
1% reward. They also want the app to let
customers sign up as a member.
“There’s an opportunity to change what
the ‘thing’ that links a member to the
Co-op might be,” said Mr Sheppard. “At
the moment this is the membership card
and it’s typically at the end of the member
journey. An app could change that.”
colleagues leaving our business in this
way is a last resort.
“We are disappointed that we have
not been able to resolve this through our
agreed process. We have offered to speak
with representatives of Unite to see if this
can be resolved.”
The union says it is undertaking a
consultative ballot before proceeding to a
full industrial action ballot.
It warns that, if the matter is not
resolved, industrial action will occur
in the weeks preceding Halloween and
Bonfire Night, threatening “widespread
disruption”, and could also cause
problems in the pre-Christmas period.
Paul Travers said: “Unite remain
available to resolve this matter.”
Co-op Food sales down
After more than two years in growth, the
Co-op Group’s grocery sales have declined
by 0.4%, according to the latest figures
from retail analyst Kantar Worldpanel.
The Group’s
market share fell
to 6.3%, down
0.3 percentage
points compared
to this time last
year, which
Kantar says
partly down to
the retailer’s
sale of nearly 300 stores to convenience
chain McColl’s.
However the Co-op Group is back in
talks with retail mutual Nisa after rival
Sainsbury’s stalled its takeover bid
over concerns about the competition
watchdog, say press reports.
Lidl grew its market share to 5.2% to
become the UK’s seventh largest grocer,
overtaking Waitrose.
10 | SEPTEMBER 2017

Charity drive for local communities at Southern Co-op
p Glasgow City Council has been hailed for
its emphasis on co-op development
CREDIT UNIONS
Glasgow co-op city
feted for best practice
The city of Glasgow has been recognised
by URBACT, the European programme
for tackling urban development, for
supporting co-ops and credit unions.
URBACT has drawn up a list of cities
which show good practice in specific
areas, and Glasgow was one of 97 to be
chosen from more than 300 submissions.
Glasgow – a co-operative city – was
singled out for its work with credit unions,
including offering practical and financial
assistance, and the Futures Savers
Programme, a partnership between 14
credit unions and 42 high schools to
ensure all students entering high school
could benefit from a credit union account.
Over the next year, Glasgow will be
promoted at EU level for its work in
developing co-operative ways of working.
URBACT said: “Glasgow City Council
is growing co-operative businesses and
social enterprises, and devolving power
to its citizens. It launched a Co-operative
Development Unit to boost sustainable
co-operatives and social enterprises in
the city, running a Business Development
Fund to support new and existing
co-operatives. A council-wide network of
Co-operative Champions was also created
to embed co-operative principles in
service delivery opportunities.”
It added: “Co-operative Glasgow
fundamentally changes the culture within
the local authority and offers cities a
model with which to adapt their attitude
towards co-designed services.”
Other UK cities highlighted for good
practice are Bristol, Sheffield, Barnsley,
Manchester and Preston.
Preston was listed for using spending
analysis to improve procurement practice
to help the local economy, which has
benefited co-ops in the area.
Southern Co-op ran a Charity Awareness
Week at the end of July, including a
£98,000 donation to its charity partners.
The society held coffee mornings, raffles
and other events, showed visitors to
branches how to raise money for local
causes, and challenged colleagues to
raise as much money as possible for their
associated charity partner.
Central England raises £1.5m for charity partner Newlife
Central England Co-op has raised £1.5m for
Newlife, the charity for disabled children,
over the past four years, through activities
such as bungee jumps, cake sales and
fashion parties. So far, 625 children have
been helped through the partnership. “We
have enjoyed every moment of our long
and extremely successful partnership
with Newlife,” said CEO Martyn Cheatle.
Radstock to support local YMCA and silver band causes
Members of the Somerset-based Radstock
Co-operative Society have chosen two
charities to support over the coming year
– YMCA Mendip and Midsomer Norton
and Radstock Silver Band. Each charity
will receive an initial donation of £1,100
and further support over the next 12
months. They were chosen at the AGM
from a shortlist drawn up by the board.
Community group fights to rescue Brighton music pub
A community group has been formed to
bid for a popular Brighton pub and music
venue after owner Enterprise Inns put it up
for sale. The pub, well-known for staging
folk and Americana acts, has already been
designated an asset of community value
by the city council, giving newly formed
group Friends of the Grey six months to
raise the £450,000 it needs to buy it.
Clydebank Co-op launches website and football sponsorship
Clydebank Co-op has launched a new
website, realco-op.co.uk, and announced
the sponsorship of the local football team
and support for a foodbank. The society,
established in 1881, is one of two surviving
independent retail co-ops in Scotland. It
said: “We’re more than excited for this era.
The new website will enhance the close
relationship we have with our customers.”
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 11

HOUSING
Housing co-op offers affordable rents
to help ex-prisoners back into society
p From top: The house offers affordable rent
to help rehabilitate ex-offenders; before and
after shots of the refurbished kitchen
The East Midlands Homes Cooperative
(EMHC) is helping ex-offenders in
Nottinghamshire rebuild their lives by
offering them affordable housing for rent.
The co-op recently benefited from a
£120,000 investment from the Affordable
Homes Rental Fund – set up by
Resonance, a company which connects
social enterprises with investors. It
used this to buy a three-bed property in
Nottingham, which will provide supported
accommodation in an area where housing
costs have been increasing in recent years.
The East Midlands Homes Cooperative
started in 2010 when four of the current
members started volunteering. Officially
incorporated in 2013, it now has 327
members across the UK, 46 of whom are
active volunteers and 11 tenants.
Members include stakeholders, such as
tenants and tradesmen – who have
volunteered for repairs and refurbishment
on 11 homes, two of which are owned by
the co-op and nine of which are managed
by it on behalf of landlords.
Operations manager Osmond
Okungbowa said: “The loan has enabled
us to provide a decent shared affordable
rental home for the young ex-offenders
within our local community.”
John Williams, head of property
funds at Resonance, added: “It is great
to see another investment from our
Affordable Homes Rental Fund – the first
to a community organisation in the East
Midlands. This shows there are amazing
groups across the country that are willing
to give time, labour and indeed their own
money, to get plans off the ground.
“Our fund helps provide the muchneeded
investment with loan terms that
make sense for a group offering affordable
rents. We would like to hear from more
community organisations.”
INSPIRED BY
FAITH
TO BUILD
A MORE
SUSTAINABLE
WORLD
Find out more at www.quaker.org.uk
www.solarsense-uk.com info@solarsense-uk.com
Solarsense the leaders in community solar!
Community energy has
continued to grow in 2017,
and Solarsense are proud
to be the leading expert in
the UK, working with a
number of community
groups.
Developments to solar Solarsense HQ near Bristol
panels have been a big factor in community energy success.
The latest panels are not only cheaper, but provide
improved aesthetics with all black finishes, providing longer
warranties and capacity for other systems such as batteries
and electric vehicle charging. This has enabled Solarsense
to find more feasible sites that were once unavailable, and
provide significant investor returns to community energy
groups.
Solarsense is keen to continue producing success stories
all over the UK, and act as a site finder, designer and
installer for community energy groups. Overseas, we will
continue our charity work providing free installations to
communities in third world countries.
To find out more, you can call us on the numbers below:
London: 0207 416 6050
Bristol: 01275 461 800
Edinburgh: 0131 278 0559
Manchester: 0161 452 4988
12 | SEPTEMBER 2017

p Speakers include Alan Mahon of Brewgooder and Jo Wolfe of Reason Digital (below)
WALES
Social Business Wales Conference plots course for continued growth
Social businesses and co-ops from across
Wales gather in October for a one-day
conference to inspire sector growth.
The Social Business Wales Conference,
held at Llangollen Pavilion, Denbighshire,
on 5 October, includes a keynote speech
by the Welsh secretary for economy and
infrastructure, Ken Skates.
Funded by the European Regional
Development Fund and the Welsh
government, the conference is delivered
by the Wales Co-operative Centre and is
part of the Business Wales service.
Speakers also include Alan Mahon of
Brewgooder – a craft beer social enterprise
donating 100% of its profits to clean
water charities. Mr Mahon will talk about
how the business has grown by selling
nationally through supermarkets.
And Jo Wolfe of Reason Digital will
describe the Third Sector Digital Maturity
Matrix, a free tool she has developed
which assesses how well a not-for-profit
organisation is using digital technology.
Workshops and discussions include
contributions from North Wales social
entrepreneurs, such as: Menna Jones
of Antur Waunfawr; Sharon Jones of
Creating Enterprise; Kelly Davies of Vi-
Ability; Alison Hill of CAIA Park; and Ceri
Cunnington of Antur Stiniog and GISDA.
Nicola Mehegan from Wales
Co-operative Centre said: “We hope the
conference will provide all delegates with
inspiration, ideas and practical skills to
help them enter new markets, develop
new products and adopt new structures –
all of which enable them to grow and be
more sustainable. We will be encouraging
all our delegates, whether they are
from a social enterprise, charity or local
authority, to use this opportunity to build
partnerships with one another.”
The conference will also have an
exhibition area showcasing the nation’s
top social enterprises and co-ops.
“The social business sector in Wales
is redefining how business gets done,
supporting over 40,000 paid jobs and
over 48,000 volunteers and contributing
an estimated £2.37bn to the economy,”
added Ms Mehegan. “We also know that
when you buy from them, society profits.”
The Social Business Wales Awards are
held the preceding evening.
This year there are three headline
categories. For Wales Social Enterprise of
the Year, nominees are: Galeri Caernarfon,
Gwynedd; Xcel Bowl, Carmarthenshire;
Spice, Cardiff.
For Wales One to Watch, nominees
are: The Food Shed CIC, Bridgend;
Hope Rescue, Rhondda Cynon Taf; and
Denbighshire Music Co-op,Denbighshire.
New to 2017, the Wales Employee Owned
Business of the Year has nominees Aber
Instruments, Ceredigion; and Gateway
OHS, Monmouthshire.
The social business sector in Wales
has 1,689 organisations, including co-ops
and mutuals. The latest Mapping the
Social Business Sector in Wales report
confirmed the sector’s growth over
the past year. Around 84% of social
businesses attracted new customers or
clients in the last 12 months, while 24%
attracted investment to expand during the
same period. Furthermore, 69% of social
businesses expect turnover to increase
over the next two to three years.
u Both events are free to anyone wishing
to attend. For a full list of award categories
and nominees, visit wales.coop
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 13

SOCIAL CARE
Communities ‘don’t
know enough about
co-op models for care’
A report from Co-operative Care Forum
for England and Wales warns there is a
substantial “lack of awareness” about
the tools available that can help make
community-led care a reality.
The report, Owning our Care, explores
the benefits, barriers and catalysts for
community and user-owned social care
services, based on in-depth case studies.
The research, from the Co-operative
College and Change AGEnts, was
commissioned by Co-operatives UK,
East of England Co-op and Wales
Co-operative Centre, following work by
the Co-operative Care Forum (CCF).
“We started to think about models we
were interested in exploring, and settled
on multi-stakeholder co-ops,” says
Mervyn Eastman, chair of the CCF. “What
is it about co-ops in social care that is so
unique? What is the unique proposition?
What makes them different?”
Mr Eastman believes the difference lies
in “shifting the balance of power away
from the owners and investors to the
receivers of care, the families, workers
and communities”.
The report highlights that although
politicians are “committed to overhauling
how we fund adult social care [...] it’s not
all about money”, adding: “No overhaul
of the funding for care will be sufficient,
unless there is a simultaneous shift in
our approach.”
The report highlights the benefits of
a co-op approach – which, by putting
users and practitioners at the centre of
everything the organisation does, brings
people together in a community that
offers them agency and wellbeing.
But it warns that groups need better
access to quality advice on the legal,
organisational and cultural dimensions
of co-ops, and user and community-led
groups need nurturing relationships with
anchor institutions, on everything from
commissioning to use of premises.
“This research should be a wake-up
call to everyone involved in social care
if we are to fundamentally address the
present fragmented and failing market,”
adds Mr Eastman. “The co-operative way
has to evidence why co-operative care
is not just unique in market terms, but
in showing that it can turn the rhetoric
into addressing present relational power
imbalances between people using,
providing and commissioning care.”
Recommendations include “a body
of good practice for communication,
engagement, debate and learning” on
care, and to “quality advice about how
co-operative approaches can work”.
In addition, policymakers and
commissioners need to “get better at
recognising and responding to the
realities of genuine user and community
empowerment”, and “recognise and
nurture the added value and potential
demand reduction” this can bring.
WORKSHOPS
Courses to look at money, community wealth and multi-stakeholder co-ops
The Co-operative College and community
organisation and publishers Stir to Action
are holding a series of autumn workshops
exploring money, community wealth and
multi-stakeholder co-ops.
On 30 September, a workshop led by
Cooperantics’ Kate Whittle looks at how
multi-stakeholders offer a way to address
the interests of employees, investors,
users and supporters.
On 14 October, Brett Scott, financial
activist and author of The Heretic’s Guide
to Global Finance, will lead a session
exploring the history of money and how
we can change its future. Before switching
to activism, Mr Scott was at the heart of
London’s financial sector, which he now
finds “alienating”.
“A lot of old brokers and traders were
trying to start something new,” he told
Co-op News in 2014. “Mid 2010, with the
crash, that all fell apart, and I got out.”
He added: “The mainstream financial
sector is at the heart of a global system
of inequality.”
Mr Scott’s workshop will discuss what
money is and its traditional histories, and
look at deeper changes that can be made.
The final event, on 2 November,
will look at community wealth-building
strategies developed by local authorities,
and how co-ops and social enterprises
can help transform their local economies.
Led by the Centre for Local Economic
Strategies, it will discuss how the
concept can be applied to participants’
organisations and communities.
u The workshops will be hosted at
Holyoake House in Manchester and online
(webinars) from 10am-4pm, with prices
from £40-£75. See co-op.ac.uk/events.
14 | SEPTEMBER 2017

