National Co-operative Development Strategy:

Scoping Report

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With thanks to:

Peter Couchman – Plunkett Foundation

Dave Hollings – Co-operative and Mutual Solutions

Jo White – Co-operative Futures

James Mathie – Supporters Direct

Emma Laycock – Co-operatives UK

Claire Ebrey – Co-operatives UK

Ed Mayo – Co-operatives UK

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Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 2

Co-operative Development ........................................................................................................................... 4

Framework ................................................................................................................................................... 6

Literature Review ........................................................................................................................................ 15

The International ........................................................................................................................................ 17

Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 20

Appendix 1 – Literature Review .................................................................................................................. 22

Bibliography ............................................................................................................................................... 29

Introduction

Background Following recent developments in the UK co-operative sector including the pause in business development support provided through the Co-operative Enterprise Hub, Co-operatives UK is taking a lead by working with its members to scope the potential for a ‘National Co-operative Development Strategy’ (NCDS).

Aims The purpose of the research report is to recommend the ways in which writing a NCDS might be best approached, not to write the strategy itself. The following questions are being used to help guide and keep the report on track and are referred to throughout the writing to ensure the aims of this scoping report can be met.

How do we know what we want a NCDS to be?

What interactions are needed to make a NCDS happen?

How is a NCDS organised (or not) to make it possible?

Methodology The organisations involved have taken a partnership approach to this work. The Partnership contains four of the top Co-operative Development Bodies and Federals in the UK that work closely with groups to develop a range of co-operatives across the UK and internationally. The methodology for this scoping report has involved a literature review of current contemporary literature, consultation at a roundtable event, ongoing feedback and input from partners and a review of the first draft from Co-operatives UK.

Briefing There are four key elements to that were asked to be considered for this scoping report:

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1. The scoping report will include a definition of ‘co-operative development’ and the range of interventions that support it. The definition must:

Be agreed at an early stage by Co-operatives UK.

Respond to the overall needs of the sector and not reflect personal interests or needs.

Draw on conventional business development frameworks, as appropriate, and not focus on a limited model, such as generic face to face advice, only.

2. The scoping report should provide:

A concise review of recent, relevant work conducted by Co-operatives UK and its members

Consideration of:

- National models of development in the wider social enterprise and social economy

- Trends in business support more widely where they offer relevant learning or opportunities for innovation

- Partnership opportunities for the co-operative sector. 3. The scoping document may reflect the following framework that may be relevant when

looking at the pathway to developing a NCDS:

Strategic – What does the Co-operative Movement in the UK want to achieve? This section could set out a vision for co-operative development in the UK that may be influenced by provision in other countries but should be unique to us. This section could also identify who owns and is responsible for the strategy.

Structural – Further to the agreed strategic vision, what then could the provision of co-operative support services look like? This section could consider:

- Geography (including the context of the devolved nations)

- Sector specific provision

- Specialisms

Operational – Further to the agreed strategic vision and structure of support, what actual support should therefore be provided, by whom and using which funding mechanisms?

4. The scoping report may consider international models of co-operative development

strategies that may be relevant to the UK.

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Co-operative Development

Defining Co-operative Development One of the tasks associated with writing a NCDS is to help develop an agreed definition of ‘co-operative development’ and the range of interventions that support it. An agreed definition helps create clarity and unite teams (both writing this report and more widely) on what co-operative development activity needs to take place both when creating a strategy and implementing it. The definition must:

Be agreed at an early stage in this scoping process

Respond to the overall needs of the sector (and not reflect personal interests or needs)

Draw on conventional business development frameworks, as appropriate (and not focus on a limited model, such as generic face to face advice, only)

Co-operative Development There are benefits to a short sentence or to a paragraph in defining co-operative development – both can help meet the many elements that have been captured. It is important to note though is that this definition for co-operative development is not a slogan, but is to explain the concept of co-operative development and show why it is important. Co-operative Development is:

The process of growing and advancing businesses owned and run by and for their members*

*in line with the ICA Statement on the Co-operative Identity

To further explain the concept, we have expanded on this definition with this short paragraph:

Co-operative development shares common features of development as it focusses on growth across areas such as jobs, influence, profit or welfare. It also provides support to inspire advances for communities, networks and enterprises. It is distinct from other types of development as co-operative development focusses on member owned organisations and

results in the creation of value and in improved wellbeing that is equitably shared by all the members of organisations.

