Co-op News (August 2019)
What is co-operative culture - and why does it matter? This issue looks at how co-op values intersect with the values in organisations, across movements and between countries. Plus 100 years of the Channel Islands Co-operative – and how the new Coop Exchange app is tackling the capital conundrum.
What is co-operative culture - and why does it matter? This issue looks at how co-op values intersect with the values in organisations, across movements and between countries. Plus 100 years of the Channel Islands Co-operative – and how the new Coop Exchange app is tackling the capital conundrum.
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NEWS<br />
RETAIL<br />
Campaign urges UK government to set the target<br />
of one million worker-owners by 2030<br />
A new campaign by <strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong>eratives UK<br />
and the Employee Ownership Association<br />
(EOA) is calling on the UK government<br />
to invest £2m in its upcoming spending<br />
review to support a voluntary expansion<br />
of the employee and worker-owned<br />
business sectors.<br />
Due to be published this autumn, the<br />
spending review will cover the 2020-2021<br />
period, setting detailed departmental<br />
allocations. <strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong>eratives UK and<br />
EOA believe that increasing employee<br />
and worker-ownership can help the<br />
government achieve its objectives for a<br />
more productive, inclusive and balanced<br />
economy, supporting its own aims in the<br />
Good Work Plan and playing a key role in<br />
the Industrial Strategy.<br />
The #1MillionOwners campaign calls<br />
for £2.17m to be allocated over the next<br />
three years, with an ambition to create<br />
one million worker and employee-owners<br />
by 2030. Through the scheme, five local<br />
enterprise partnerships (LEPs) would work<br />
to address the biggest barriers to employee<br />
and worker ownership, such as raising<br />
awareness, practical understanding and<br />
advice among entrepreneurs, business<br />
owners, workers and advisers.<br />
In Scotland, the government is investing<br />
£500,000 through Scottish Enterprise to<br />
support employee ownership and tackle<br />
these barriers. The campaign highlights<br />
how an independent evaluation for<br />
<strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong>erative Devel<strong>op</strong>ment Scotland<br />
found a tenfold return on investment<br />
in gross value is added for every pound<br />
invested in on-the-ground support to grow<br />
employee and worker-ownership.<br />
The Scottish government aims to<br />
increase the number of employee and<br />
worker-owned businesses from 100 to 500<br />
by 2030. The campaign suggests the UK<br />
government set a similar target.<br />
Ed Mayo, secretary general of<br />
<strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong>eratives UK, said: “When it comes<br />
to reducing wealth inequality, driving<br />
employee engagement and tackling<br />
regional resilience, employee and worker<br />
ownership offers a proven solution.<br />
“The UK’s best employee-owned<br />
businesses and leading worker co-<strong>op</strong>s<br />
can be the answer to a more inclusive<br />
economy at a time of great economic<br />
uncertainty. We’re urging Westminster<br />
to match the Scottish government’s<br />
ambition for a fivefold increase in the<br />
number of employee and worker owned<br />
businesses by 2030.”<br />
Deb Oxley, chief executive of the<br />
EOA, said: “Now is the time for UK<br />
government to invest in creating more<br />
businesses that have a proven record<br />
of accomplishing and sustaining higher<br />
productivity, greater economic resilience<br />
and having a wider impact on the regions<br />
they <strong>op</strong>erate in.”<br />
She added: “Not one dissenting voice<br />
has followed recent high-profile employee<br />
ownership transitions such as Riverford<br />
Organic, Aardman Animations and Richer<br />
Sounds. In fact, there was unilateral<br />
political support as well as a positive<br />
endorsement by commentators in tabloids<br />
and broadsheets.<br />
“We have great examples from across<br />
the UK of employee and worker-owned<br />
businesses of doing well while doing good<br />
– it is very clear the UK would benefit from<br />
having more of them.”<br />
Also backing the campaign is Julian<br />
Richer, founder of Richer Sounds, who<br />
recently handed control of the business<br />
to its staff by placing 60% of the company<br />
into an employee ownership trust (EOT).<br />
He said: “To me, the decision to sell the<br />
company to my colleagues was an obvious<br />
one. Nobody knew my business better<br />
than the pe<strong>op</strong>le in it and we’d created a<br />
culture together.<br />
“To sell to the highest bidder would<br />
have created wealth for one or two<br />
pe<strong>op</strong>le. Instead, using the EOT model, we<br />
will sustain the value we create for the<br />
individual, the business and the economy<br />
for the longer term.”<br />
One of the largest worker co-<strong>op</strong>s in<br />
the UK, Suma, is also supporting the<br />
campaign. Ross Hodgson, Suma member<br />
said: “Worker ownership has been the key<br />
to our success over the last 40 years.<br />
“All our members are paid the same<br />
and are given an equal say in how the<br />
business is run, with each carrying out<br />
a range of jobs across our co-<strong>op</strong>. We<br />
support the campaign to create and<br />
support more worker-owners and urge the<br />
government to commit funding to grow<br />
the sector.”<br />
AUGUST <strong>2019</strong> | 5