ENERGY
Nominations open for Community Energy Awards
Community Energy England has opened
nominations for its annual awards, held in
London on 1 November.
The organisation, which supports the
community energy sector, is inviting
nominations in seven categories:
Community Renewable Energy Project
Award; Community Energy Saving Award;
Local Authority Award; Collaboration
Award; Community Energy Finance
Award; Community Energy Champion;
and Community Energy Photo – a new
category, to be decided by public vote.
The deadline for nominations is 8
September, when more information will
be requested for those shortlisted.
Last year’s event saw success for
several co-ops, including Welsh charity
Awel Aman Tawe and Brighton and Hove
Energy Services Co-operative.
Winners will receive a trophy and
certificate, addition to the Community
Energy Awards Hall of Fame, and will have
an official award stamp for the website.
u More details at s.coop/25wdm
OBITUARY
Barbara Dure 1925-2017, outspoken co-operator
and activist from the south-west movement
Barbara Dure, who was the final president
– bar one meeting – of the Plymouth and
South-West Co-operative Society, has died
aged 92, writes Andrew Wade, members
council member for the Co-op Group southwest
region.
Born Barbara Campbell in Keyham,
Plymouth, in May 1925, she was the
youngest of three children. Her father, a
dockyard worker, died from a rugby injury
and the family circumstances became
rather straitened.
But her mother was politically active
and Barbara began attending classes run
by the Co-op Education Committee. At
some point in the 1930s she shared a table
with Aneurin Bevan at a Labour and Co-op
function, which made a great impression
on her. Half a century later, she was to
share a platform with another firebrand,
Ken Livingstone, who she did not hold in
quite the same esteem.
Leaving school at 14, Barbara obtained
employment with the Plymouth Co-op,
firstly in grocery and then, after passing
society exams, in non-food. We have clues
to her youthful character as she became
a shop steward for NUDAW (forerunner
of USDAW) and was crowned Miss Co-op
Queen in a beauty contest. She retained a
certain flamboyance – partying, glamour
and showmanship, with a passion for
music and ballroom dancing. Barbara
needed no lessons in assertiveness or
the need to find what fun there was in
war-ravaged Plymouth: her own street,
Townshend Avenue, suffered badly, being
so close to the dockyard.
She left employment in 1950, upon her
marriage to Jack Dure, an RAF technician
at Air Sea Rescue in Plymouth. A daughter,
Susan, was born – and, as her own mother
had done, Barbara combined parenthood
with a growing role in the Co-op Women’s
Guild, Labour and Co-op parties and the
Progressive Co-operators Association. The
latter was established before the war by
socialists to challenge the dominant force
in the Plymouth Co-op Society – the Blue
Tickets (Tories) led by Lady Astor.
In 1963 she was elected to the society’s
education committee which trained staff
and shareholders in co-op values. This
was a cause she also pursued as governor
of Morice Town Primary for 30 years.
In 1978, she secured election to the
board of directors, governing a cash and
asset-rich organisation, one of the most
profitable in the co-op movement.
Barbara appears to have had little
trouble in mastering the male-dominated,
labyrinthine world of co-op management,
becoming a director of the CWS and chair
of its property services committee. Other
posts included directorships of national
shoe chain Shoefayre and the central
executive of the Co-operative Union, the
umbrella body of the whole movement.
And in 2004 she became only the second
woman president of the Plymouth board
of directors in 150 years.
Her presidency, I think, was not the
happiest period of her service. While she
enjoyed the ceremonial side of the office,
the boardroom we shared by then was
becoming very tense. The society was
servicing heavy borrowings, had a large
pension deficit and had sold and leased
back much of its great property portfolio.
The board debates became very heated
and she had to display a steelier side –
threatening to throw me off the board at
least once! She disliked the inevitable
merger with the Co-operative Group and
decided to retire in 2009, having won a
final accolade, the National Award for
Co-operative Excellence, the same year.
Her last years were blighted by
Alzheimer’s disease and she passed away
in May, survived by her daughter.
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 15

GLOBAL UPDATES
GLOBAL
Report shows contribution of co-ops to Sustainable Development Goals
Co-operatives play a key role in fulfilling
the United Nations’ sustainable
development agenda, a new report reveals.
The study, published by the International
Co-operative Alliance, highlights the
contributions of co-ops around the world
which are addressing some of the key
areas of action identified under the SDGs.
The report is based on pledges made
by co-ops from across the world on the
Alliance’s Coops for 2030 online platform,
which was launched on last year’s
International Day of Co-operatives. The
platform enables co-ops to learn about
the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), make pledges to help achieve
them, and track their progress.
One of the SDGs being tackled by co-ops
is ‘eradicating poverty’. The report
gives the example of Coopermondo, the
development NGO of the Confederation of
Italian Co-operatives (Confcooperative),
which has pledged by 2020 to facilitate at
least 10 new co-ops led by youth, women,
or indigenous people in developing
countries. Coopermondo is well on the
way to achieving this, with two projects
in Togo and Sierra Leone, plus a network
of 113 projects in 42 countries carried out
itself or by its associate co-ops.
Another SDG is ending hunger – which
is particularly relevant to co-ops given
that Alliance figures showing that 32% of
all co-ops in the world operate in food and
agriculture.
Japanese co-op JA Fukushima Mirai has
pledged, by 2020, to increase agricultural
production in the region to levels higher
than those before the Great East Japan
earthquake, recovering farmland which
had been contaminated by radioactivity.
And India’s IFFCO, a fertiliser coop
federation, has pledged to achieve
self-sufficiency in food production by
making high-quality fertilisers available
at the right time and in the right amounts
throughout its co-operative network.
Ensuring healthy lives is another SDG,
and health co-ops are important sources of
preventative and curative care around the
world, providing everything from home
care services to full-service hospitals.
Italian energy co-operative Centoraggi
has pledged to reduce the neonatal
mortality rate by developing initiatives
by 2030 that will enable the supply of
electricity, through renewable energies,
to power maternity wards and general
healthcare. This initiative is targeted
at solar energy projects in Madagascar,
Kenya, Ghana, Angola, and other
countries, like Brazil, where Centoraggi
hopes to expand.
The report goes on to show how co-ops
contribute to other goals, such as inclusive
and quality education; achieving gender
equality and women’s empowerment;
providing affordable electricity and
clean water; building a resilient
infrastructure; inclusive and sustainable
industrialisation; reducing inequalities;
sustainable cities and communities;
sustainable consumption and production;
acting on climate change; protecting
water and land; promoting peace, justice
and strong institutions; and fostering
partnerships.
u ‘Co-ops for 2030 - A movement achieving
sustainable development for all’ is available
at s.coop/coopsfor2030report.
16 | SEPTEMBER 2017

p A visitor to the Medway Community Forest takes in the stunning surroundings
CANADA
Nova Scotia’s first community forest
plants the seeds for sustainable industry
Nova Scotia’s only community forest,
formed to manage woodland left derelict
after a papermill closed, is working to
develop a sustainable, environmentally
friendly timber industry.
Medway Community Forest Co-op
(MCFC) is restoring 12,000 acres of forest
to supply timber and firewood, and build
business links with the community.
Related trades include wood-based
products, such as furniture or baskets,
non-timber forest products, such as maple
syrup, and services such as guiding and
eco-tourism.
The co-op already works with firms such
as Medway Moss, which rescues mosses
from areas earmarked for forestry and
from harvested logs, and FD Wild Foods,
which sells wild foods such as berries and
mushrooms.
MCFC formed after the closure in 2012
of Bowater Mill, a large paper production
plant in the area. This caused drastic
upheaval, with financial liabilities and
environmental legacy issues transferred
to the Nova Scotia government along with
555,000 acres of forest land.
Now, MCFC says it is “applying
social entrepreneurship to building a
new sustainable future from natural
resources”. It holds a three-year pilot
project agreement with the Nova Scotia
Department of Natural Resources, to run a
community forest on Crown Land.
General manager Mary Jane Rodger
said: “We’re in the final year of the pilot,
and are hoping to obtain a long-term
license agreement, for 20 years, in 2018.”
Situated in the south of the peninsula,
the forest is part of a lake and river system
that connects with Kejimkujik National
Park, and lies within the UNESCO
Southwest Nova Biosphere Reserve. MCFC
says the area offers the best mix of “roads
and access, forest type and volume,
watersheds, current parcel boundaries,
conservation and biodiversity values,
recreation potential and archaeological
knowledge”.
The co-op, which celebrated its first
timber harvest in January 2016, has drawn
up development plans and put out tenders
for operations. Because there is a need to
restore the forest stock it will be decades
before production can reach full capacity.
It has also dealt with challenges such
as the Seven Mile Lake fire which raged
for more than a week in August 2016,
“completely stalling” operations.
Ms Rodger said: “We have one full-time
employee – myself – a seasonal summer
student and employ three part-time
p The community forest supports local craft traders
subcontractors for our firewood business.
We use only local forestry contractors.”
MCFC’s licence allows it to harvest
21,000 tonnes of timber a year, but the
target is only to harvest half this.
Ms Rodger says this allows the young tree
stock to develop, and takes into account
the focus on low-price fibre markets.
“Since we’re aiming to focus only on
sustainable, restorative forestry practices,
our main products are of low-value,
not high-value sawlogs, in attempts to
improve the growing stock,” she said.
“The firewood business fits nicely with
this. We supply all the firewood for the
adjacent National Park and Historic Site,
and we sell firewood to the public and to
our members at a discounted rate.”
She added: “We support numerous
recreational activities, including
motorised vehicles, which would
otherwise put pressure on important
habitat in adjacent protected areas. We’re
hoping to build an experience-based
recreation business in the coming years,
since our area is popular with tourists
based on the proximity to Kejimkujik.”
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 17

FRANCE
French agricultural co-operatives pledge to increase organic products
Agricultural co-ops in France have signed
a declaration supporting organic farming.
The trade body for the sector, Coop de
France, marked the Week of Agricultural
Co-operation and Organic Farming by
pledging five key actions to boost organic
food production.
The declaration sets out three key
objectives: developing organic farming
in line with its principles; creating highperforming
and sustainable organic
channels; and focusing on produce
traceability and valorisation. The co-ops
pledge to implement five actions:
p Agri-co-ops produce 20% of France’s wines
implement demanding and ambitious
changes; reinforce the role of farmer
co-operators; conduct research on the
competitiveness and value creation of
organic products within every branch;
and develop sustainable partnerships;
and exchange information with other
actors to create favourable synergies.
The sector includes 2,600 co-ops and
11,545 agricultural purchasing co-ops
with a total turnover of €85.9bn. Coops
account for around 40% of French
agricultural turnover, while employing
165,000 people. Around three quarters of
French farmers are members of at least
one co-operative.
Over 550 co-operatives are already
involved in organic production.
Furthermore, agricultural co-operatives
account for 90% of organic pork meat,
78% of organic cereals, 48% of organic
eggs, 43% of beef, 36% of milk, 25% of
fruit and veg and 20% of wines.
“Our numbers speak for themselves,
we can be proud of our involvement
in the development of bio channels,”
said Jérôme Caillé, vice president of the
organic commission of Coop de France.
“It is now necessary to take this ambition
further and reinforce our actions through
the five commitments agreed.”
As French consumers change their
preferences, the market share of organic
products continues to increase, with
total sales reaching €7.1bn in 2016, a 20%
increase from 2015. This surge is reflected
not only in home consumption, but also
in catering.
According to Agence Bio, seven out
of ten French consume organic produce
at least once a month while 15% of the
population consumed organic produce on
a daily basis in 2016.
ITALY
Co-op Italia
to open testing base
in Ireland to source
antibiotic-free red meat
Co-operative retailer Co-op Italia will be
opening a cattle testing base in Longford,
Ireland, to source antibiotic-free cattle.
Earlier this year the mutual launched a
campaign to promote the sourcing of
meat and eggs from animals that had not
been treated with antibiotics.
The initiative started with over 1,600
farms from which Co-op Italia’s privatelabel
meat products are sourced. Already,
all chickens sold under Co-op Italia’s Fior
Fior range are without antibiotics, and
Co-op Italia beef and poultry products are
also GM (genetically modified) free.
“The co-op’s policy has always been to
have knowledgeable suppliers involved
in rigorous production and management
processes – they are our first allies,” said
Maura Latini, director general of Co-op
Italia, in a press statement.
The retailer has set the goal for 2018
to source beef only from cattle that have
never received antibiotics, a first among
major EU retailers.
As part of this approach, the co-op will
be sourcing more meat from Irish suckler
farmers, where the use of antibiotics
tends to be low. Ireland is among the EU
countries with the lowest use of antibiotics
in farming.
Co-op Italia’s focus on sourcing
antibiotic-free products aims to help
tackle the issue of antibiotics resistance.
A recent report by the European Food
Safety Authority, the European Medicines
Agency and the European Centre for
Disease Prevention and Control confirmed
the impact of use the of antibiotics on the
increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
18 | SEPTEMBER 2017

CUBA
Cuban
financial services
co-op shut down
SWITZERLAND
Coop Switzerland sells world’s first
tobacco and hemp cigarette
Swiss supermarket Coop is selling tobacco
and hemp cigarettes across its 2,400 outlets.
The cigarettes are produced by Swiss
manufacturer Heimat, which developed
the new product combining tobacco with
low-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) cannabis.
The cigarettes are the first in the world to
be sold in a regular supermarket, costing
around CHF 20 (£15.7) – more than double
the price of tobacco cigarettes.
In 2011, Switzerland legalised cannabis
containing up to 1% THC. This is above the
0.2% legal limit in many other European
countries. Coop Switzerland has warned
consumers against taking the hemp
cigarettes across borders.
A variety of cannabis, hemp includes
tetrahydrocannabinol, which in
larger quantities has psychotropic
effects. However, the hemp cigarettes
produced by Heimat have less than 1%
tetrahydrocannabinol, which means they
do not create a high.
A packet of 20 cigarettes contains 4g of
cannabidiol (CBD) or 0.2g per cigarette.
The cigarettes, manufactured at Heimat’s
factory in Steinach on Lake Constance,
source tobacco from Switzerland while
the hemp is both local and from abroad.
Heimat is now looking at ways to increase
hemp production across the country so it
can source from Swiss plants only.
The producer said it had encountered
some difficulties mixing tobacco and hemp
using machines but was able to eventually
blend the two to create a “harmonious
mixture”.
Since introducing the hemp cigarettes on
24 July, Coop Switzerland has seen a large
demand for the products.
“We already offer several hemp products
like hemp iced tea, hemp beer, hemp oil
and hemp spread. There is a demand for
hemp products because of its unique smell
and taste. That’s why we also decided to
offer CBD-cigarettes to our customers,” said
a spokesperson.
With total sales amounting to CHF 28.3bn
(£22.3bn), Co-op Switzerland is one of the
country’s largest retailers.
The Cuban government has ordered
the closure and liquidation of a fastgrowing
financial services co-operative,
Scenius, adding to speculation that the
country is slowing plans to reform its
centrally planned economy.
The communist government legalised
non-agricultural co-ops five years ago
under a liberalisation strategy, and
it was seen to prefer the co-op model
to conventional business because
workers had a stake.
Scenius, founded in 2014, became
one of the island’s fastest-growing
co-ops, expanding from three founders
to 328 associates offering accounting
and business consultancy services to
state and private companies.
But now it has been given 30 days
to inform its clients that it will no
longer be providing them financial
counselling services.
Co-founder and president Luis
Dueñas said: “The Ministry of Finance
informed us of the decision based on an
analysis of our corporate purpose, and
of the activities we have authorised.”
“We are being forced to destroy the
results of our work with our own hand,
to destroy the livelihoods of 300 Cuban
families. We are forced to become the
executioners of our dreams.”
Mr Dueñas said the Havana
government had accused Scenius of
performing unauthorised services that
were not actually authorised. This was
a “mistake” by senior officials, he
added, and the co-op will appeal
against the decision.
The apex body and international
development agency for US co-ops,
NCBA CLUSA, signed an agreement to
work with Scenius on advancing the
Cuban co-op sector in 2015.
It said in a statement that it was
“disappointed” by the closure,
which it said would undo recent
decentralisation measures and “strain
international partnerships”.
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 19