Influences The range of influences in defining co-operative development is vast – discussions and literature have all made important contributions.

Considerations and Discussion We felt a definition needed to be approached to include consideration of:

What we want the movement to be, but managing the risk of looking-inward.

That the context that this definition has been developed in, is about how to go about creating a co-operative development strategy for the UK as a nation, and that:

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- Co-operative development that has been practised in the UK may be significantly different from ideal.

- Co-operative development in the UK has been generalist. Whilst there is a need for generalist support, development also needs specialist support in different business disciplines, for different, markets and sectors and for different sizes and types of co-ops.

Co-operative development is not just about supporting new start co-operatives, but to help small co-ops to grow into medium sized co-operatives, to help medium sized co-operatives grow into large co-operatives and to help co-operative of all sizes to survive and thrive. Additionally, co-operative development also about helping convert existing businesses in to co-operatives.

Replication is important – identifying existing co-operative models that work in particular markets and sectors then helping other communities to adapt and replicate these models to meet their own needs

There are different approaches to co-operative development (for example by sector).

A definition needs to be future proof

The scope that leads from a defining co-operative development is important as a definition can shape what resources become available for development of co-operatives.

Further to this, there are some key aspects that need to be captured:

The need for member value to be improved should be recognised. 1. Growth of co-operatives is key and growth can be defined across many areas such as jobs, 2.GDP, influence.

In particular, inspiring good outcomes is part of growth 3. A definition needs to have space for co-operative sustainability, credibility and value by 4.networks (communities being part of networks).

When co-operative business development takes place, the most successful outcome for those 5.in co-operative networks is better living.

For further clarity, we have elaborated on each of these aspects to show the breadth coverage.

Member value – the measures by which each co-operative evaluates their success and growth. 1. Growth – each and every co-operative uses different measures to judge success. Growth is 2.the increase in quality or quantity of those measures.

Inspiring – animating, motivating and supporting 3. Sustainably and credible – observable, meaningful and thriving 4. Networks – place based communities, communities of interest, businesses and enterprises 5. Better living – improved welfare 6.

Literature There is further discussion in the appendix which explores the associations that the literature makes towards co-operative development. The literature has also helped to shape the definition.

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Framework

Strategic Level A NCDS should not be a list of minor enhancements to existing provision. It should ask some fundamental questions of the Co-operative Movement, such as:

What does the Co-operative Movement in the UK want to achieve?

What is the vision for co-operative development in the UK?

What influence might we take from provision in other countries and what should be unique to us?

Who owns and is responsible for the strategy?

Who should pay for it?

How can we sustain it?

It is not the purpose of the paper to answer these questions, but it does need to propose how we go about answering them.

We propose the key principles behind the process should be:

Together 1.

This should not be a proposal written by one part of the movement and half-heartedly endorsed by the others with little intention of giving any real support.

Challenging 2.

It should aim to take all parts of the movement out of their comfort zones both in terms of its ambition and the collaboration needed to deliver it.

Realistic 3.

It cannot be in the form used so often in the past of development by incantation, where reports cite what forms of co-ops should be formed without any realistic possibility of this actually happening.

Frank 4.

