Brexit: How would the UK leaving the EU affect co-ops?

The financial world coped with the shock of the Brexit vote surprisingly well. The value of the pound dropped sharply, of course, and there was turbulence on stock and bond markets. But there was no market freeze like that after the fall of Lehman Brothers in 2008, and no bank run like that on Northern Rock in 2007. In fact, banks held up rather well, despite their share prices taking a ...

Following the referendum on the UK’s membership of the European Union, Co-op Group CEO, Richard Pennycook, has reassured EU colleague members "who have been worried about whether they will be allowed to stay in the country where they’ve put down such strong roots". The Group has around 3,000 colleague members who are from the EU and have made their home here. When partners and children are ...

In the days following the results of the EU referendum, the wall-to-wall Brexit coverage largely united around one question: what do we do now? Not even the 52% who voted to leave the European Union could have imagined the scale of market panic that followed. A record USD$3tn was wiped off global markets in two days and the pound fell to its weakest level in three decades against the ...

Co-operatives can be "a lighthouse" in this time of political turbulence, said Gavin Shuker, Co-operative Party parliamentary chair, during Co-operatives Fortnight. Mr Shuker added that as the country enters unknown territory following the result of last week's EU referendum, the party will be working to ensure that the movement offers answers. "Some time ago, I called the ...

With the UK voting to leave the European Union, co-operative umbrella organisations are looking at what this could mean for their member co-operatives. Co-operatives UK has issued a statement to inform members about its future plans. The apex body for co-operatives in the UK said its primary task would be to “monitor and safeguard” the position of its members when it comes to bringing ...

We understand the benefits of working together. We know that with the success of co-operatives brings benefits to the people and communities they serve. But in a society that measures performance by profit and wealth, it’s not always an easy task to sell the intangible benefits of co-operation. It’s a battle that has faced co-operatives for decades: how do we get the co-operative ...

And so, finally we have it... the European referendum debate has hit rock bottom and revealed itself to be about just one issue: immigration. What a travesty!

In the next few weeks the British people will make a fundamental decision about the country's future. Are we in or out of the European Union? Like the UK population, the business community is divided. Some are in favour of leaving the EU on the grounds that other trading relationships will flourish. Some want to remain in membership to maintain stability and benefit from the EU's markets ...

 The countdown to the EU referendum has begun. On Thursday 23rd June, British voters will decide whether or not they wish to remain in the EU – and the vote is expected to be close. Both sides claim the moral ground and economic case. The moral ground hangs on such nebulous concepts as “sovereignty” and “fairness”. A growing number of people are angry about the inflow of immigrants ...

The referendum on whether or not the UK should leave the European Union takes place on 23 June. We asked a range of representatives from the co-op movement about how they think co-operatives would be affected by a Brexit. In this article, we hear from the energy and mutual sectors, as well as a co-operative legal expert. The view from: the energy sector [caption ...

As well as looking at how UK co-ops could be affected by the possible Brexit, we also asked for the view from Europe and spoke to Klaus Niederländer, director of Cooperatives Europe for his take on the June 23 referendum.

As well as asking how different sectors would be affected by a possible exit from the European Union by the UK, we also asked for views from across the regions of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Brexit is on the top of news agendas across the UK – but what does this mean for co-operatives? On the surface, there is very little impact to the co-operative model itself. Co-operatives are not directly regulated by Brussels, though the EU does recommend the development of co-operatives in member states. And there is the option to register a European Co-operative Society to allow simple ...

With a referendum on a Brexit from the European Union by the UK approaching, we asked members of the co-op movement for their views on how it would affect co-operatives. In this article, we hear from Gareth Thomas, chair of the Co-operative Party.

In another look into the possible Brexit, and how it will affect co-ops, we hear from Dame Pauline Green, former president of the International Co-operative Alliance, former Labour/Co-operative MEP and former leader of the parliamentary group of the Party of European Socialists (PES) Is there a co-operative perspective on the Big Europe debate? On one level, of course, each ...

Following the announcement of the UK referendum in 23 June on whether Britain should remain in the European Union, what would a Brexit mean for co-operatives? The EU developed after the Second World War to encourage economic and political co-operation. It is now a single market of 28 European countries, allowing goods and people to move around easily, with its own parliament and its ...