AUSTRALIA
Co-op could ‘meet challenges facing elderly care in rural Australia’
Elderly health services in rural and remote
parts of Australia are facing increasing
pressure as they try to meet demand
– and former care boss says co-op and
mutual models offer the way forward.
Philip Schmaal, who was chief executive
of South Australian care provider Barossa
Village for ten years, is now a member
of the chairs’ forum of the Australia’s
Business Council of Co-operatives and
Mutuals (BCCM).
Also chair of the Barossa Community
Co-operative Store, a retail co-op formed
in 1944 that has over 18,000 members,
he is preparing a workshop on mutual
care services for the Aged & Community
Services Australia National Summit in
Cairns on 12 September.
He told Australian Ageing Agenda
magazine: “The co-operative model
is somewhere between a not-for-profit
and a commercial for-profit, where
organisations remain independent yet
come together to make something bigger
and provide support and services back to
the members.
“In the aged care context member
organisations would retain the
advantages of being autonomous and
would remain independently owned by
their local communities but would also
further benefit from being part of a larger
co-operative structure whereby the costs
of services could be shared and absorbed
across a larger base.”
Mr Schmaal said his workshop at the
summit would focus on how a national
aged care co-op could be structured to
ensure smaller communities continued to
benefit from locally owned providers.
BCCM policy officer Anthony Taylor
said the organisation is already working
with community groups to develop
co-operatives that can deliver social care
in a sustainable way.
He added: “Australia is a large country
with many thin markets for care delivery,
so delivering high quality care is difficult
for the existing providers. Locally owned
co-operatives, with support from the cooperative
movement, can develop viable
alternative care models.
“The co-operative model is great for
facilitating community investment, so
alongside supporting particular projects
the BCCM has been working to develop
free online resources and tools to guide
community investment through co-ops.”
Mr Taylor said there was already “a lot
of movement” in several areas, including
primary health services. He gave the
NEW ZEALAND
Fonterra
receives NZ Co-op
Business of the
Year award
New Zealand dairy co-op Fonterra has
been judged the country’s Co-operative
Business of the Year. The award was one of
eight presented at Cooperative Business
New Zealand’s Annual Awards Dinner,
held on 10 August in Auckland.
Fonterra is owned by around 10,500
New Zealand farmers and is the country’s
largest company, responsible for around
30% of the world’s dairy exports. A
“stunning financial turnaround, generous
social responsibility programmes and a
high-profile television campaign” that
proclaimed its, co-operative status were
key factors in winning the award, said
CBNZ chief executive, Craig Presland.
“With its 2016/17 payout forecast to be
at least 50% up on the year before, this
injects an additional $3.6bn into the NZ
economy and will benefit many fellow
co-operatives significantly,” he added.
“Over this period, Fonterra has
completed a comprehensive co-operative
governance review and raised its profile
with the New Zealand public so that it
is now better understood as a memberowned
co-operative and not a corporate.”
“The Milk for Schools programme, which
is now in its fifth year, is the largest social
responsibility programme ever driven by a
Kiwi commercial business.
“The $10m+ a year initiative currently
benefits more than 140,000 Kiwi kids
each school day.”
20 | SEPTEMBER 2017

example of National Health Co-operative,
a consumer-owned provider that started
from a need for more bulk billing clinics
in Canberra.
“It is now expanding to surrounding
regional towns,” said Mr Taylor, “and the
model is transferable to other parts of
Australia if the community wants it.”
There are also co-op home care services
for remote or disadvantaged communities,
he added, along with urban examples
which could be transferred, such as The
Cooperative Life.
Housing co-operatives are also
providing retirement living in regional
areas, said Mr Taylor.
There is also a strong Aboriginalcontrolled
health and care services
sector, which provide services in many
disadvantaged rural communities, such
as the Victorian Aboriginal Community
Controlled Health Organisation. The
BCCM is advocating for better recognition
of Aboriginal co-ops in government policy.
Mr Taylor added: “Disability services
in Australia are moving to a model that is
intended to increase individual consumer
choice and control.
“Through a co-operative, consumers
can pool their individual budgets to
ensure they get the services they need;
this will be important in rural areas where
there is a ‘thin market’ of consumers.”
The award was collected by Duncan
Coull, chair of the Fonterra Shareholders
Council. Co-operatives employ more than
48,000 Kiwis and generate over NZ$43bn
a year for the NZ economy. Almost one in
three Kiwis is currently served by a co-op,
mutual or society as a member.
OTHER WINNERS ON THE NIGHT:
u Co-operative Leader of the Year – Neil
Cowie, CEO Mitre 10
u Co-operation Amongst Co-operatives –
Oliver O’Neill, CFO Ruralco
u Outstanding Co-operative Contribution
– Brian Cameron, co-operative pioneer.
u Enduring Service Award – SBS Bank
(100+ years category), established 1869
u Enduring Service Award – LIC (100+
years category), established 1909
u Enduring Service Award – Foodstuffs NI
(75+ years category), established 1922
u Enduring Service Award – NZPM Group
(50+ years category), established 1964
ILO forms global commission on the world of work
The International Labour Organization
(ILO) is establishing a Global Commission
on the Future Work. Launched on 21
August, the commission will bring
together 20 experts from all over the
world. They will produce an independent
report, which will be submitted to the
centenary conference of the ILO in 2019.
India’s national co-op body hosts regional conferences
The National Co-operative Union of India
(NCUI) is running a series of regional
conferences to strengthen the movement
and listen to co-op voices. “We try to drive
home the point that the downtrodden
could be best uplifted through
strengthening the co-op movement,” said
NCUI president Chandra Pal Singh.
USA credit unions back school supplies project
A joint initiative between Californiabased
Co-op Financial Services (CFS)
and stationery provider Yoobi is helping
children get the school supplies they need.
Credit unions choosing to take part in the
programme will receive 50 backpacks for
students in need for every USD $1,500 they
invest in the project.
Citizen’s wind projects favoured in Germany’s drive for
renewable energy
Germany is increasing its onshore wind
energy capacity by more than 1 gigawatt,
with most of the licences being granted to
Citizen Energy Societies.
The licences to generate the extra
capacity – equal to that of a nuclear
plant – were awarded under a system
designed to intensify competition among
project developers. It is hoped this will
lower costs and wean renewable energy
away from subsidies. Under the German Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) 2017,
Citizen Energy Societies’ need at least 10 individuals as members or shareholders; a
10% maximum voting right for a member or a maximum of six wind turbines with
an installed capacity of 18 MW. In the second auction under the new system, the
Bundesnetzagentur (BnetzA) said it accepted 67 applications, mostly from citizens’
societies, for a combined volume of 1,013 megawatt (MW).
Renewables accounted for nearly 32% of Germany’s power consumption in 2016,
with onshore wind the biggest source at 11%, according to industry group BDEW.
Germany aims for renewables to generate 40-45% of its energy by 2025.
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 21

Opinion: Has the purpose of Co-operatives Fortnight
OPINION
BY CHRIS HERRIES
Councillor Chris
Herries is cabinet
member for
safer, stronger
neighbourhoods at
Norwich City Council,
and a member of
the Co-operative
Councils Innovation
Network Values and
Principles board
Co-operatives Fortnight could be used to highlight
co-ops and co-op ways of working. But we’re forgetting
to explain exactly what co-ops are.
I ‘invented’ the Fortnight, and I would like to see it
used to its full potential.
As a bit of context: Several Co-operatives UK
Congresses ago, when I was still on an Area Committee
of the Co-operative Group in the South West, we were
asked to put forward ideas to pitch at Congress. As
I was doing quite a bit of work in the South West –
including sessions at several universities explaining
what co-operatives are, and how they work – I
wondered how other organisations with complicated
messages got theirs across.
I was (and still am) active in supporting Fairtrade
and remembered how, a few years before, no one had
heard of the Fairtrade concept – and, when it was
first announced, it was complicated to explain and
illustrate. So the Fairtrade Foundation came up with
Fairtrade Fortnight, which provided a focus and an
opportunity to explain the message several times and
in many ways over their two weeks.
Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, I
shamelessly borrowed the idea and converted it into
‘Co-operatives Fortnight’. I pitched it at Congress,
it was eagerly adopted and then a month later the
Co-operatives UK board formally took it on. It has been
in the calendar ever since.
Except it has now become a ‘doing’ two weeks rather
than an ‘explaining’ two weeks. And we don’t seem to
be much further forward in getting the general public
to understand what a co-operative is, how they differ
from other organisations and how the business model
can benefit members and the community.
We seem to be focusing on being co-operative – very
cuddly and friendly but open to all reasonable human
beings – rather than doing the more difficult job of
explaining how we are different, why we are different
and the advantages that come from having a different
business model. I realise that this is more complicated
but that’s just the reason that Co-operatives Fortnight
came into being in the first place.
I’m sure most of us have entered into a conversation
with someone who thinks they know what a
co-operative is; either a shop or a small craft group
seem the most frequent ideas. Trying to explain that
a co-operative is “an autonomous association of
persons united voluntarily...” and that there are many
different types of co-operative usually results in eyes
glazing over and attention wandering. By the time you
get to “the thing they all have in common is a set of
values and principles” you have usually lost them!
Hence Co-operatives Fortnight – that’s the time to
have a stall with leaflets to explain what a co-operative
is to people who are interested and have time to listen.
It’s the time to post on social media frequently
and in variety what co-operatives are and what they
can do. It’s the time to engage in longer arguments
about co-operatives’ advantages over plcs. It’s the
time to showcase local co-operative businesses large
and small and to keep explaining how and why they
are different.
Yes, it’s also two weeks to be co-operative but surely
we should be doing that all the time.
“”
MAINSTREAM; WE
FAIRTRADE FORTNIGHT
MOVED FAIRTRADE
FROM NICHE TO
NEED TO DO THE SAME
WITH CO-OPS AND WE
NEED TO DO IT NOW
22 | SEPTEMBER 2017

een forgotten?
These are our two weeks for shouting about who
we are, what we do and how we do it better than
anyone else. We can illustrate this with examples of
co-operatives around the world and can highlight
the strength we bring to the local national and
international economy. We can talk about empowering
people at grassroots level and challenging the
capitalist economy – and we might even mention the
co-operative commonwealth!
If, as co-operators, we really think that
co-operatives are a better way of doing business, let’s
get out there and tell people. And if different parts of the
movement – from retail co-ops and worker co-ops to
Co-operatives UK and Co-operative Councils – work
better together, we can make Co-operatives Fortnight
stand out.
Fairtrade Fortnight helped to move Fairtrade from
niche to mainstream; we need to do the same with
co-operatives and we need to do it now.
WHAT COULD CO-OPERATIVES DO DURING THE NEXT
CO-OPERATIVES FORTNIGHT?
u Co-operative councils could put a motion to full
council supporting co-operatives.
u Co-ops could work together to host a co-operative
forum to show case local co-operatives, explaining
how being a co-op is vital to their business.
u Set up a business skills workshops for people who
want to start a co-operative.
u Put out press releases to local / national media and
use social media to explain what co-operatives are,
how they work and what they are doing in the region,
highlighting the events taking place throughout
Co-operatives Fortnight.
u Offer co-operative lessons to schools and help them
set up local co-operative ventures.
u Contact local university and college business
studies departments and tell them about our oftenneglected
alternative business model and offer to talk
to the students.
u Get in touch with all the co-operatives in the
area well in advance and suggest working together
co-operatively to make this a time to promote what we
do and how we do it.
u Think up as many other different ways of putting our
model out there!
YOUR VIEWS
CO-OP GROUP RE-ENTERS TALKS TO BUY NISA
The Co-op Group couldn’t handle buying Somerfield! Then it sold loads
of Co-op stores off – and now they’re thinking about buying another
chain...
Jade Copley
via Facebook
A deal with the Group would help this co-operative of independent shop
owners (Nisa), by providing a buying/wholesaling facility.
The Co-op group and other co-ops, like Southern and Midcounties,
are now the leading operators of convenience stores in the UK.
The Group has sold branches – no one likes selling Co-op branches
but sometimes there is no choice for a variety of reasons.
All businesses have to constantly reinvent themselves to survive.
John Harrington
via Facebook
I quite like the idea. I have a local Nisa store while my Co-op store is a
bus ride away.
And don’t mention the bank – I mean... 60 miles! Not that this is
co-operative now anyway.
If the Nisa stocks Co-op products after the deal that’s great, but will it?
Or stick with “Heritage”? Not so good.
Vicki Black
via Facebook
Nisa were registered with Co-operatives UK as a co-operative – so logic
says they should be bought by the Co-op Group or another society.
David Griffiths
via Facebook
Have your say
Add your comments to our stories online at www.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.
Co-operative News, Holyoake House, Hanover Street,
Manchester M60 0AS
@coopnews
Co-operative News
letters@thenews.coop
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 23

MEET...
... Alex Sobel, Labour / Co-op
MP for Leeds North West
Alex was elected Labour Co-op MP for Leeds North West in June after defeating
Lib Dem incumbent Greg Mulholland. His General Election triumph follows five
years with Leeds City Council as councillor for Moortown ward. He now divides
his time between Westminster and the family home in Leeds which he shares
with wife Susan and sons Jakob, 9, and Zac, 6, who are both keen members of
the Woodcraft Folk.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A LABOUR /
CO-OP MP?
I have a long history with the co-op movement.
I worked in community development and social
enterprise for 15 years covering the whole of
Yorkshire and the Humber and parts of the North
of England and Midlands. So the political values
of co-operators and the principles which began the
movement chime with my politics. I like the idea
that we can have a different model of the economy
that is not market-driven capitalism or command
and control run by the state. A business model
where workers, consumers and the community own
what they do is something I want to promote and
make mainstream. My fellow Labour/Co-op MPs
have been very kind and supportive and I have been
to several meetings around co-op housing, which I
was involved with before Parliament as a councillor.
It’s good to be able to discuss co-op issues together.
WHAT DOES A TYPICAL DAY ENTAIL?
If Parliament is sitting every day we have ministerial
statements and debate about forthcoming Bills so
a few days in advance you decide if you want to
speak or put a question to the minister, and if you
have done that you will take part in the session in
the chamber. That starts around 11am so before then
I would go into my office, check my e-mails, the
usual stuff most people do. I might have one or two
“”
A BUSINESS MODEL WHERE
WORKERS, CONSUMERS AND
THE COMMUNITY OWN WHAT
THEY DO IS SOMETHING I WANT
TO MAKE MAINSTREAM
meetings before I go in the chamber or would have
other meetings in the afternoon. I am a member of
the environmental audit committee and there are
loads of all-party parliamentary groups which MPs
take part in. There’s not a typical day as such but I
might have visits from constituents or a Co-op Party
meeting or get to meet with a charity. Normally I
will travel down to London Monday morning and
come home Thursday night. When I am in London
I don’t notice the time. It’s rare that I leave work
before 10pm and I am so busy that I can easily forget
to eat. At the moment I am staying in temporary
accommodation and working through what I will
do longer-term. When I am at home in Leeds I don’t
work in the evening, although I might attend events
in the constituency.
WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT THE JOB?
The fact that you can raise people’s issues at a
very high level and see it through. If you are a local
councillor you will get someone with an issue which
you can try to solve but you can’t change the law. As
MPs we have an opportunity to try to do that
AND THE HARDEST?
On day one as an MP you turn up and people expect
a continuation of service from their previous MP
but you have no staff, no constituency office and
no computers to start with. It’s been about how to
manage people’s expectations without those things
in place because it takes time. Some people make the
assumption when you are elected that your family
will move to London but in my case it’s not viable
because the kids are at school in Leeds and that’s
our home. So it’s hard being apart although I come
home Thursday night and am there till Monday. My
dad worked away a lot so it’s a situation I grew up
with. I only had eight weeks as a new MP and then
there was recess and summer holidays which was
24 | SEPTEMBER 2017

good because it gave me the chance to have a period
of adjustment.
HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE
CO-OP MOVEMENT?
It’s really a seamless transition from my previous
working life. As Labour/Co-op MPs we are
representatives of the movement in all its guises from
food and agricultural co-ops to the Woodcraft Folk.
My relationship is to highlight issues, understand
them and help the movement to expand. If we move
into government, we can move legislation forward
and increase the support the co-op movement gets.
At the moment the co-op ideal is very much part of
Labour’s economic debate and discussions around
industry, education and the role co-operatives can
play. It’s also great that the Labour/Co-op group of
38 MPs is the second largest ever and that, in Jeremy
Corbyn, we have a leader who has been supportive
of the movement all his political life.
join our journey
be a member
WHAT ACHIEVEMENT ARE YOU PROUDEST OF?
I have only just become an MP, so reflecting on
things before that I helped set up the UK’s first
ever climate change committee in Leeds in my role
as lead member for climate change. It’s an issue
which is very important to me and was part of my
maiden speech. We set things up in Leeds in early
2016 following the Paris Agreement and I am hoping
other local authorities will come on board so we can
meet our obligations in protecting the environment
and making a real difference.
WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES THE CO-OP PARTY MAKE
TO LABOUR POLICY?
Quite a lot. The Co-op Party has its own policymaking
process and seeks to get the ideas from its
manifesto into the Labour manifesto. We are quite
successful at doing that. It’s also an opportunity to
try to influence things between elections. I recently
met with one of John McDonnell’s Treasury team
around Labour’s commitment to community-owned
water ownership and we are hopefully setting up a
meeting with Welsh Water to look at their mutual
model. It’s our responsibility to make those kind of
things happen and build practical ideas so that a
Labour government can implement them. Via local
authorities we have set up co-op councils and that
has had significant successes in promoting the idea
of co-ops to people in the community, changing
hearts and minds. There’s also a broader thing
around priorities for councils and having a dialogue
between councils and MPs so we can free councils
to act more co-operatively.
news
We’ve relaunched our membership,
offering member-owners more opportunity to
help us plot the future of our independent coverage
of the co-operative movement.
Find out more at:
thenews.coop/join
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 25