It should be honest that there is, in reality, not a Co-operative Movement, but a whole series of different interest groups and enterprises with wildly different perspectives and little desire to co-operate together. The process should not be frightened to recognise this and to be open about those differences and the different co-operative mind-sets, which include:

Co-operatives which engage solely to benefit their own current business needs

Co-operatives which engage through a sense of solidarity with the sector

Co-operatives which engage from a Corporate Social Responsibility sector

Co-operative Development Bodies- seeking to promote and defend their development approach

Federals - seeking to defend their work with their members

Co-operatives UK - promoting developing and uniting the co-operative sector and sectoral development

Open co-operativism - seeks to retain the benefits of co-operation without the long term structures

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Service suppliers - individuals and organisations seeking to provide development services By exploring the motivations of a broad range of co-operative stakeholders, the process should start to identify where there are common interests or where different interests could work together. It is expected that some of these common interests will be:

- Wishing to express solidarity with other co-operatives

- Seeking a direct business benefit from the support of other co-ops

- Supporting local communities through co-operative action

- Enhancing Corporate Social Responsibility programmes

- Supporting individual types of co-operative

- Engaging well with members and improving member value Such different interests should not be seen as mutually exclusive, nor is there anything wrong with a single organisation wishing to achieve several outcomes. The main issue is to start is openness about what each other’s motivations are.

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The Proposed Process The outlined process has been designed to allow for input across all stakeholders. The process narrows to give an opportunity for people to say they have had an input at various points and to ensure that a final strategy can be agreed.

Stage One - Consultation Run a survey to bring out the diverse starting positions without seeking to railroad these positions in to one. This would seek views on what an organisation saw as the vision of a future movement and what it saw as needing to happen to get there. We would recommend the following principles are used in during a surveying stage to ensure best results:

Survey design is carefully considered to inspire people to understand what co-operatives are and to understand what starting positions are

That surveys are not framed as a co-operative development survey, but as a survey relevant to the audiences they are consulting with (for example asking about football or rural services, rather than directly about co-operatives)

That assumptions on co-op development are tested and challenged. This report’s literature review gives an insight of how co-operative development can be currently interpreted.

Consultation must be varied and accessible – allowing people to access in the way that they choose and at the time that they choose is vital.

Building on this, the possible mechanisms to survey could include the development of a toolkit to use at an AGM, various interactive digital mediums such as Instagram and web surveys, informal and formal conversations

Consultation

Analysis

Exploration

Draft Strategy

Final Strategy

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Targeted – We need to do our utmost to encourage responses from all stakeholders at the earliest stage, to meet our togetherness principle and engage everyone at the start of the process.

Stage Two – Analysis These answers are then mapped to see where there are:

Similarities

Differences

Opportunities for collaboration In shaping the process like this, the partnership opportunities will be drawn out and identified. We would also expect that international examples would form a useful part of analysis. In looking at international examples it is important that cherry picking is not used - we would instead recommend that what international research has helped us to understand is used to inform the breakdown of a co-operative strategy, its structure and its operations.

Stage Three – Exploration This material is then shared with everyone, ideally at the same time and together, and an attempt is made to build a strategy around these various interests being willing to embrace different perspectives. Exploration of material needs to have two aspects to it. There needs to be planned elements to the material, but also wildcard material that is challenging, new and inspirational to help test what works best. This stage still represents a wide range of options, but framed as the maximum width - the material that should be shared should be able to be framed using open questions, for example:

We seem to be going ‘this way’ – is this OK?

‘This’ has been something that has been tried in XYZ – what do you think of it? At this stage, exploration material needs to be linked back to the four values identified earlier: Together, Challenging, Realistic and Frank. The principles identified in the consultation stage also need to be reflected in the Exploration stage:

The design of results are carefully considered to inspire people to understand what co-operatives are and to understand what starting positions are

That results are not framed as a co-operative development results, but as a results relevant to the audiences they are consulting with (for example revealing information and knowledge about football or rural services, rather than directly about co-operatives)

Assumptions on co-op development are tested and challenged.

Results must be varied and accessible – allowing people to access in the way that they choose and at the time that they choose is vital.

