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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RETAIL<br />
Sheffield <strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong> Group<br />
store brings back milk<br />
in glass bottles<br />
A <strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong> Group store in Sheffield is bringing<br />
back the glass milk bottle in response<br />
to demand from customers and the war<br />
on plastic.<br />
The Ecclesall Road store is selling glass<br />
pint bottles from local farm Our <strong>Co</strong>w<br />
Molly, four miles away. Customers can<br />
return the bottles to the sh<strong>op</strong> to be re-used<br />
by the dairy.<br />
Store manager Pete <strong>Co</strong><strong>op</strong>er says the<br />
glass bottles are proving to be a hit – and<br />
he’s planning on increasing his order to<br />
meet demand.<br />
Mr <strong>Co</strong><strong>op</strong>er said: “We’re the first <strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong><br />
store in the country to sell milk in glass<br />
bottles and we believe we’re the first<br />
supermarket in the country to do so too.<br />
“It fits in with the <strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong>’s ethos as an<br />
environmentally friendly company keen<br />
to do what it can to reduce plastic waste.<br />
And the response shows just how close<br />
the issue is to pe<strong>op</strong>le’s hearts. It’s also<br />
great to be supporting a local farm only<br />
a few miles away.”<br />
Our <strong>Co</strong>w Molly already supplies a local<br />
convenience store with milk in glass<br />
bottles – where customers get a discount<br />
on their next pint when returning their<br />
used bottles. Other stores in the city are<br />
now planning to follow suit.<br />
Director of Our <strong>Co</strong>w Molly, Eddie<br />
Andrew, said: “It’s great that the <strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong><br />
has become the first major supermarket<br />
in the UK to listen to environmentally<br />
conscious consumers asking for milk in<br />
glass bottles, and to give them what they<br />
want. We’re really proud we’ve been able<br />
to get our milk on the shelves there and<br />
help reduce plastic waste.”<br />
According to recent research, a glass<br />
bottle needs to used at least 13 times before<br />
becoming better for the environment<br />
than a plastic one. Mr Andrew said this<br />
was easily the case with the bottles it<br />
p Ecclesall Road <strong>Co</strong>-<strong>op</strong> store manager Pete<br />
<strong>Co</strong><strong>op</strong>er (left) with Our <strong>Co</strong>w Molly’s Eddie<br />
Andrew (Image: Our <strong>Co</strong>w Molly)<br />
delivers, some of which he claimed have<br />
been in circulation for 20 years.<br />
ECONOMY<br />
<strong>Co</strong>mmunity-owned assets contribute £220m a year to England’s economy<br />
New research shows that England’s 6,300<br />
community-owned assets contribute<br />
nearly £220m to the economy every year.<br />
The Our Assets, Our Future report is<br />
written by researchers from the Centre for<br />
Regional Economic and Social Research<br />
(CRESR) at Sheffield Hallam University<br />
and the Institute for Voluntary Action<br />
Research (IVAR).<br />
The team interviewed eight funders<br />
and support organisations, conducted<br />
an online and postal survey of potential<br />
community asset organisations, and made<br />
case studies of 27 assets in community<br />
ownership in five local authority areas.<br />
p The Kings Head, a community owned pub<br />
in Pebmarsh (Photo: the Plunkett Foundation)<br />
They found that, despite limited<br />
resources, three quarters of communityowned<br />
assets say they are in good<br />
financial health. The majority of provided<br />
a ‘micro’ (32%) or ‘small’ (48%) revenue of<br />
less than £100,000.<br />
And the sector is growing, with nearly a<br />
third of its assets coming into community<br />
ownership in the last decade. <strong>Co</strong>mmunityowned<br />
assets are also pumping nearly<br />
£150m a year of spending directly into the<br />
local communities where they are based.<br />
But one in five community assets made an<br />
<strong>op</strong>erating loss of 10% or more of revenue<br />
in the last financial year.<br />
Poorer areas are less likely to have<br />
community-owned assets, with the<br />
most deprived 30% of neighbourhoods<br />
containing just 18% of assets. Rural<br />
areas tend to have higher numbers of<br />
assets in community ownership – with<br />
the exception of some urban areas,<br />
particularly Liverpool, Manchester,<br />
Birmingham and Southwark. The authors<br />
of the report believe the trend shows the<br />
importance of a supportive environment.<br />
The cost of maintenance was the most<br />
common factor cited for the financial<br />
health of community assets in the last<br />
three years, at 46%, with other barriers<br />
including the scale of expenses, poor<br />
revenue, lack of a full volunteer base and<br />
limited access to grant funding.<br />
Ian Wilson, lead author and principal<br />
research fellow from the CRESR, said:<br />
“Although 31% of these assets are in<br />
excellent financial health, the sector<br />
needs more financial support in order to<br />
fulfil its economic potential.”<br />
The report says it should be easier to<br />
transfer assets into community ownership,<br />
calls for more business planning and<br />
general support for the sector, and wants<br />
more reliable access to cheap finance.<br />
The research was commissioned<br />
by Power to Change and the Ministry<br />
for Housing, <strong>Co</strong>mmunities and Local<br />
Government.<br />
Vidhya Alakeson, chief executive<br />
of Power to Change, said: “When<br />
communities directly own land and<br />
buildings, they can start to meet the<br />
real needs of pe<strong>op</strong>le in their area. That’s<br />
why we need concerted action from<br />
policymakers at all levels to support<br />
community ownership.”<br />
6 | AUGUST <strong>2019</strong>