100
years of the
Co-operative Party
2017 marks a century since the Co-operative Party was founded on
the basis of a need for political representation.
This year the Party is hosting a series of celebrations and
events, including a birthday party in conjunction with its AGM and
conference in October – and an exhibition that tells of the co-op
movement’s journey in politics.
Pioneering the Future: the politics of co-operation, which opens at
Manchester’s People’s History Museum on 9 September, charts the
life of the organisation, from the Chartists through to its campaigns
on issues such as loneliness and fair tax today.
The exhibition will include the Party’s 2017 Centenary marching
banner (right), as well as other historic banners owned by local
parties and branches. There will be examples of pamphlets, reports
and other materials produced by the Party throughout its history,
and recorded oral histories of key living figures in the movement’s
history, created as part of the Party’s Oral History project. Visitors
will also get the chance to vote on an issue they think co-operative
values could help to address.
“From votes for women to championing Fairtrade, co-operatives
have always been at the forefront of fighting for political change,”
said the Party. “Marking the centenary of the Co-operative Party, the
co-operative movement’s political voice, this exhibition explores
the radical ideals that inspired those first co-operators, and the
challenges that in 1917 drove the co-operative movement to seek
direct political representation via a political party of its own. It
reflects on the Party’s achievements over the past century, and all
that there is left to achieve in the next.”
To mark the anniversary, Co-op News hears from Co-operative
Party General Secretary Claire McCarthy (p27), takes a closer look at
pivotal moments from the party's past (p28-29) and meets some of
its key political change makers (p30-31).
u Pioneering the Future runs at the Community Exhibition hall,
People’s History Museum, Manchester from 9 Sep – 20 Nov
2017. Free admission.
26 | SEPTEMBER 2017

‘We have things to
safeguard, things to
stand for and things
to achieve’
“Co-operation is a theory of society and therefore
a legitimate basis for a political party”, WT
Allen, the chair of the Co-operative Union’s
Parliamentary Committee told the Co-operative
National Emergency Conference on 17th October
1917. The Co-operative Union was meeting in
‘emergency’ session to agree how to put into effect
a decision of the movement to seek direct political
representation. And so the Co-operative Party
was born.
It is often described as a decision borne out
of frustration at not getting a hearing from the
government of the day. Anyone who reads the
transcript of the conference (available to read
online) can immediately feel that palpable sense of
frustration. However, we can also understand it as
a natural step for a movement whose aims, after all,
were intrinsically political from the outset.
Right from the beginning, co-operators were
part of the great social struggles of their time.
Robert Owen, often described as the father of
co-operation, campaigned for adult and child
education, secured a reduction in working hours
for women and children, and established the first
trade union. The Rochdale Equitable Pioneers
Society, or the ‘Rochdale Pioneers’ as they became
known, were associated with Chartism and the
early trade union movement.
Campaigns by the Co-operative Women’s
Guild for divorce law reform and maternity care
politicised many of those who would play leading
roles in the fight for universal suffrage.
In short, co-operators never saw their mission as
ending at the shop front – instead they wanted to
build a society based on fairness and democracy –
deeply political objectives.
Today, this can be seen in the leadership the
co-operative movement has shown on issues
ranging from corporate taxation, to climate change,
loneliness and modern slavery.
Co-operatives are demonstrating not only that
they do business in a socially responsible way but
also that they will take a stand on issues beyond
a narrowly drawn view of their immediate trading
activities or interests.
To outsiders this may seem strange, but as
co-operators we know that what motivates us are
questions of power – of who holds it, and in whose
interests it is exercised. For each of us, the work
that we do within our own co-operatives – be that
our credit union, our football supporters trust, our
energy co-op, our worker co-op or as members of
a retail society – is of value in its own right. After
all, co-operatives can only achieve their objectives
if they are well-run and successful.
But we see that work as part of a bigger jigsaw
puzzle. When viewed as part of a movement of
millions of people, we know that co-operation
has the capacity to be a powerful force for social
change, shifting the balance of power from small
elites to people and communities.
As ever, the co-operative principles are a
guiding light, in particular principles six and
seven. Principle six highlights the role that each
individual co-operative has within the movement –
to contribute to its strength and success. Principle
seven reminds us of our duties beyond our own
membership, out into the wider community and
its interests.
Furthermore, the experience of social movements
all over the world in the last hundred years shows
that when powerful vested interests are challenged,
they don’t give up easily. The status quo is a
powerful beast – and it plays dirty.
Which is why the decision of those foresighted
co-operators present at Westminster Central Hall
on 17 October 1917, not just to lobby but to organise,
was critical. Because a reforming movement like
ours needs a voice in the rooms where decisions
are made if we are to achieve our vision of a society
where power and wealth are shared.
As WT Allen continued his speech at that
National Emergency Conference, he observed: “We
have things to safeguard, things to stand for, things
to achieve.”
Today, that work goes on.
CO-OP PARTY
BY CLAIRE MCCARTHY
Co-operative Party
General Secretary
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 27

The Co-operative Party through
1881
Joint Parliamentary
Committee
The Co-operative Union,
the representative body
for British co-ops, agrees
to form a Parliamentary
Committee to monitor
legislation and policy that
affect the movement
1914-18
The First World War
The wartime coalition
government introduced
anti-co-operative
legislation and taxes. Faced
with a hostile political
environment, increasing
numbers argued that direct
political representation was
the only way to safeguard
the movement’s future
1883
Co-op Women’s Guild formed
Women played an equal role
in the co-op movement from
the start. Guild members were
responsible for ensuring that
the 1911 National Insurance Act
– which introduced sickness
and unemployment benefits –
included maternity benefits
Image: Alice Acland (1849–
1935), founder of the Guild
1917
The Co-operative Party
The Party was established
at a special Co-operative
Congress at Central Hall
Westminster on 17-18
October. Sam Perry (father
of tennis player Fred Perry)
became the first National
Secretary, serving until 1942
1945
23 MPs elected
The best election result for
the Party until that time
1927
The Cheltenham Agreement
The agreement formalised
the relationship between
the Co-operative Party and
the Labour Party
Image: Co-op Party MP
Alfred Barnes (left) with the
Agreement
1918
First Co-op MP
Alfred Waterson (right) was
elected the first
Co-operative Party MP,
in Kettering, less than a
year after the Party was
established
1940
A co-operator leads
Churchill’s navy
Co-operative MP AV
Alexander served as the
Party’s Parliamentary
Secretary and fought
government plans to
impose corporation tax
on co-operative stores. At
the outbreak of war, he
joined Churchill’s national
(coalition) government as
First Lord of the Admiralty
1924
Breakthrough
At the general election in
1924, six Co-operative MPs
were elected
28 | SEPTEMBER 2017

the ages ...
1961
The Party of the consumer
In the 1960s and 70s the
Party successfully lobbied
for legislation to protect
consumers, including
the Consumer Protection
Act 1961
1970
Disability legislation
Co-operative MP Alf Morris
successfully passed the
Chronically Sick and
Disabled Persons Act 1970,
the first in the world to
give rights to people with
disabilities
1990s
Championing Fairtrade
Support from Co-operative
MPs helped to secure
funding of £2 million
per year for the Fairtrade
Foundation to promote and
expand Fairtrade
1970
Supporting growth
The Co-operative Party saw
success with the Labour
government’s creation of a
Co-operative Development
Agency and a Ministry for
Consumer Affairs as well as
support for housing co-ops
Image: Joyce Butler MP
1979
Credit Union recognition
In May 1972 John Roper,
the Co-operative MP for
Farnworth, tabled a Private
Members’ Bill in support
of credit union legislation.
It was defeated, but the
Credit Unions Act was
eventually passed in 1979
– one of the final laws
passed by the outgoing
Labour government
2017
Centenary of the Party
The Co-operative Party
marks its centenary with a
modern high membership
of more than 10,000
members and 200 local
branches. The Party also
has a record number of
Welsh AMs, Scottish MPs
and MPs in Westminster
2001
Co-operators return to
power
A record 30 Co-operative
MPs were elected. In 2007
Gordon Brown became the
first Co-op Party member to
lead the Labour Party, and
Ed Balls became the Party’s
third ever cabinet member
2000
A fresh start
In 2000 co-ops, led by
the Party, wrote to PM
Tony Blair asking for
“assistance in helping the
further development and
modernisation of the co-op
movement”. The Co-op
Commission, formed in
response, paved the way
for a turnaround in fortunes
2006-08
Co-operative progress
The party led in getting
legislation passed on
co-operative schools and
community energy, and
led a campaign cracking
down on the exploitative
practices of payday lenders
2000
Supporters Direct
The Party helps set up the
organisation, which works
with supporters trusts
(co-ops) to secure a voice
and ownership stake for
sports fans in their clubs
Images: Archival
images reproduced with
permission from the
National Co-op Archive
www.archive.coop
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 29

Throughout its 100 year history,
the Co-op Party has attracted
political change makers. Here
are just a few of them...
ALF MORRIS (1928 – 2012)
Born to a family struggling with poverty
in Ancoats, Manchester, Morris went
on to study at Oxford and Manchester
Universities before becoming a teacher
in Manchester.
Co-op Party connection:
MP for Manchester Wythenshawe from
1964-97.
Achievements:
u In 1970 he became the first minister
for the disabled anywhere in the world.
His advocacy on the issue stemmed from the experiences of his father,
who lost an eye and a leg and was gassed in the First World War. After
his father died, his mother was not entitled to a War Widow’s pension – a
matter that Morris would set right 40 years later as minister.
u Successfully introduced the Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act
in 1970, which was the first in the world to recognise and give rights to
people with disabilities.
MARY ELLEN COTTRELL (1868 –1969)
Born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, she became a
schoolteacher and eventually headmistress.
In 1896, she married Frank Cottrell at Ecclesall
Bierlow, Yorkshire. They set up home in
Birmingham and had three sons.
Co-op Party connection:
Labour and Co-op activist and politician in
Birmingham and at a national level.
Achievements:
u Secretary of the local Women’s Guild
u First women to be elected to the board of the
Ten Acres and Stirchley Co-operative in 1909
u First woman to represent the Midlands on
the Co-operative Union’s Central Board in 1917,
where she is credited with getting wartime
rations of milk increased for infants and
nursing and expectant mothers while serving
on the Milk Advisory Board in 1918.
u First woman elected to Birmingham City
Council, in February 1917, for Selly Oak ward.
Her election pre-dated the launch of the Co-op
Party by some months, but from 1920 she stood
as a Labour/Co-op candidate.
u Stood for re-election in 1920, but was
defeated by the Conservative candidate. She
returned to the council in December 1921 in a
by-election and served until 1923.
u First woman elected to the board of the
Co-operative Wholesale Society, in 1922. She
was to be the only woman director for 37 years.
AV ALEXANDER (1885 – 1965)
The son of a blacksmith in Weston-super-Mare, AV Alexander left school
as a teenager, working as a council clerk and serving in the First World War.
Co-op Party connection:
Joined Weston Co-op in 1908, and was voted on to the board two years
later. He was one of the first Co-op MPs, and the first to serve in Cabinet.
Achievements:
u Parliamentary secretary of the Co-operative Union, 1920-46, leading
lobbying which halted moves to impose corporation tax on co-ops and
seeing consumer interests represented on agricultural boards.
u Elected in 1922 as one of four Co-operative MPs, for Hillsborough.
u In 1931, he became First Lord of the Admiralty, fighting for working class
interests in the Cabinet. He returned the role during World War II. One of
the few working-class members of Churchill’s cabinet, he argued for the
welfare of troops, and was the first British minister ashore after D Day.
u Leader of the Opposition in the Lords. He continued to lobby for the co-op
movement from the Lords for the rest of his life.
30 | SEPTEMBER 2017

SAMUEL PERRY (1877 – 1954)
Born in Stockport, Perry had to leave
school aged 10 after his father’s death.
Father of tennis champion Fred Perry.
Co-op connection
Joined movement via Stockport Society.
Achievements
u First national secretary of the Co-op
Party, appointed on its creation in 1917,
moving to London with nine-year-old
Fred to live on the co-operatively run
Brentham Estate in Ealing.
u After several failed election
attempts, at the 1923 general election
he was voted MP for Kettering. He lost
the seat in 1924, regained it in 1929,
before being defeated again in 1931.
u Continued as national secretary of
the party until 1942.
HARRIET SLATER CBE (1903 – 1976)
Born Harriet Evans in Tunstall,
Staffordshire, to a potter, she trained
and worked as a teacher.
Co-op connection
In 1931 she married Co-op Party
organiser Frederick Slater; both were
members of the local Burslem Co-op.
Both were elected as Labour /Co-op
councillors in Stoke-on-Trent in 1933.
Achievements
u Became national organiser for the
Party in February 1943
u Elected MP for Stoke-on-Trent North
in 1953, holding the seat in 1955, 1959
and 1964. Her key interest was the
education of working class children
u First woman to be made government
whip in 1964.
u Lord Commissioner to the Treasury
from 1964-66.
Co-op Party Conference 2017
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Kezia
Dugdale (Scottish Labour Party leader),
Carwyn Jones (First Minister of Wales)
(above left-right) and Joanne McCartney
(Deputy Mayor for London) have been
confirmed as keynote speakers at the Cooperative
Party’s 2017 conference.
Celebrating the organisation’s
Centenary, the event will welcome over
400 delegates and visitors to London
from 13-15 October. The Party’s AGM will
take place on the afternoon of Friday 13th
at Central Hall, Westminster, followed
by commemorations of the Centenary,
including readings from the minutes of
the 1917 founding conference, and the
procession of the Party’s Centenary Banner
from the Hall to the Houses of Parliament
across Parliament Square. Then, over the
next two days at the Grange Tower Bridge
Hotel, a series of key sessions will explore
‘Ideas to Change Britain’ – and how the
Co-op Party is working to make these
ideas a reality.
Community activists, campaigners and
leading thinkers who are at the forefront
of creating social and economic change
will share their visions on how to instil cooperation
into the housing and education
sectors. There will be a Q&A with a panel of
Labour & Co-operative MPs and Peers, and
a session exploring what steps are needed
to make Labour’s manifesto pledge to
double the size of the co-operative sector
a reality.
And on the Saturday evening, the
Co-operative Party’s 100th birthday party
will welcome all members, delegates
and visitors, with a live band and other
entertainment.
u Tickets for the conference are available
now, with prices starting at £15 for a single
day ticket, or £30 for the whole weekend.
Visit party.coop/conference for details.
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 31