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Stage Four – Draft Strategy Feedback from stage three is captured in a first draft which is out for consultation and input. Access to this draft should remain varied and accessible – allowing people to access in the way that they choose and at the time that they choose is still relevant. Input should be invited from stakeholders that are still motivated to contribute from across the different sectors of the co-operative movement, but amendments should manage a risk that those ‘shouting loudest and longest’ may skew a strategy away from supporting a vision that could best support co-operative development for the UK. It would also be advisable to invite input from independent external bodies at this point to help ensure a strategy aligns and is still accessible to civil society, communities, businesses, government and policy that may not have encountered the co-operative movement before. This can be achieved by analysing data in stage one to identify where there are gaps, and would need proactive work to engage and reach out to those identified. Independent and external input will also help to identify partnership opportunities. A roundtable event would be a simple method of bringing the various stakeholders together for this part of NCDS development.

Stage Five – Final Strategy The amended final version is produced based on feedback from draft stage.

Managing Risks When writing a strategy, there will be a need to manage the risk between being too vague and being too prescriptive, particularly at an operational and structural level. The amount of detail in operational and structural parts of a strategy may reflect the longevity of the strategy. We would recommend further consideration of:

How the operational and structural levels of strategy could affect the timeframe a NCDS is indented to be in place – it could be for two, three, ten or even 100 years.

How much detail of structure and operations might sit in a delivery plan rather than a strategy We would also suggest that there is a need to review how writing an NCDS would be resourced. The ‘Proposed Process’ ensures good quality and buy-in, but is not costed. There are both revenue and capital cost implications of all different the methods proposed. Of particular note are revenue costs (or time) associated with reading reports, developing evaluation surveys, formally and informally consulting with stakeholders, analysing data, writing documents, and organising events, ensuring attendance at events, and managing events. If development of a NCDS is not well resourced, then its quality will suffer. We would recommend that seeking sponsorship in the form of time, funding or skills from the co-operative sector could be one way to help ensure development of a NCDS is fully resourced, but this would need to be sponsorship donated objectively. This resource would need to be secured by those leading an NCDS rather than those managing the production of an NCDS. Alongside this we recommend using existing structures and resources to help make savings and ensure costs remain low – hosting a roundtable at a pre-arranged Co-operative Forum for example.

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Operational Level A NCDS should also help reveal what services will be delivered:

What support might be provided?

Who might provide support?

What funding mechanisms might provide support?

Co-operative Jigsaw A way to help answer these questions is the framework of a “Co-operative Jigsaw”. The Jigsaw helps to demonstrate the idea that supporting co-operative enterprise requires a whole series of separate but connected services.

The challenge is that there are many more ‘pieces’ to the jigsaw than are shown in the diagram. A way to help identify support provision is to consult by stages of a co-operative ‘enterprise journey’.

Inspire Explore Create Thrive Support for co-operatives can help steer groups through an ‘enterprise journey’ at different stages. These stages are:

Inspire - help for groups to gain motivation to make a difference

Explore - help for groups to find out how others have done it and how to do it themselves

Create - help for groups to get structures in place to get started themselves

Thrive - help for groups to ensure they can continue working in the long term At each of these stages, advice and support can be offered to groups.

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Inspire, Explore, Create, Thrive is not a linear process; it is a circular one. The best enterprises will go on to add new services and other enterprises. Creating a culture that encourages this can be as big a contribution as start-up support. Inspire Jigsaw There is no ‘one size fits all’ method of support - different messages and approaches receive different responses. How co-operation is inspired could be made from a number of different channels such as promotion (reactive, wide-net or targeted), reaching to future leaders, proactive promotion or deploying co-operative developers. Explore Jigsaw Helping to develop and understand what a group’s aims and objectives are is an essential part of exploring co-operation. The process can be entered in to with a fixed singular view by groups. Good support can challenge this through networking, study visits, mentoring, problem solving, technical knowledge, printed/digital guides, training or online information. Create Jigsaw Support to create co-operatives can include advisors, funding (across a range of forms of finance), legal models, business advice, co-operative approaches, membership and financial planning. Thrive Jigsaw Ensuring success and co-operatives to thrive in the long run can be supported with health checks, conflict resolution, flagging co-operatives going quiet, knowledge sharing, joint buying, advocacy or removing barriers to co-operation.

