2015 End of Year Review

Britain’s employee ownership sector grew faster than the economy as a whole, and worker co-ops collaborated to develop the Worker Co-op Solidarity Fund and promote worker co-ops among young people. But employee-owned paper and printing firms Tullis Russell and Watford Printers both closed due to unfavourable economic conditions. The British employee-owned sector is now worth £30bn ...

The government’s decision to roll back support sparked crisis in the community energy sector but also encouraged a flurry of investment before the changes were implemented. Meanwhile, the number of community shops and pubs continued to increase, as did the number and scale of community share offers. And there were new firsts including a community-owned port in Scotland. A succession of ...

Election: In a year that has been dominated politically by the lead up to – and aftermath – of the general election, Labour and Co-operative politicians have been giving a voice to the movement in Westminster. After voters took to the polls on 5 May, 42 Labour and Co-operative hopefuls translated into 24 members of parliament, in constituencies from Swansea to Redcar, via London, ...

2015 has been a year where the health and social care sector has made great strides towards opening up discussion about co-operative approaches to care. Health and social care co-operatives looked not only to expand, but to be more open and inclusive, with more opportunities for people to have their say on services. A new book called The Co-operative Advantage, published in July, ...

A tough year, especially for dairy farmers, saw protests against supermarket prices and the formation of new co-ops in response to volatile market conditions. There were also innovations from Co-operatives UK, which launched a new membership package for agri-co-ops, and from the Ecological Land Co-operative. It was a tough year for British dairy co-ops, with reduced global demand leading ...

The credit union sector continued to grow, with Britain on track to meet a target of two million members by 2020 and global push for 260 million members around the world by the same year. In banking, the fallout from the crisis at the Co-op Bank continued and the push for mutual alternatives around the world also increased. Credit Unions To celebrate 50 years of credit unions in ...

After a busy year for the co-operative movement, we looked at which stories have been the most read, shared, liked, commented on and retweeted throughout 2015. The top ten most read stories of the year were: 1. Large fire damages historic co-op building in Manchester A major fire has damaged the historic headquarters of the former Co-operative Wholesale Society. The top floor of ...

Supporter trusts and community benefit societies engaged in leisure activities continued to grow in 2015. The Localism Act on 2011 has helped communities across England to protect assets valuable for community, including training grounds, stadiums and clubs. More on that is available here.  In March a community benefit society raised £150,000 to promote Fairtrade sports balls made in ...

The housing sector faced uncertainty in 2015 as George Osborne announced new rules on social rents and a Right to Buy policy for housing association tenants. But there was growth in student housing co-ops and the sector expanded in Wales – and, on an international level, the movement came together to help Haiti's earthquake victims. For housing co-operatives in the UK the year was a ...

Education is a constantly evolving sector, and co-operatives are adapting to the changes. With the victory for the Conservative Party in May’s general election, David Cameron once again spoke of the Big Society – giving local communities more power and supporting co-ops – and co-op educators moved to act on this. The Schools Co-operative Society and the Co-operative College outlined their ...

Gender This year, as part of a campaign to reduce inequality and achieve gender equality, the United Nations launched 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The goals covered topics such as equal education, female empowerment and ensuring healthy lives for everyone. The goals were highlighted on the International Day of Co-operatives, celebrated by the UN and co-ops around the world in ...

A increasing emphasis on ethical products saw co-op retailers continue their growth, with initiatives such as Fairtrade Fortnight as notable successes. But while supermarkets performed well, the co-op sector continued to pull out of the department store market with closures at Heart of England Society. There has been a strong element of recovery in the retail sector this year, as co-op ...

Action is one word to describe an eclectic year for the co-operative sector. Whether at a local, national or international level, people and co-operatives have individually and collectively worked for one another. Sometimes when facing challenges. For example, the growth of community co-operatives has been on the rise for years. The number of community shops climbed from 325 to 337, ...

As 2015 draws to a close, we've picked five top international news stories from the co-operative movement to look back on. [caption id="attachment_99415" align="alignleft" width="230"] Monique Leroux, the new president of the International Co-operative Alliance[/caption] The Alliance In 2010, the International Co-operative Alliance announced the start of a co-operative decade. ...

The number of co-operatives and community benefit societies deregistered by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) decreased by 9% year on year in 2015. A total of 148 societies were deregistered as of 18 December, 185 were removed from the register in 2014. From 1 January 2015 to 18 December 2015, 74 societies had their registrations cancelled at their request. Of these, 63 were industrial ...