GOING LOCAL
How co-ops are setting a shining
example for British Food Fortnight
p East of England
Co-op, which champions
producers in the region
with its Sourced Locally
range, drums up support
at one of its stores
In 2001, an outbreak of foot and mouth caused a
crisis in British agriculture and tourism, with more
than 2,000 cases of the disease reported; over 10
million cows and sheep were killed, costing the UK
an estimated £8bn. On the back of this, numerous
food initiatives, projects and events began taking
place across Britain to champion the industry – but
there was no overall flagship event to bring them to
the public’s attention.
This changed in 2002, when Alexia Robinson
launched the first British Food Fortnight. Held
during the autumn, at the same time as the harvest
festival, the fortnight is the biggest annual, national
celebration of British food and drink. It aims to
use the fun of a national celebration to encourage
people to actively seek out British food when they
are shopping and eating out.
The fortnight, held this year from 23 September-8
October is now organised by Love British Food
(LBF), which provides year-round advice on
producing, buying and eating British, and includes
information for all sectors on how to get involved
with, and organise, British food promotions and
events across the UK.
What is unique about LBF is that it is the only
organisation that can advocate a strong ‘Buy British
Food’ message (EU rules prohibit the main farming
organisations and the government from giving a
clear ‘buy British’ message to domestic consumers).
LBF uses this unique position to encourage retailers
and caterers to choose British food.
Love British Food 2017 is sponsored by Co-op
Food, itself a reflection of co-ops’ commitments to
local communities – whether that community is
members, suppliers or customers. In May, the Co-op
Group also became the first retailer to switch all
of its own-brand fresh meat to British suppliers;
the retailer only sells British beef, chicken, ham,
pork, sausages, duck and turkey and only uses
British meat in its own-label chilled ready meals,
pies and sandwiches. The only exception is cured
meats and continental varieties in ready meals and
sandwiches, such as chorizo.
Most UK retail societies were founded on the idea
of providing affordable, uncontaminated food to
their members – and this is certainly true for the
East of England Co-operative, which is supporting
this look at British food.
In 1861 the community of Colchester, led by
Robert Castle, united to establish a shop selling
quality food at affordable prices – which until then
was not the norm. This shop was one of the first
active co-operatives in East Anglia and the roots of
the East of England Co-op as we know it today.
This year the society celebrates a decade of its
successful Sourced Locally scheme, through which
it works with over 100 local suppliers to source
3,500 products from across its trading areas.
Also celebrating 10 years is Southern Co-op’s
Local Flavours Range, which marked the occasion
by sending its Local Flavours VW camper van on
tour, championing local food and drink at major
events in 10 of the counties it trades in.
Over the following pages we look at how
other retail societies are supporting local British
producers, get some top tips from East of England’s
Sean McLaughlin on how co-ops can build great
relationships with local producers, and find out
about the student co-ops embracing real food...
This focus on British Food is supported by East of England Co-op, the largest independent retailer in East Anglia with
more than 230 branches across Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Cambridgeshire. It runs a wide range of businesses, including
food retail, funeral, travel, pharmacy, Post Offices, opticians and investment property. It is owned by more than 288,000
members and in 2017 members shared a dividend of more than £3 million. www.eastofengland.coop
32 | SEPTEMBER 2017

Retail societies and local producers
EAST OF ENGLAND
PRODUCERS SUPPORTED: 100+
MOST POPULAR LOCAL PRODUCT: This shifts with
the seasons, from fresh fruit and vegetables grown
at local farms to products from well-known local
brands such as Fairfields Farm crisps, Aspalls cyder,
Wilkin & Sons Ltd jams, preserves and sauces and
Hillfarm Oils.
Established in 2007, Sourced Locally has brought
fresh, delicious and affordable local products into
East of England Co-op food stores.
One of the inspirations for the project came from
a trip by Roger Grosvenor, joint chief executive
at East of England, which took him past fields of
locally grown asparagus. He wondered why this
asparagus wasn’t available in-store, despite being
grown just down the road.
Now, a decade on, there are more than 3,500
products available in the Sourced Locally range,
from more than 100 local suppliers across Essex,
Norfolk and Suffolk, and the scheme has ploughed
more than £57m back into the regional economy.
CHANNEL ISLANDS
PRODUCERS SUPPORTED: 40
MOST POPULAR LOCAL PRODUCT: Tomatoes
The Channel Islands Co-operative is the biggest
retail supporter of local suppliers in the region.
Last year the society spent more than £11m with 40
food and drink producers in Jersey and Guernsey,
for a local range which includes bread, alcohol,
fudge, fresh fruit and vegetables, fish and meat,
and eggs and dairy products.
“Each year, we actively engage with our 120,000
members to understand how we can better serve
them and continually improve their shopping
experience,” says Mark Cox, chief operating officer.
For the Channel Islands, the most challenging
thing about the initiative has been encouraging
new suppliers to get on board and getting publicityshy
farmers to step into the limelight. But the
team has found helping small suppliers to grow
and develop their business very rewarding. “It is
rewarding seeing any investment we make in time
and money go on to help local businesses thrive
and flourish,” adds Mr Cox.
SOUTHERN
PRODUCERS SUPPORTED: 200
MOST POPULAR LOCAL PRODUCT: Local eggs,
ham, Isle of Wight tomatoes and sausages. Craft
beer, baguettes and rolls are also strong sellers
alongside ice cream – if the weather is good...
Southern set up its Local Flavours range in 2007,
and now has over 160 stores carrying local products.
“The programme was set up on the Isle of Wight
in response to requests from the residents,” says
Kate Hibbert, Southern Co-op local sourcing
manager. “Produce was leaving the island to be u
p Channel Islands
supplier David Blake,
whose tomatoes are one
of the society’s most
popular local products
Top: Alder Tree Ice cream
and Great Tilkley honey
– two of the local British
products stocked by East
of England Co-operative
THIS FOCUS ON BRITISH FOOD IS SUPPORTED BY EAST OF ENGLAND CO-OP SEPTEMBER 2017 | 33

u sold on the mainland and many felt the products
should be retained and sold locally.”
She believes that, as an independent regional
retailer, it is vital Southern plays a pivotal role in
supporting local food producers and the rural
economy. “This is very much part of our business
ethos as a co-operative.”
One of the hardest things for Southern was
that smaller, artisan producers are not always in
a position to supply retail ready products. “The
produce may be amazing but packaging and
branding are equally as important in our store
environment, so we work very closely with them to
get this right as well,” adds Ms Hibbert.
“It is also vitally important the products
are priced correctly – one of the most common
mistakes we see is that of a producer failing to take
into account every cost of making a product.”
SCOTMID
PRODUCERS SUPPORTED: 150
MOST POPULAR LOCAL PRODUCT: Craft bakery
products, including the Scotch Morning Roll
CHELMSFORD STAR
PRODUCERS SUPPORTED: 40+
MOST POPULAR LOCAL PRODUCT: Fairfields
Farm crisps – and The Original Rossi Ice Cream
based in Southend on Sea who celebrated their
85th anniversary recently. Also locally grown
Strawberries from Fiveways Fruit Farm which are
picked and in store the same day.
Chelmsford Star’s Made in Essex scheme reflects its
priority to “work alongside Essex-based businesses
and organisations, nurturing mutual prosperity
and success”.
It has recently launched a ‘The Only Way is Local,
Support your Essex Producer’ mark to promote
the initiative, so the society “can continue to
make a positive local impact on business growth,
employment and prosperity.”
Local suppliers include Chelmsford-based Round
Tower Brewery, Howletts Hall Venison & Game and
Fiveways Fruit Farm.
Scotmid has actively worked with a range of local
and regional suppliers over the last five years,
developing close working relationships with a
variety of Scottish and regional producers, who
operate in the communities where Scotmid trades.
In particular, the society works closely with 17
craft bakeries and has become recognised as a real
destination for craft bakery products – especially
the Scotch morning roll, a soft bread roll.
The hardest thing about the initiative was
“establishing contact and showing that we will work
in partnership with our suppliers to develop sales to
our mutual benefit,” said a Scotmid spokesperson.
“But we have established a recognition among the
various producers of working fairly and ethically
and being open to ideas and innovation in an everchanging
environment.”
MIDCOUNTIES
PRODUCERS SUPPORTED: 196
MOST POPULAR LOCAL PRODUCT: Items from their
top suppliers such as Mudwalls in Warwickshire,
The Meat Joint in Banbury and Cotteswold Dairy
in Tewkesbury, as they produce everyday grocery
essentials such as vegetables, meat and milk.
Midcounties set up Best of Our Counties in spring
2016 to showcase the array of local suppliers that
it works with. “We’re committed to sourcing the
best local producers in each county where we have
34 | SEPTEMBER 2017
THIS FOCUS ON BRITISH FOOD IS SUPPORTED BY EAST OF ENGLAND CO-OP

stores, and to supporting local businesses,” said
a Midcounties spokesperson. “When everyone
is talking about supporting British producers,
we truly are and we’re fully transparent with the
traceability and provenance of our suppliers.”
CO-OP GROUP
PRODUCERS SUPPORTED: 200+
MOST POPULAR LOCAL PRODUCT: Healey’s Rattler
Original Cider from Cornwall; during the summer this
product flies off the shelf in the Group’s West Country
stores. The top selling fresh line is Potters Yorkshire
Farmhouse Free Range Large Eggs (6 pack)
The Co-op Group piloted its Supporting Local
initiative in Yorkshire in 2015 – and it now stocks
more than 150 local Yorkshire lines, including 23
Yorkshire breweries which are this year estimated
to sell more than 500,000 pints at the Group.
The programme is now rolling-out UK-wide with
Lancashire, Cheshire, Cornwall, Devon, Wales,
Avon and Somerset, and Cumbria all involved. By
the end of the year the Group will be stocking over
1,100 Local products in its shops.
“Our members and customers tell us that food
provenance, quality and trust are important – they
want to see local producers on our shelves,” says
the Group. “We are also committed to investing in
local communities, contributing to local life. And
this programme supports that.
“Backing local produce and British farmers and
growers is about much more than just ‘hanging out
the bunting’. Our approach sets out clear principles
to foster closer relationships and support for local
suppliers – we want these businesses to thrive.”
The hardest thing about the initiative has been
creating an ‘edited’ local range when there are
so many local products and producers to choose
from, adds the Group. “The fantastic feedback from
suppliers, who have been delighted to see Co-op
supporting them by stocking their products, has
been very rewarding.”
LINCOLNSHIRE
PRODUCERS SUPPORTED: 40
MOST POPULAR LOCAL PRODUCT: Pocklington’s
sausage rolls are a big hit, as well as local cheeses
such as Lincolnshire Poacher and Lymn Bank Farm
Skegness Blue. Plus baked goods from its bakery,
Gadsby’s, especially mince pies, which are so
popular that they’re made and sold all year round.
Lincolnshire and the surrounding counties have
a lot of well-established names, and Lincolnshire
Co-op has had a number of local producers on
its shelves for many years. In 2008, the society
launched ‘Local Choice’ to give smaller and artisan
producers a route to market. This has since become
the ‘Love Local’ range.
“Growing the local economy is at the heart of what
we do,” said a Lincolnshire Co-op spokesperson.
“Knowing the sheer volume of high quality,
local producers and hearing stories such as the
diversification of farmers who began developing
their own products, it was clear that having a range
like Love Local was something that fitted well with
our purpose and ethos.”
Lincolnshire now stocks over 100 local products,
from dog food to jam, overcoming a number of
small challenges along the way. “One issue that
everyone worked hard to overcome was making the
leap from smaller sales in producers’ own shops
and farm shops to convenience retailing through
our stores. This involved working closely with them
to develop packaging, bar coding and marketing,”
said the society.
“Recently, we supported the development of
chutney producer, Just Like Your Grannies. As well as
making innovative changes to their recipes to make
them gluten free to reflect demand, they altered its
packaging to a more contemporary design, and its
sales have increased 34% over two years.”
Central England stocks over 400 locally sourced
products in its stores, from fish smoked in a
traditional smokehouse in Lowestoft to cakes
from Fatherson Bakery in Alcester. Most recently
it launched a range of premium, handpicked
delicatessen products.
Radstock works with local producers to promote
and provide shelf space for their products. High
quality products from Somerset include wines, ales,
ciders, meat, cheese, eggs, ice cream, beverages,
bakery products and pet food as well as a local
vegetarian and vegan ranges.
t Central England's
handpicked local deli
products; Midcounties’
Best Of Our Counties
range; Scotmid’s most
popular local offering is
craft bakery products;
Lincolnshire’s mince pies
are so popular, they are
sold all year
q Healey’s Rattler
Original Cider from
Cornwall is the Group’s
most popular local
product
THIS FOCUS ON BRITISH FOOD IS SUPPORTED BY EAST OF ENGLAND CO-OP
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 35

DEVELOPMENT
Putting youth at the centre of
international development
CASE STUDY:
Supporting local producers
The East of England Co-op is the largest independent retailer in East Anglia
and has more than 230 branches covering food, funeral, travel, pharmacy,
Post Offices, opticians and investment property. At the forefront of the
co-op’s passion for food is the award-winning Sourced Locally initiative,
which this year celebrates its tenth anniversary.
Growing a local supply chain has its challenges, and the society has
developed processes to ensure customers can shop with confidence. For
example, a new role – product standards and safety manager – was created
to ensure all suppliers are fully compliant with all relevant regulations. New
suppliers are checked to ensure they meet the high standards expected,
before confirming their listing in store.
Here, Sean McLaughlin, head of commercial retail at East of England,
speaks about the co-op’s Sourced Locally initiative – and gives his top tips
on how small producers can be supported through supply chains...
HOW ARE PRODUCERS SUPPORTED?
We always make sure products are profitable for
both the producer and ourselves. Another key
aspect of support we provide is to ensure clear
communication is readily available whenever
required. For example, if a supplier calls us
stating that due to weather conditions they have
experienced an increase in growth of a particular
product, we will endeavour to co-operate with
them in a variety of ways, such as creating in-store
offers for that specific product.
Our annual Producer of the Year award ceremony
also offers our producers something to aspire to
while providing a fantastic networking opportunity
within the Sourced Locally roster. The award is
currently held by Michael Coe of Great Tilkey
Honey in Essex.
As a co-operative, it is important for us to support
our suppliers at every point in the chain and this is
something we do; whether that be offering expert
industry advice or simply being available to talk
when required.
p L-R: East of England
suppliers Sam Fairs (Hill
Farm Oils), Michael Coe
(Great Tilkey Honey),
Laura Strathern (Fairfield
Crisps), Fiona Brice
(Havensfield Eggs),
and Hannah Marriage
(Marriage’s Flour).
HOW DOES EAST OF ENGLAND FIND AND CHOOSE
SOURCED LOCALLY PRODUCTS?
After ten years of Sourced Locally many of our new
suppliers come as referrals and recommendations
from our current crop of producers. New products
can also come as a result of collaborations between
existing suppliers.
For instance, there’s the on-the-go crisp and
salsa dip pack, launched by Fairfields Farm Crisps
and Scarlett & Mustard, which accompanies a
pack of Fairfields Farm hand-cooked tortillas. This
collaboration highlights how, thanks to Sourced
Locally, suppliers start talking to one another on a
level they would not have done previously.
WHY DO YOU BELIEVE SUPPORTING LOCAL
PRODUCERS IS IMPORTANT?
At the heart of the Sourced Locally scheme is the
belief that it is illogical to import food from 2,000
miles away when the same foods are grown on our
front door. From speaking with East of England
Co-op members and customers, this is something
they agree with.
Through Sourced Locally we have been able
to plough more than £57m back into the regional
economy, something we are incredibly proud of
and will continue to do.
This in turn creates new jobs in the region – all
things that co-operatives should do but are not
necessarily easy to execute.
36 | SEPTEMBER 2017
THIS FOCUS ON BRITISH FOOD IS SUPPORTED BY EAST OF ENGLAND CO-OP