The proposed process Agreeing on activity at an operational level needs to fit with developing a NCDS as a whole. It is proposed that consulting on operational needs (i.e. what support should be provided), is combined with the ‘The Proposed Process’. This can be achieved by asking for input on co-operative development operational needs at each stage of the strategy building process, and by further segmenting questions by stages of co-operative ‘enterprise journey’ of Inspire, Explore, Create and Thrive.

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Devolved Nations

Given the nature of devolution and the union structure in the UK, we would recommend special consideration is given to engaging with co-operators and potential co-operators in each nation of the UK. The structure of devolution in the UK has led to different activity, approaches and cultures to co-operation. For example, it is estimated that there are 40.5 FTE posts in the UK practicing co-operative development, with an unusual weighting of 14 FTE posts working solely in Scotland (4) or Wales (10) (Co-operative Futures, 2015). In some parts of the UK, a contemporary rebranding of co-operative development was used, instead focussing on social enterprise support. It is important that an NCDS commits to a devolved approach as a development strategy needs to be developed for the UK, and not just for England. Neither should an NCDS be a UK wide strategy that fails to recognize the institutional strengths and devolved mandate of work in Scotland and Wales. An NCDS would need to dovetail with the services that are already provided in each devolved nation, seeking to complement and supplement not duplicate or ignore. Co-operative development in the devolved nations of the UK is very different. There are also three camps in enterprise development that are similar across the devolved nations that need to be considered and captured in a strategy:

The desire for much bigger co-operatives

Groups that want to become co-operatives

Those operating as a social enterprise or Community Interest Company, but actually a co-operative

England To achieve buy in through England, consideration of the more fragmented approach based around various funding programmes, needs to be considered. In particular the following approaches and upcoming opportunities might be important:

The SIB Group approach of diagnosis and resulting dedicated support.

The soon to be launched Power to Change Trust which will help co-operative development at a community level.

Attempts made to support the development of Public Sector Mutuals.

The Local Economic Partnership bodies, but bearing in mind the challenges that the LEPs face and the difficulties in engaging with them

Scotland To achieve buy in from Scotland, an NCDS needs to consider the following ways co-operative development approaches:

Co-op Development Scotland which has a direct relationship with the devolved Scottish Parliaments which funds them directly

The rising popularity and success of Development Trusts, which are represented by the Development Trust Association Scotland

In Scotland it will also be important that SAOS (Scottish Agricultural Organisation Society) is well engaged. SAOS are well established, well regarded by the Scottish government and have been very successful in their co-operative work.

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Wales To achieve buy in from Wales, an NCDS needs to consider the following ways co-operative development

Wales Co-operative Centre which has a direct relationship with the devolved Welsh Parliaments who fund them directly

The unusual weighting of co-operative development workers active in Wales.

Northern Ireland In Northern Ireland, there is a different picture to co-operative development compared to the rest of the UK:

Co-operatives are underdeveloped compared to rest of UK, but Co-op Enterprise Hub impacted well.

Peace monies have meant grants are widely used and therefore alternative structures are not widely considered.

There are community divides that mean that starting co-operatives is difficult - for example it is highly difficult for an enterprise championed by a ‘labelled’ community representative to see participation or engagement from anyone outside of that label.

There are good emerging examples of co-operatives making an impact, which should be engaged with. These examples are helping to inspire generational changes and we are starting to see communities, organisations and businesses working better together.

Any assessment of the approach in cultivating co-operative development with the countries above, needs to be careful to consider what the funder is looking to achieve – e.g. is the work primarily about a one off project which happens to be delivered by a co-op development consultant or is there interest in developing a Co-op Development Strategy.

