End of year review 2016: Development and general news

DEVELOPMENT February: The Hive: Co-op and social enterprise development hub launches Co-operatives UK and the Co-operative Bank announced a three-year co-operative development initiative. The Hive is aimed at...

DEVELOPMENT

February: The Hive: Co-op and social enterprise development hub launches

Co-operatives UK and the Co-operative Bank announced a three-year co-operative development initiative. The Hive is aimed at people wanting to set up co-operative or community enterprises, and will also support the development of the existing 7,000 independent UK co-op businesses.

March: Scottish Enterprise announces Collaboration Prize winners

Five collaborative projects from Scotland received £5,000 and specialist support to set up co-operative consortia. The five new consortia will benefit from £5,000 cash and up to £5,000 specialist support from Co-operative Development Scotland to implement their project. The winning entries came from ArchBlue Ltd, Ecosse from Above, Edinburgh’s Netherbow, Kettle of Fish and Orkney Tweed.

April: Co-op entrepreneur given Queen’s Award for Lifetime Achievement

Dorothy Francis, chief executive of CASE (Co-operative and Social Enterprise Development Agency), received a Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion. Ms Francis is one of only five people in the UK to get the award and is the only one to be given the honour for Lifetime Achievement. She has been directly involved in supporting over 200 enterprises over a 30 year period.

July: Co-operatives UK calls for equal status for co-operatives

Following Theresa May’s election as Conservative leader and the subsequent cabinet reshuffle, Co-operatives UK expressed concerns about how co-ops fit into the new government department frameworks. The apex body for co-ops in the country launched a consultation with members earlier this year exploring who in government has – and who should have – responsibility for co-operatives. It believes that because responsibility is currently scattered across different government departments, co-op enterprises are not on a level playing field with other businesses, and thinks the most effective way to address this is to transfer full responsibility to the department for business.

August: The Hive awards £45,000 worth of expert advice to co-ops

The Hive – a co-op business development programme from Co-operatives UK and The Co-op Bank – awarded its first support for the sector. £45,000 worth of expert advice went to 41 groups who applied for support to set up or grow a co-operatively run business or organisation.

GENERAL

June – Central England, the Phone Co-op and Riverside Housing Co-operative named Co-operatives of the Year

Central England Co-operative won the 2016 Leading Co-operative of the Year Award at Co-operative Congress in Wakefield, while the awards for the Growing Co-operative and Inspiring Co-operative of the Year went to the Phone Co-op and Riverside Housing.

June – Co-operative Economy 2016 report shows ‘resilience’ in the face of uncertainty

A record number of people are members of co-ops in the UK, the UK Co-operative Economy 2016 report found. Around 17.5million people own the country’s 7,000 co-ops – up from 17.4 million the previous year. This is equivalent to a third of the UK adult population being a co-op member.

In this article

Join the Conversation