CHECKLIST:
Ten ways co-ops can build great
relationships with local producers
1. OPEN AND HONEST DIALOGUE
It is crucial to have an open dialogue with producers so they are aware of
what can and cannot be done. As a society we work to make sure there is
no fear factor for our producers.
WHY DO YOU THINK SOURCED LOCALLY HAS
BEEN SUCH A SUCCESS?
Its success is a direct consequence of the hard
work carried out by our producers, members
and colleagues; as a whole the scheme really
demonstrates that small things can make a big
difference. It’s very much a partnership and it is
vital that our producers feel able to pick up the
phone if an issue arises and for us to resolve this
problem as soon as possible.
Of course, another large contributor has been our
customers who are enjoying the fact that the food
they are eating is grown literally down the road
from their East of England Co-op store.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES?
Our main challenge has been finding the right
suppliers and quality products, while making sure
we are able to support our producers at every point
of their journey. Moving forward, the challenge
is similar, as you frequently ask yourself ‘How
am I going to help our new producer through the
next stage of their journey?’ or ‘What can I do to
maximise their potential and develop a product
that is profitable for the producer, ourselves and
one that our customers will enjoy?’
Although this poses a challenge, it is one we have
a decade’s worth of experience in overcoming.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED FROM THE SCHEME?
It is amazing how engaged our customers are and
how important it is to them, particularly in the
more rural parts of the region, to understand and
appreciate the origins of their food.
And it never ceases to amaze me the efforts our
producers and my colleagues go to, to ensure the
right products get onto the shelves of our stores.
2. FINDING QUICK AND SUITABLE RESOLUTIONS
When difficulties emerge it is important that a co-operative acts in a
manner that is beneficial to both the supplier and the co-op. For example,
if a product is not selling as well as hoped it should not be delisted straight
away. We always aim to look at how we can change this trend for the better.
3. BE BRAVE
Starting Sourced Locally was a brave move but one that was more than
worthwhile. Being brave may mean the journey is trickier, but the rewards
you reap at the conclusion are far greater for everyone concerned.
4. COMMUNICATION
Having one person as a point of contact for the producer is absolutely vital.
Ensuring the point of contact is someone who can make key decisions and
who can be on hand to advise on what decision is in the suppliers’ best
interests provides confidence and assurance.
5. PAY PRODUCERS ON TIME
It is important to pay suppliers on time and in a manner that best suits
their business so they are not negatively impacted.
6. BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
Developing relationships with suppliers is paramount in developing trust
between retailers and suppliers; this only has positive implications.
7. PROFITABLE
We always make sure that the product will be profitable for both the
producer and the co-operative.
8. CORRECT PRODUCT
Ensuring the products sold are suitable for customers is important. At East
of England this ensures the longevity of the Sourced Locally campaign, so it
can continue to benefit the regional economy.
9. REWARD SUCCESS
Through the hosting of reward ceremonies, such as Producer of the Year,
we are able to commend those producers who have achieved great success
during the course of the year. This also gives further incentive to our
suppliers, which only benefits the products they supply.
10. PROVIDE SUPPORT
Providing support to suppliers in all areas of their business and at as many
junctures as possible throughout their journey as evolving suppliers.
THIS FOCUS ON BRITISH FOOD IS SUPPORTED BY EAST OF ENGLAND CO-OP SEPTEMBER 2017 | 37

The co-ops behind the British brands...
Ribena
Ribena wouldn’t have
half the taste were it
not for The Blackcurrant
Growers’ Association,
a co-operative of
farmers which together
supplies Ribena
with most of its
blackcurrants.
Colman’s Mustard
Mustard Seed Growers
Co-operative is a
co-operative of farmers
local to the Colman’s
factory that supplies
the majority of the
mustard seeds for
Colman’s English
Mustard.
Anchor
One of the UK’s
best known brands of
butter, Anchor
is produced by Arla,
a co-op which is
owned by 12,000
dairy farmers,
2,500 of whom are
in the UK.
Warburtons
All the wheat for the
best-known brand
of British bread is
supplied by the
agricultural co-op
Openfield – it provides
150,000 tonnes a
year from 300 wheat
farmers.
Birdseye Peas
The Green Pea
Company is a
co-operative of
UK farmers that
– you guessed
it – provide the
peas for one of
Britain’s best
loved brands.
CASESTUDY: OPENFIELD
OPENFIELD
BY ANCA VOINEA
p ’The co-ops behind
the brands’ from
Co-operatives UK’s 2017
Co-op Economy Report.
Read more at
uk.coop/economy2017
Farming is the second largest industry sector in
the UK’s co-operative economy, with 436 farming
co-ops owned by 153,000 farmers.
These co-ops turned over £7.4bn in 2016 and
are behind some of the biggest British food brands.
One of them is Openfield, which supplies over
150,000 tonnes of British wheat into a nationwide
milling network for Warburtons each year. This
wheat is drawn from a dedicated group of 300
Openfield farmers.
“We are very much engaged in understanding the
needs of the farmers. We arrange visits to bakeries
and have groups of children visiting farmers to
find out more about how food is produced,” says
Richard Jenner, member services and marketing
director at the co-op.
Openfield is one of Britain’s largest agricultural
co-ops with a turnover in excess of £700m. It is
owned by 3,200 farmers and works with thousands
of other farmers to market more than four million
tonnes of British grain every year, in addition to
marketing grain for farmers and grain stores.
The co-op was formed in 2008 but has its origins
in the Southern Counties Agricultural trading
Society dating back to 1907.
“Farmers collaborated to get price transparency
price and better marketing,” says Mr Jenner.
“We are not alone in providing that service. The
market is very competitive but we are doing it on
behalf of farmers and they own the business.”
The business has gone through mergers and
acquired other businesses, but its success has
much to do with its co-operative ethos as well as its
product offer, he adds.
Openfield recently looked at whether being a
co-op gave it a competitive advantage. It found that
the model means it can not only market farmers’
grains and sell them fertilisers and seeds, but also
build better relationships with its customers. “The
consumers felt there was a value in being linked to
the farmer,” says Mr Jenner.
However, as the co-op continues to grow,
maintaining democratic engagement remains
a challenge – not least because of the wide
geographical area covered.
“We are redoubling engagement efforts this
autumn with regional events throughout the
country,” adds Mr Jenner.
Other challenges could arise from the UK’s exit
from the EU. The business is one of the UK’s largest
exporters, loading more than 900,000 tonnes of
grain in the 2015/16 season. Export quantities vary
from season to season. With the growing likelihood
that the UK will also leave the single market, the
co-op is already exploring other markets and
whether it would need to change its varieties.
“Post Brexit, farmers and retail customers will
want to know their market is secure that they have
got security supply for the long term. We’d like to
see that accelerate,” adds Mr Jenner.
38 | SEPTEMBER 2017
THIS FOCUS ON BRITISH FOOD IS SUPPORTED BY EAST OF ENGLAND CO-OP

u Alexia
Robinson,
British Food
Fortnight
Founder
Young farmers from across Britain engaged
with sector leaders during a debate on the
future of the industry hosted by the Co-op
Group at the Great Yorkshire Show.
The round table featured senior food
sector and farming leaders, including Jo
Whitefield, the new chief executive of
Co-op Food, and Minette Batters, deputy
president of the National Farmers Union
and British Food Fortnight ambassador.
Six farmers from the Group’s Farming
Pioneers Programme also took part.
Caroline Morris, Ross Towers, Joe
Geraighty, Richard Gardner, Paul
Billington and Andy Venables are among
60 young farmers participating in the
Co-op Farming Pioneers Programme, a
national training course.
The debate looked at key issues
including supply chain relationships,
succession planning, farming as a career
and how children can be better educated
about where their food comes from.
The Farming Pioneer Programme was
launched last year to coach and develop
young farmers in the Group’s supply chain
over a 30 month period. It is one of four
projects supported by the Group to help
farmers, alongside Farm to Fork, Open
Farm Sunday and Farmers Apprentice.
“The round table prompted interesting
and in-depth discussions on a wide range
of issues,” said Ciara Gorst, the Group’s
head of agriculture. “It’s been fantastic to
give our farming pioneers this platform to
talk openly about the opportunities and
challenges that lay ahead. It’s imperative
that we all work together.”
Farming Pioneers Andy Venables,
of Springbank Farm in Macclesfield,
Co-op Farming
Pioneers discuss
the future of
agriculture
Cheshire, added: “This has been a unique
opportunity to discuss real issues and
opportunities that face the agricultural
industry. The fact that the Co-op brought
together its most senior stakeholders,
along with the NFU, shows that as a
retailer it’s taking its commitments to
farmers seriously.”
Alexia Robinson, founder of British
Food Fortnight, said that ensuring a
steady flow of new talent into the British
food and farming sector was essential.
“We commend the Co-op for investing in
its pioneers’ programme,” she added.
“British Food Fortnight gives us a
unique opportunity to celebrate all of the
many food initiatives, projects and events
that take place every day across Britain
and we look forward to championing the
Co-op’s scheme as part of our festivities.”
We’ve been making it
easier for you to buy
fabulous produce,
created with passion
and pride by local
producers since 2007.
Discover more about
our local sourcing story:
www.eastofengland.coop
Small things
big difference
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 39

SUSTAIN:
The student-led co-ops embracing real food
STUDENTS
BY SUSAN PRESS
p Exeter Veg Share;
the West College Salad
Bag project; and This
Is Our Jam have been
supported by Sustain
u Members of This Is
Our Jam; Tilly Jarvis
Real food is replacing junk food as the staple diet
for students taking part in a nationwide project.
Sustain, a not-for-profit organisation which
promotes and campaigns for ethical food and
agricultural policies and practices, is now working
in partnership with NUS Student Eats to help young
people across the UK set up food co-ops in their
universities and colleges.
The initiative is one of 31 projects backed by the
National Lottery’s Our Bright Future programme,
with a total of £300m in funding to help a raft of
organisations plan a better environment for the
next generation. So far, 55 start-ups have been
set up by Sustain, which comprises around 100
organisations including the Campaign For Real
Farming, the Campaign For The Protection of Rural
England, the Fairtrade Foundation, Fare Share and
the Child Poverty Action Group.
Tilly Jarvis combines her work as food co-op
project co-ordinator for Sustain with similar work
for the NUS’s Student Eats project, which for
several years has been promoting the growing of
food on campuses across the country.
“It is about scaling up work which was already
being done by charities and organisations,” she
says. “We set up Student Eats in 2012 to support
students. It was hugely successful – so much so
that we were growing a lot of produce which was
often being wasted.
“So there was a lot of interest in setting up food
co-operatives on campus or locally.”
Sustain has funding for 67 food co-operatives
– offering £1,000 in start-up costs for each one.
In the past year there has been a rolling raft of
applications and the last round closes at the end of
the year with funding for 12 more available before
the 24 November deadline.
Some focus on providing produce for farmers’
markets, others on the preservation of food, and
several concentrate on using up surplus food –
offering ‘pay as you fill’ cafes where people pay
what they can afford.
“All the co-operatives have to be student-led
but they can be run in conjunction with the local
community,” explains Ms Jarvis.
“The focus is on learning how social enterprise
works, trading food with money exchanging hands,
so it is sustainable in all senses. Our enterprises
aim to be profitable, but any surplus goes to the
social and environmental groups who are growing
food on campus or with the local community.”
Long gone are the days when all university
campuses had halls of residence offering
wholesome food at a subsidised rate. In many cases
the fast food chains have taken over and it is often
difficult for hard-up students to find healthy and
affordable food.
Ms Jarvis says Sustain is about providing access
to affordable good food. “This project gives students
the opportunity to buy healthy food, whether it’s
fresh produce or dried wholefoods with people
buying in bulk. Because there is definitely a move
towards students wanting healthier food.
“NUS research has shown students are more and
more interested in being able to cook healthier –
but there is often a barrier to healthier options as
you can often buy rubbish food on campus very
cheaply. It’s about helping students to eat more
40 | SEPTEMBER 2017 THIS FOCUS ON BRITISH FOOD IS SUPPORTED BY EAST OF ENGLAND CO-OP

healthily, providing lifelong skills. It is also an
opportunity for students to learn the skills involved
in setting up a business in a risk-free environment
as well as getting an understanding about social
enterprise and making the right choices.”
The food co-operatives initiative is running until
2020, by which time it is hoped over 3,000 young
people will have been involved and over £300,000
worth of food produced – all of it traded locally
via student enterprises operating within 30 miles
of campus.
The co-operatives range in size from a few
students growing salad produce to larger
enterprises providing food for farmer’s markets.
However, all those taking part are encouraged to
learn about finance, supply chains and marketing
as well as ensuring the co-operative can carry on
once they leave university or college. Freshers Fairs
are good opportunities to get more people on board
and new recruits are always welcome.
As well as providing access to good food, the
project has been a learning curve for many young
people about the co-op way of doing business.
“Our training includes a lot of information about
co-operatives and their legal structures,” says Ms
Jarvis. “So by the time they leave college, students
know that, if they want to set up something similar,
co-op structures could be a good way to go. It’s a
win-win for everyone and surprising it’s not been
done before.”
Something Sustain did not anticipate was the
different preconceptions brought by students
approaching the project for different reasons.
“Roughly half the applications are from students
interested in ethical sourcing and the co-op
movement – so when I start talking about profit
they think it’s a dirty word and I have to explain
that any surplus is returned to the social enterprise
or community,” says Ms Jarvis.
“The other half are business students who
don’t understand about co-ops or sustainability.
So what we are doing is skilling up both sides –
and, looking to the future, it will help all of them
set up businesses with more impact which can be
sustainable and successful in achieving their ideals
and in working for the community.”
As well as overseeing the student project, Ms
Jarvis supports other kinds of food co-ops across
the UK. The www.foodcoops.org website was
created by Sustain as part of the Making Local
Food Work programme, which ended in 2012. But
the website itself continues as a way of building
interest in buying and selling through community
food co-ops.
“My current role is obviously focused on helping
students set up new enterprises, but it’s also about
integrating them into this much wider network,”
she says. “On our website there’s a really useful
toolkit as well as a Finder map of UK food co-ops.
“We have been updating the map over the past
12 months and in the process have been surveying
food co-ops. We have had over 50 responses to
our food co-op survey – which is the largest of its
kind as far as we are aware. The respondents are
a combination of food co-ops that were on the
original finder map over four years ago, some of
which are no longer trading, as well as new food
co-ops that have joined the network over the past
12 months.”
And there were some interesting results: all the
food co-ops surveyed said they exist to provide
access to both healthy and affordable food – and,
for more than half of them, the key motivation is to
alleviate food poverty.
“From the food co-ops we surveyed, over three
quarters of those who are still running said they
felt their food co-op was ‘thriving’,” says Ms Jarvis.
“They said their biggest challenges are a lack
of time and volunteers, but lack of money was
the main reason given for those co-ops who we
surveyed that are no longer operating.
“So it is absolutely essential that we continue
to build a network of community food co-ops and
food buying groups across the UK not only to help
new ones get off the ground, but enable existing
ones to thrive.”
u The deadline for
grant applications is 24
November. Once all 67 are
in place they will be able
to compete for scale-up
funds of £17,000.
THIS FOCUS ON BRITISH FOOD IS SUPPORTED BY EAST OF ENGLAND CO-OP SEPTEMBER 2017 | 41