The proposed process Similarly to the Operational Level, we would propose that agreement on organising at a structural level needs to fit with developing a NCDS as a whole. It is proposed that consulting on structural level needs, is aligned with the process at the strategic level by directly addressing these questions at each stage of the strategy building process, and by further segmenting by fundamental questions, with particular reference to seeking dedicated input from all devolved nations at each stage.

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Literature Review

Outline The starting point for this report was a literature review of work conducted by Co-operatives UK and its members to help limit and define the overall objective – propose how a NCDS might be developed in the UK. The literature covers contemporary UK co-operative development activity, particularly the last five years which includes a number of local to national developments for the co-operative movement – the United Nation’s International Year of Co-operatives in 2012 is a good example. This inspired the International Co-operative Alliance to host their annual General Assembly Global Conference in the UK (Manchester) that year. In reviewing the literature, this report on how a NCDS could be developed in the UK helped to avoid duplicating work that has already taken place. It also highlighted effective methods to achieve a strategy that is both agreed on and actionable by the whole movement. Finally, this review related the findings to wider knowledge of the co-operative movement, sector development and strategy creation, alongside further questions that need investigating to help shape co-operative development in the UK. A modest amount of literature is examined which can be found in the bibliography. The texts included were recommended by Co-operatives UK and are drawn from various pieces of work Co-operatives UK and its members have been involved with that relate directly to co-operative development in the UK. Historical literature has not been reviewed. The scope of literature chosen relates to:

The practicalities and timings needed to read and analyse the work

That this approach is stronger as sector development is progressive and historical literature will have been prepared in different, less meaningful contexts

The extent of knowledge in the chosen reports is extensive as they draw on a breadth and depth of other sources and experiences from the co-operative movement, some of which are historical.

Summary Literature Review The full literature review can be found in the appendix. In summary the literature that has been reviewed indirectly helps provide answers to these three questions.

Where is co-operative development now? It is underdeveloped in the UK, but making good progress with the resources available in some niche sectors.

Where does co-operative development need to get to? An economy of member led businesses that are inspiring co-operation by doing.

How does co-operative development get to where it needs to be?

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Co-operatives must co-operate amongst themselves. Working in partnership with one another is the best approach.

Research questions These questions and answers directly relate to the research questions identified earlier:

How do we know what we want a NCDS to be? A review of where the co-operative movement is currently identifies where opportunities lie and what challenges are being faced. Opportunities can be built on to find solutions and to scale up and replicate successes.

How is a NCDS organised (or not) to make it possible? The exercise of identifying where co-operative development needs to get to has helped to show that identifying a common goal for co-operative development will organise and mobilise action. A proposed common goal could be could be innovation – each sector is able specialise in its ‘territory’, and use co-operation as the ‘innovation’. (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming))

What interactions are needed to make a NCDS happen?

Identifying where co-operative development needs to be shows that a shared goal helps to better justify partnership working with the decision makers that can make a co-operative development strategy happen.

Sector Literature Below is a “wordle”1 of all the sector literature that was reviewed. The word co-operative (and variations) was removed as this was by far the most common (and therefore largest) word – we wanted to show what is strongly associated with co-operative development.

1 A “Wordle” is a ‘word cloud’ that is generated from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text.

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The International

In its early days, the Co-operative Movement was seen as being highly internationalist in its approach and outlook. Whilst many have become more insular in their approaches, it remains important to learn from each other. However, it is equally important not to see this knowledge as forming a ‘beauty parade’ where one country is preferred over all others. Transferring models from one country to another is often fraught with the challenges of local cultures, traditions, funding and legislation. Last year, the Plunkett Foundation conducted a review of the different co-operative development traditions and current services around the world for Federated Co-ops Ltd in Saskatoon, Canada. Its main conclusions from this were:

There is no one single way to develop co-operatives 1. Success is possible in a number of different ways 2. There are common questions to be asked in designing a structure 3. Each question is likely to have several answers 4. Decisions are likely to be based on local circumstances, traditions and funding 5. Individual co-operative development traditions, such as Plunkettism, could be delivered 6.under a number of models, although some would be easier to deliver than others.

International approaches There are many strands of co-operative development in the Co-operative World. Some share beliefs and approaches. Some share similar roots. Many offer the chance to enrich our views of how co-operatives should be supported. This brief overview touches on some international approaches. Many international approaches look decidedly underfunded compared to Scandinavian approaches. Sweden has Coompanion, a comprehensive network of support across the country. It has 25 regional offices, employs 130 staff and is two-thirds funded by government. Whilst Finland, with the highest percentage of GDP coming from co-operatives in the world, uses its national apex body, Pellervo, to give its support. In Southern Europe, two stand out. In Spain, Mondragon is a superb example of a community organised approach leading to the greatest concentration of worker co-ops in the world. Its founder, Father Arizmendiarrieta, saw co-operatives as a way of tackling poverty and exclusion. Like Plunkett, Arizmendiarrieta saw co-operatives as having both a greater and a subservient role. “The economic revolution will be moral or it will not be at all. The moral revolution will be economic or it will not be at all.” Central to the Mondragon approach has been the idea of creating its own institutions to handle the finance, education, research and social welfare of its members to control the development of its highly networked co-operative sector. In Italy, a fundamentally different approach has been taken in the Emilia Romagna region, but with equally impressive results. Co-operatives account for 30% of the region’s GDP, rising to 60% in some of its cities. Its co-operative model focuses on encouraging small businesses to cluster together co-operatively. It has 420,000 small firms in a population of 4 million, compared to the centre of entrepreneurial Canada, Alberta, having 157,000 small businesses from a similar population. Based on principles of clustering, solidarity and reciprocity, it is a powerful example. Co-operative development in Emilia Romagna region is driven by a 3% tax on the profits of co-operatives which is then applied to development.

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The USA still exhibits some of the results of Sir Horace Plunkett’s friendship with President Roosevelt, most notably in rural electricity. The USA has a rich diversity of co-operative development approaches. An interesting example is Cooperation Works!, an attempt to tie together a broad range of co-operative developers through one set of principles, the Madison Principles. The solidarity principle is also seen in some communities, such as Davis in California, where all new co-ops are asked to support the development of other co-ops once they have stabilised. Many countries draw on historic traditions, but some create new approaches. The strong South American surge in worker co-operation, most notably in Argentina and Brazil, is developing new approaches with recognisable elements of the old. They have a strong sense of the need for community links and education in co-operation. The Brazilians co-operatives linked with Quebec to explore how old traditions could be translated for new times. Then we come to Canada and its diverse range of co-operative traditions. The first thing that is noticeable is that several of its historic co-operative traditions have a community organising base. Alphonse Dejardin looked at the two Credit Union approaches of Germany, those of Schulze and Raiffesein, and chose the community organising base of Raiffesein for his work. Moses Coady’s approach in the Antigonish Movement also bears the hallmarks of a co-operative organising method with its approach of “action based on preliminary study.” George Keen (1869-1953) was tireless in the promotion of co-operation across Canada and, in particular, his focus of co-operatives getting it right as a business, suggest a man with similar to R.A. Anderson (one of Horace Plunkett’s close associates). He linked the need for business success with the need for co-operative understanding. “A man can be an excellent co-operator and not be a member of a co-operative society. Unfortunately he may be a member of a society and yet have none of the attributes of a co-operator.” All of this suggests that there is something about a community rooted development approach that suits the Canadian way of life. No country in the world has all the co-operative answers, but exploring how other countries have addressed the challenge of co-operative development always helps to put your own challenges in to perspective.