POLICY
A People’s Food Policy to safeguard
the future of food
BY REBECCA HARVEY
p Food sovereignty
gathering at London’s
OrganicLea (Image:
Joanna Bojczewska)
q Kensons Farm,
Sailsbury (Image: Joanna
Jacobs, Soil Association,
Future Growers Scheme)
Read the full manifesto at
peoplesfoodpolicy.org
A ground-breaking manifesto outlining A People’s
Food Policy has been published by a coalition
of grassroots food and farming organisations,
including co-operatives. The manifesto is urging
the UK government to develop a progressive food
policy ahead of leaving the EU.
As Brexit negotiations begin, concerns over
failures in the current food system – and how these
will be impacted in the future – are increasing.
In the face of this uncertainty, the report argues
that policy, legislative framework and a food act
are needed to “integrate the compartmentalised
policy realms of food production, health,
labour rights, land use and planning, trade,
the environment, democratic participation and
community wellbeing”.
“From the increasing corporate control of
agriculture in the UK, to the price of basic food
stuffs outstripping the rises in real wages [...] the UK
is witnessing a series of crises in how we produce,
distribute and sell food,” said Heidi Chow, food
campaigner for Global Justice Now, which is part of
the coalition that developed A People’s Food Policy.
“The government’s approach to addressing
these problems is at best piece-meal and at worst
non-existent. Environment secretary Michael Gove
has said that the UK can have both cheaper and
higher quality food after Brexit. But the experience
of many UK farmers and growers suggests that
cheaper food prices must be paid for through
lowering environmental and social standards
across the farming sector. Instead we need to see
greater regulation of the food retail sector to ensure
farmers everywhere are paid a fair price.”
A People’s Food Policy is the result of 18
months of national consultations with grassroots
organisations, co-operatives, NGOs, trade
unions, community projects, small businesses
and individuals. The document includes a set
of policy proposals and a vision for change that
encompasses governance, food production, health,
land, labour, environment, knowledge and skills,
trade, and finance.
“The way our food system functions and is
governed needs to radically change,” said Dee
Butterly, the co-ordinator of the policy, explaining
how the “lack of a coherent, joined-up food policy
framework in England is becoming increasingly
problematic”.
Ms Butterly, who is also a young tenant farmer
and member of the Landworkers’ Alliance, believes
England needs to develop a national food policy
that transforms food systems and puts equality,
resilience and justice at the forefront.
“As Brexit negotiations begin, we urge politicians
to seriously consider this blueprint for a progressive
national food policy which supports a food system
where everybody, regardless of income, status or
background, has secure access to enough good
food at all times,” she said.
Several of the policy proposals view co-ops as
potential solutions, calling on the government
to support community food resources such as
food-buying co-ops – and support farmer-led
innovations, such as co-operatively run test farms
or field labs.
42 | SEPTEMBER 2017
THIS FOCUS ON BRITISH FOOD IS SUPPORTED BY EAST OF ENGLAND CO-OP

Lessons from North America:
The power of community-owned food stores in the age of grocery giants
“If we want to have a long-term grocery store that
supplies communities with good food, the most
resilient model is the co-op model,” says Jon
Steinman, author, broadcaster and member of the
Kootenay Co-op, a consumer food co-op in Nelson,
British Colombia (BC), Canada.
Fifteen years ago Mr Steinman moved to Nelson,
starting a show about food at the local co-op
radio station; Deconstructing Dinner evolved into
a television and web series exploring the realities
of where food comes from. He then joined the
Kootenay Co-op, where he spent 10 years on the
board and witnessed first-hand the positive impact
co-ops can have on the local community.
“Over those 10 years, our big focus was to build
a new store,” he says. “We took the plunge and
became the developer of a four-storey building,
which became the city’s largest new development
in recent history.”
The top three floors of the building now comprise
54 residential units, with the ground floor occupied
by commercial units.
Here, the Kootenay Co-op sits in a space three
times the size of its previous location, with a full
sized commercial kitchen, deli, cheese shop, frozen
fish section and an in-store restaurant.
“We moved in over December,” says Mr Steinman.
“Through the whole process, I was inspired by
how a local food store can engage in significant
development in a community. It’s brought more
engagement to downtown – and showed the power
of a grocery store to support a local economy. This
was a story that wanted to be told.”
Mr Steinman plans to tell this story through a
new book, Grocery Story, which was successfully
funded through Kickstarter in August, which
will look at how local economies are positively
impacted by community food co-ops.
As well as exploring the challenges they face,
Grocery Story will include profiles of food co-ops
in the US and Canada and discuss the unique ways
they engage with communities – from operating
their own farms and non-profits to educational
engagement with members and local schools.
THE BENEFITS OF GOING LOCAL
National Co+op Grocers – the business services
co-operative for retail co-op grocery stores – has
already done work tracking the benefits of using
the co-op model. In North America, grocery co-ops
have a higher rate of organic produce sales (82%
compared with 12% for conventional privately or
investor-owned stores), higher average earnings
($14.31 compared with $13.35) and better rates of
recycling (74% of food waste against 36%).
Of greatest interest to Mr Steinman is local
impact. Consumer-owned co-ops work with an
average of 157 local producers (65 for conventional
stores), around 20% of products sold are locally
sourced (6% for conventional stores) – and 38% of
revenue is spent locally (compared with 24%).
At the Kootenay Co-op, where annual sales top
C$14m, $3.5 of purchasing is from local suppliers –
with $2m of that directed to farmers. “The book will
also share the stories of some of these suppliers,”
says Mr Steinman.
“When local producers sell to the local co-op,
where does that money then go within the local
community, from hairdresser to lawyers? Through
co-ops, we can see food dollars recirculating
through local communities.”
INTERVIEW
BY REBECCA HARVEY
p The Kootenay Co-op,
British Colombia
t Jon Steinman, whose
new book, Grocery Story,
will be published in 2019
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 43

CRUNCH TIME FOR CO-OPS
CROATIA
BY ANCA VOINEA
Croatia’s co-op movement dates back to 1862 but
today faces serious barriers to development and
represents a tiny proportion of the GDP – with one
expert warning it faces “extinction”.
Others are more optimistic – but, with 1,218 co-ops
and 20,483 members, the sector has a total turnover
of €217m, a mere 0.5% of the country’s GDP of
€46bn. Co-ops operate in fishing, trade, tourism
and crafts – but more than 40% are in agriculture.
There are positive signs, with the 2008 financial
crisis sparking a greater interest in the model,
particularly in sectors with high unemployment.
And the state-funded Croatia Centre for Co-op
Entrepreneurship is working to develop a co-op
label for co-op products to strengthen their identity.
This leaves the movement at a crossroads, with
serious challenges to overcome – not least of which
is a prohibitive legal environment.
Sonja Novkovic, professor of economics at St
Mary’s University, Canada, co-wrote a paper on co-op
development in the country.
Co-operatives in Croatia need seven founding
members, each of whom must pay a membership
fee equal to £150. But associations need have only
three members and do not have fees set by law.
“This fee is prohibitive for small co-ops, or
consumer co-ops,” says Prof Novkovic. “Therefore,
consumer co-ops are not developing in Croatia.
“Most people do not understand the difference
between an association and a co-op, or opt to form
associations because it is easier, less prohibitive,
and allows access to government funds aimed for
non-profits. Co-ops do not qualify for these because
they are considered for-profit entities.”
“”
A SENSE OF BOTTOM-UP
MOVEMENT, SOLIDARITY AND
SUPPORT ... IS SIMPLY NOT THERE
There are also issues with employment law.
Members of consumer, agricultural or service co-ops
who lose their day-to-day jobs do not qualify for
unemployment benefits. But members of a worker
co-op who lose their jobs if it closes can qualify –
provided they are not members of other co-ops.
The most recent co-operative law was adopted
in 2011. Prof Novkovic, says it conforms to the
International Co-operative Alliance’s statement on
co-op identity – but it does not secure an audit of
co-op governance or adherence to the principles.
Under this law there is also a mandatory reserve
requirement for co-ops equal to 35% of profits, 30%
of which goes to co-op development, and 5% to an
indivisible reserve fund. Upon closure of a co-op,
remaining assets belong to the local community.
And co-ops are not exempt from tax on reinvested
profit, creating a lack of incentive to join.
“Co-ops at times also fall in the cracks
between associations and small businesses,”
says Prof Novkovic. “Often they are not eligible
for programmes devised for one or the other
organisational form, indicating that their potential
is not well understood by the policy makers or the
general public.”
A growing number of co-ops in recent years have
been those set up by veterans, which exist across
all industries, from agriculture to services. The
Ministry of Veteran Affairs grants up to 150,000 Kn
(£18,500) to veterans who form a co-operative.
But Prof Novkovic highlights that other co-ops do
not have the benefit of similar programmes, as they
fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Small
Business and Entrepreneurship.
The Croatian Co-operative Federation says that in
2013 there were 1,131 co-ops with 19,309 members.
Of those, 38% are veterans’ co-ops. Only 5% of
those achieved positive financial results in 2012.
Prof Novkovic warns that public awareness of
the co-op model, its values and potential for job
creation and development, remain “doubtful” –
and she has grave concerns for the future.
44 | SEPTEMBER 2017

IN CROATIA
“Is the co-op movement in Croatia a thing of
the past? I personally believe it is on its way to
extinction,” she says. “Unless something changes
dramatically, such as the law, taxation, or labour
law related to co-ops, it is difficult to see why
people would form co-ops to solve their problems.
“This is not to say that some co-ops are not
legitimate and functioning well – there are some
examples, particularly of producer co-ops, but a
sense of a bottom-up movement, solidarity, support
for co-op development, and a common interest, is
simply not there.”
Co-op expert and practitioner Ilda Stanojevic is
more optimistic. While some people in Croatia still
perceive co-ops as relics of communism, attitudes
have shifted over the past 10 years, she says.
One of the challenges for the movement, she adds,
is that while co-ops exist within the framework
of the 2011 law, other laws do not recognise the
specificity of the business model. Some form of tax
relief for co-ops would help the sector to thrive by
encouraging more members to join, she says.
Another issue is a lack of access to start-up
capital. Co-ops have difficulty obtaining loans from
banks, with members having to use personal assets
as guarantees. And accounting is not tailored to the
needs of co-ops to address the different features of
the relationship between members and co-ops.
Ms Stanojevic says: “We have to begin to educate
pupils about co-ops in primary school. When they
are learning about the economy they don’t learn
about co-ops.”
Thankfully, co-ops are emerging in primary and
secondary schools, to teach children to produce
and sell jams, ceramics or jewellery.
And last year co-ops got together to showcase
their products in Zagreb, for a festival marking the
International Day of Co-operatives.
With the sector witnessing a revival across
Europe, Ms Stanojevic thinks Croatia will follow
– if awareness improves. “We have a future but we
need to educate people,” she says.
p Croatia’s capital Zagreb, which last year hosted a co-op festival, highlighting the
sector’s products, for the International Day of Co-operatives (below)

SKILLS
MUTUALITY
CHARACTER
VALUES
EDUCATION
BY ANCA VOINEA
A VOCABULARY
OF CO-OPERATIVE KEYWORDS
q Dr Cilla Ross,
vice-principal at the
Co-operative College;
with the current list of
co-operative keywords
The Co-operative College is collaborating with
Manchester Metropolitan University to produce a
vocabulary of co-operative keywords.
The idea for the Co-operative Keywords Project
originally came from a shared interest between
Dr Cilla Ross (a work historian, sociologist
and vice-principal at the Co-operative College)
and philosophers Dr Keith Crome (Manchester
Metropolitan University) and Dr Patrick O’Connor
(Nottingham Trent University): how co-operative
words have been used historically, and how in turn
they have shaped what is often referred to as ‘the
co-operative character’.
To that end they have produced a list of
words associated with co-operation, following
consultation with many co-operators. Now people
from across the co-op movement are invited to send
other entries and definitions, ensuring the project
is a product of co-operative research.
“We’ve identified around 65 keywords. But this
isn’t a fixed limit,” says Dr Crome. “We want the
online Keywords to be an open-access resource,
and as well as asking for contributors to write an
entry for a word we’ve chosen (or later on, add to an
entry for one of those words), we’d like contributors
to suggest additional keywords.”
The words chosen so far are those which have a
central place in the co-operative movement and are
of key significance for co-operators. In particular,
the group was interested in words with multiple
definitions, that are ambiguous and contested.
“These words are interesting because they
express shifts in our ways of thinking and feeling of
which we often may have only a vague awareness,”
says Dr Crome.
“We want the vocabulary we end up with to be
useful to anyone with an interest in co-operation.
We also want it to reflect or capture the dynamism
of the co-operative movement. Hopefully, others
will suggest words we’ve left out.”
He adds: “The semantic field pertaining to
co-operation is vast and ever-changing, and the
words, concepts and ideas that are key to the
movement are shifting in meaning and developing
all the time.
“Identifying the keywords in this field is beyond
the capacity of one or two people. A really useful
resource must be a co-operative endeavour.”
The project aims to start adding entries over
the next three months, but it will be an “openended
process”. The list will be available in an
online version comprising abridged entries for the
keywords explaining the meaning of the term, the
range of senses it has or has had and an account
of its historical uses. A hard copy version of the
vocabulary will also be available for sale with
Accommodation • Active • Learning • Association • Authority • Autonomy • Capita
• Capitalism • Character • Charity • Civility • Collective Ownership/Democratic •
Community • Communism • Consensus • Consumer • Consumption • Cooperation
• Cooperative Learning • Cooperatives • Craft • Critical Pedagogy • Customer •
Democracy • Education • Empathy • Enterprise • Equality • Equity • Fellow-feeling
• Flourishing • Formal and Informal Learning • Gender • Governance • Habits •
Honesty • Independence • Internships • Labour • Leadership • Mutuality • Neo-
Liberalism • Openness • Ownership • Outcomes • Participation • Partnership •
Production • Self-help • Self-improvement • Skills • Socialism • Society • Solidarity
• Sustainability • Sympathy • Team-work • Technology • Togetherness • Training •
Values • Virtues • Voluntary • Work • Workplace Learning • Work-Based Learning
46 | September 2017

OWNERSHIP
HABITS
DEMOCRACY
WORK
proceeds going to the Co-operative College. The
book will contain longer entries and examine in
more detail the historical transformations of senses
and the use of the terms that determine the current
meaning of the keywords selected.
The project draws on Raymond Williams’ book
Keyword, and similarly, short and succinct entries
are at a premium. Dr Ross and Dr Crome have also
secured vice chancellors scholarships at MMU,
which will result in a PhD around the notion of
Co-operative Character.
u Those interested in contributing can contact
either Keith Crome (k.crome@mmu.ac.uk) or Patrick
O’Connor (patrick.oconnor@ntu.ac.uk), identifying
the word (or words) for which they would be able to
provide a definition. They will also receive a sample
definition and style sheet.
VIRTUES
SOCIETY
ENTERPRISE
CO-OPERATIVE KEYWORDS: EXAMPLE ENTRY ‘CHARACTER’ [EXTRACT]
The term character has two main senses, denoting either a distinctive
mark or sign (usually impressed on a surface), or a distinctive quality
or feature of someone or something. When used of an individual, in
its most historically typical meaning it designates a distinctive moral
quality, or qualities.
Whilst nowadays we might speak less often of someone being of
good character, it is still usual to be asked by an employer to provide
a character reference, which would provide testimony of our good
qualities or virtues. We are as likely to speak now of someone as being
‘a bit of a character’, by which we mean they are unconventional or
quirky in behaviour, disposition or even dress.
In the moral sense, character was significant for the first co-operators,
who saw co-operation not only as a specific type of commercial
relationship between worker, capitalist and consumer, but also as a
distinctively moral practice, aiming at the improvement of character and
the promotion of the virtues of self-help and self-reliance.
Robert Owen’s A New View of Society (1816), his first published
statement of his vision for a reformation of society, was subtitled Essays
on the formation of the human character preparatory to the development
of a plan for gradually ameliorating the condition of mankind.
A New View was not simply a statement of utopian principles; it was
also a reflective account of Owen’s experiment at New Lanark, and thus
empirical proof of the principles he was advocating.
At the heart of Owen’s reforms at New Lanark was his creation of an
Institution for the Formation of Character – in effect an educational
institution or school, provided to educate the children of the workers
at his New Lanark mills. Influenced by the views of William Godwin
(1756–1836) and Mary Wollstonecraft (1759–1797) on character, Owen
supposed that character is not innately fixed. However, whilst he
famously declared of children that they ‘may be formed […] to have any
character’ (1816, 80), he nevertheless ruled out the possibility that the
individual is the cause of his or her own character. Responsibility for
character is principally social: it is impressed on children by those who
have the first and most sustained involvement with them in their early
years – their parents and instructors – and by their social circumstances.
What is required, then, and what, based on his experience at New
Lanark, Owen calls for in his New View in order to improve the character
of the immiserated working classes is a social remedy – the provision of
a national system of education and moral instruction, established and
run on rational principles.
A good deal of Owen’s observations about character centre on
the vices that have been instilled in the poor and working classes by
their miserable circumstances and want of education, and thereby
on undoing what society, out of ignorance, has permitted to be done.
What Owen does say about virtue underlines that at bottom he thinks
of character in terms of its social significance; good character is a social
virtue for Owen.
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 47

REVIEWS
Andrew Bibby on Stphen Yeo’s exploration of the life and lessons of George
Jacob Holyoake, the ‘Grand Old Man’ of co-operation
A Useable Past?
Volume 1:
Victorian
Agitator, George
Jacob Holyoake:
Co-operation as
‘This New Order
of Life’
By Stephen Yeo
(EER (Edward Everett
Root), Brighton, 2017)
THREE
READS
For anyone active in the co-operative movement
in the late nineteenth century there would have
been one familiar bushy white beard to look out
for at conferences and events. The beard (and the
person to whom it was attached, George Jacob
Holyoake) was a regular feature of the movement’s
gatherings. Holyoake was an active delegate at
most Co-operative Congresses and, from 1895, at
the International Co-operative Alliance conferences
as well. He was, by the end of his life, recognised
as the G.O.M. of the co-operative world: the Grand
Old Man.
We have not necessarily remembered the history
of our co-operative pioneers particularly well, but
Holyoake has had a little more luck than, say,
Edward Vansittart Neale, Lloyd Jones or J.T.W.
Mitchell, in that his name was bestowed on the
new headquarters building of the Co-operative
Union when it was opened in 1911, five years after
his death. Holyoake House is now the home of
Co-operative News, Co-operatives UK, the Cooperative
College and more – and the G.O.M.’s bust
still occupies its own niche inside the building.
Keen-eyed co-op detectives will find his name
elsewhere, too. When local co-operative societies
Sarah Deas is director of Co-operative
Development Scotland, which supports company
growth through collaborative and employee
ownership business models.
1. A Better Way of Doing Business? Lessons from
the John Lewis Partnership, Graeme Salaman
and John Storey (OUP, 2016). A fascinating indepth
account of JLP’s strategy over the last 25
years, combined with valuable insights to how
the company has reconciled profitability with
business ethics. The conclusions advance our
understanding of the strengths and challenges of
engaged in house-building (as many did in the
late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries),
some chose to name their new streets after cooperative
leaders. Holyoake Streets can be found
in Manchester, Leicester, Hoddlesdon (Lancs),
Wellington (Shropshire), Ferryhill and Todmorden –
a memorial of a kind to his life.
But Professor Stephen Yeo has now come up
with a rather more valuable tribute to the life and
thinking of George Jacob Holyoake. Yeo, one of
our most eminent social historians (as well as the
recently retired chair of the Co-operative Heritage
Trust), says he was spurred on to take another
look at Holyoake at a conference during the 2012
UN Year of Co-operatives. And the book he has
now produced, A Useable Past?: Victorian Agitator,
George Jacob Holyoake, has been written, he says,
with the aim of answering the question: could
Holyoake’s life and work help co-operative and
associated movements to move forward in the
modern world? This is, in other words, not intended
by Yeo primarily as a scholastic undertaking
reviewing the past but rather as an extended essay
teasing out ways that Holyoake may be able to help
us in today’s difficult political times.
co-operative governance. A ‘must read’ for leaders
of co-operative businesses and anyone wishing
to understand how democratic governance can
impact business and society.
Fundamentals of Ownership Culture. Practical
ideas for creating a great employee ownership
company, Corey Rosen and Lauren Rodgers (NCEO,
2011). A really practical book, full of ideas on how
to develop an ownership culture. It draws from the
extensive experience of, in my view, the two most
well known advocates of employee ownership in
the USA. There’s an opportunity to meet Loren
(director, National Centre for Employee Ownership)
in November, when he will be speaking at the EOA’s
Conference in Birmingham, 27-28 November.
Building a Better World. 100 stories of cooperation,
Kate Askew (International Co-operative
Alliance, 2012). Launched in commemoration of
the UN International Year of Co-operatives in 2012,
this book contains 100 stories from co-ops across
the world. It is a unique collection which clearly
illustrates the potential of co-operative models
to deliver both business and societal benefits.
Scotland is well represented through SAOS,
Edinburgh Bicycle Co-operative and mediaco-op.
48 | SEPTEMBER 2017

Holyoake is not a straightforward man. Yeo
describes him at one point as an ‘idiosyncratic
agitator, journalist and moralist’. Holyoake
confessed in one of his books to ‘a certain
wilfulness of opinion which might perplex and
perturb his readers’, and his history of the
co-operative movement, which was first published
in 1875 and was then extended over the next
30 years, is well-known among historians for,
shall we say, his own unique way of approaching
historiography. On the other hand, Holyoake’s
pen wielded real power. His style of writing was
an attractive one: Yeo calls his approach ‘impish’
and certainly the pages of Co-operative News were
for years enhanced by the witty, quirky epistles he
contributed. We should remember too that one of
the main reasons why the Rochdale Pioneers are
so well known worldwide is because of the highly
successful popular book Holyoake wrote about
them, Self Help by the People, first brought out in
1858. The book was widely translated and helped
to give the Pioneers iconic status.
Holyoake is of interest not just to the co-operative
world, either. He has a strong claim, if not perhaps
for actually inventing the word ‘secular’, of at least
popularising its modern usage, particularly through
the magazine The Reasoner which he edited for
many years. As Yeo points out, secularism should
not be treated as a synonym for atheism: Holyoake
displayed considerable tolerance of those who did
have religious beliefs and – despite a blasphemy
trial – was not given to a dogmatic anti-clericism.
Tolerance is in fact a key word in Holyoake’s
universe, as Yeo expounds it. Union (not to be
confused with uniformity or lack of difference) is
another. What Yeo is particularly keen to put under
the spotlight is the moral and ethical underpinnings
of Holyoake’s life, and indeed of the early co-op
movement more generally.
Yeo also highlights the fundamental achievement
of the early co-operative movement in creating its
own successful democratic associations in the here
and now, not waiting for legislative reform from a
far-off Parliament or perhaps for the all-at-once day
of revolution to arrive.
“Twenty-first century radicals cannot be reminded
enough of the ‘great organisation(s) outside
Parliament’ which working people bequeathed
to them a century ago, and of the ethic or spirit
which brought them into being,” writes Yeo. This is
what he refers to as the spirit of ‘associationism’,
something which in its impulse meant much more
than the running of a local co-operative grocery.
“The extraordinary ambition behind the
‘associated efforts’ of relatively small co-ops working
within the Rochdale tradition gets increasingly hard
for modern consumer co-operators to remember,”
Yeo says at another point in his book.
We are, in fact, homing in here on Yeo’s main
impulse behind his book on Holyoake. He is
looking to Holyoake to help him rediscover the
roots of a radical British tradition, “an unfinished
associational-socialist alternative to the Marxist
revolutionary tradition”, to see if it can be rebuilt
today as an alternative to an overly state-centric
approach to radical change. Yeo’s title for the
book (the first of a series of three which promise
to explore ‘a history of Association, Co-operation
and Education for an un-Statist Socialism in 19th
and 20th century Britain’) is a ‘Useable Past?’
The question mark is there to suggest that this is
an exploration of whether indeed that history is
relevant today – although you feel that, as far as
Yeo himself is concerned, the question mark is
redundant. For him, there is much to take from
co-operation, and from Holyoake’s life, which is
very much of value today.
Daringly – not only because of Holyoake’s
conventional associations with secularism but also
because ‘religion’ is not necessarily a term much
discussed among radicals today – Yeo ends his
book by exploring in more detail whether we can
meaningfully speak of a ‘religion of co-operation’,
either in Holyoake’s time or (potentially) today
and in the future. Yeo here is exploring fascinating
ground which he researched very much earlier in
his career. ‘Religion’, in Yeo’s work on Holyoake,
is I think being defined by him not as any form
of deism but rather as a codification of moral
values and humanist beliefs. While I am not sure
I am personally convinced of the value of talking
of a ‘religion of co-operation’ I do understand
the issues Yeo is trying to raise in this part of his
book. Yeo ponders whether there is a future in ‘a
benign, this-worldly ‘religion’’, based on traditional
co-operative principles.
This is not, therefore, a conventional biography
of Holyoake, nor even a systematic overview of the
main issues focused on by Holyoake during his
very long life. It is rather a book exploring answers
to the question Yeo poses almost at the end of the
final chapter: Could moral idealism be unearthed
once more, as one of the buried assets of the
co-operative movement?
p The bust of George
Jacob Holyoake; and
Professor Stephen Yeo,
launching the book,
both at Holyoake House,
Manchester
SEPTEMBER 2017 | 49

DIARY
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Oldham Civic Centre
hosts the Cop-op Councils Network AGM, 5-6
September (Photo: Mikey); Scottish Labour
leader Kezia Dugdale is among speakers at
the Co-op Party conference in London, 13-
15 October (Photo: Scottish Parliament);
delegates on a woodland site visit during last
year’s the Community Woodlands and Making
Local Woods Work conference, held this year
on 20-21 October; and. NCBA CLUSA hosts the
first ever Co-op Impact Conference in Virginia,
October 4-6
5-6 Sep: Co-operative Councils Innovation
Network AGM and Co-operative Showcase
With sessions on devolution and the
future of civil society.
WHERE: Oldham Civic Centre
INFO: www.councils.coop
9 Sep-20 Nov: Pioneering the future
Centenary exhibition for the Co-op Party.
WHERE: People’s History Museum,
Manchester
INFO: events@party.coop
12 Sep-7 Nov: Is a co-operative
right for you?
Series of free events around the country
from Co-operatives UK for people
interested in starting co-ops
WHERE: Various locations
INFO: s.coop/25wes
16 Sep: A Co-op Region: Cambridge
Celebrating co-ops in the East of England
and the centenary of the Co-op Party.
WHERE: Arbury Community Centre,
Campkin Road, Cambridge CB4 2LD
INFO: contact@cooperatives-east.coop
4-6 Oct: Co-op Impact Conference 2017
Inaugural event from the National
Cooperative Business Association CLUSA.
WHERE: Alexandria VA, USA
INFO: s.coop/25vvq
5 Oct: Social Business Wales Conference
2017 Free annual conference to provide
inspiration, ideas and practical skills to
social businesses in Wales to help them
grow, develop and collaborate
WHERE: Llangollen Pavilion, Llangollen
INFO: s.coop/25wdl
13-15 Oct: Co-op Party Annual Conference
Speakers include Labour leader Jeremy
Corbyn, Scottish Labour leader Kezia
Dugdale, deputy mayor for London
Joanne McCartney and first minister for
Wales Carwyn Jones.
WHERE: Central Hall, Westminster and
Tower Bridge, London
INFO: party.coop/event/conference-2017
20-21 Oct: Community Woodlands and
Making Local Woods Work Conference
With keynote speakers, presentations
from woodland groups, site visits
and workshops on woodfuel, adding
value to timber, social finance, education,
health and volunteering. Friday’s
events begin with a networking lunch and
are followed by a dinner and ceilidh.
WHERE: Westerwood Hotel, Cumbernauld
INFO: s.coop/25vvs
9 Nov: Making The Co-op University
Co-operative College event offering the
chance to network with like-minded
individuals and organisations to
share thoughts on what a co-operative
university should look like.
WHERE: Federation House, Manchester
INFO: www.co-op.ac.uk
LOOKING AHEAD
11 Nov: 12th ICA-AP Regional Cooperative
Research Conference (Seoul, S Korea)
14-15 Nov: Locality Convention 2017
(Manchester)
14-17 Nov: ICA Global Conference and
General Assembly (Malaysia)
16 Nov: Practitioners Forum 2017
(Manchester)
27-28 Nov: Employee Ownership
Association Annual Conference
(Birmingham)
50 | SEPTEMBER 2017

#SBWConf17
Alan Mahon
Jo Wolfe
Ken Skates AM
Keynote speakers include:
Alan Mahon, Co-founder, Brewgooder
Jo Wolfe, Managing Director, Reason Digital
Ken Skates AM, Economy Secretary for Wales
Derek Walker, Chief Executive, Wales Co-operative Centre
Topics to be covered include:
• Future of finance
• Public sector procurement
• Digital transformation
• Leadership and succession
• Developing new products
• Agile project management
• Power of PR
• Opportunities for growth
Derek Walker
Social Business Wales
Conference 2017
Supporting social businesses with aspirations
to grow and be more sustainable
Llangollen Pavilion, Denbighshire
Thursday 5th October, 9:30am - 4.00pm
This free national conference will provide an environment
for knowledge exchange, sharing best practice and
networking within the sector; encourage innovation;
and provide opportunities to learn from and build
partnerships with the private and public sector.
To register for your free place, visit:
bit.ly/sbwconference2017

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