Questions What is clear is that, whilst there are even more approaches than there are countries and that each

country is deciding to answer a number of key questions about how its co-operative support is

structured. These key questions are:

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Who owns it? 1.Is the service owned by the co-operative sector, by the public sector, privately owned or a hybrid of these.

Who co-ordinates it? 2.Is it co-ordinated by the central co-operative body, contracted out to a private contractor, an in-house function of a co-operative or a hybrid of these.

Who promotes it? 3.Are co-operatives promoted by the national apex body for co-operatives, the central body of the service, contracted out to a private third party or a hybrid of these.

Who is used for support? 4.Are the suppliers of advice directly employed by the service, contracted by it, sub-contracted by it or a hybrid of these?

Who recruits the developers? 5.Are developers recruited by the service, automatically enrolled based on partner organisations, chosen by competitive tender or a hybrid of these options.

Who monitors its work? 6.Is the quality and standards of development work monitored by the service itself, through a contracted partner, automatically collected as part of the delivery or a hybrid of these?

Who acts as the gate keeper for who receives support? 7.Is the decision on who gets supported determined by the funders of the work, the types of organisation seeking support, the interests of the contractors or a hybrid of these.

Who funds it? 8.Is funding from the co-operative sector, from the public sector, the private sector (including trusts and foundations) or a hybrid of these? Although this eight question model looks simple, it does yield 65,536 possible combinations.

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Recommendations

Key Findings The following key recommendations are made to ensure the best approach to writing a National Co-operative Development Strategy:

1. At a strategic level, the principles that should be used when writing a NCDS are

Together

Challenging

Realistic

Frank

2. The process for writing a NCDS should allow for input from all stakeholders and should naturally become more tailored to ensure a strategy can be achieved.

3. Partnership opportunities for co-op development will be drawn out and identified from both the process of creating a strategy and from considered consultation of devolved approaches.

4. Input in to a strategy should allow people to access in the way that they choose.

5. An NCDS will need to show what support is delivered that helps development happen in

these areas

Inspire

Explore

Create

Thrive

6. There are eight fundamental questions to answer, which will shape the structure of co-operative development:

Ownership

Recruitment

Co-ordination

Monitoring

Promotion

Gate-keeping

Support

Funding

7. All devolved nations in the UK should be fairly consulted. There is a need to manage the risk of a national co-op development strategy becoming an English co-op development strategy. Neither should a NCDS be a UK wide strategy that fails to recognize the institutional strengths and devolved mandate of work in Scotland and Wales.

8. Developing an NCDS needs to be properly resourced across a range of deliverables to

ensure good quality. This particularly includes reading reports, developing evaluation surveys, formally and informally consulting with stakeholders, analysing data, writing documents, and organising events, ensuring attendance at events, and managing events.

9. In looking at international examples it is important that cherry picking is not used - we

would instead recommend that what international research has helped us to understand is used to inform the breakdown of a co-operative strategy, its structure and its operations.

10. Operational and structural level considerations will affect the period of time that an NCDS covers. We would recommend that the level of detail on structure and operations is tailored to required timeframes.

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Conclusion We recommend that a fresh, simple and stimulating National Co-operative Development Strategy is produced. This should not be a proposal written by one part of the movement and half-heartedly endorsed by the others with little intention of giving any real support. It should aim to take all parts of the movement out of their comfort zones both in terms of its ambition and the collaboration needed to deliver it.

It should be formed with realistic possibilities of co-operative development goals actually happening. It should be honest that there is currently a whole series of different interest groups and enterprises with wildly different perspectives and little desire to co-operate together. This is an exciting time for co-operative development in the UK. Groups, businesses and communities have traditionally turned to co-operation as solution to challenges, but given the mix of increasing co-operative understanding and current opportunities, this would indicate that co-operation is primed and ready to play an increasing role for people in the UK. This will have indirect benefits which will unify UK co-operatives by identifying common goals and make good use of current co-operative knowledge. Most exciting though is that the direct result of a well-considered, honest and challenging approach to creating a co-operative development strategy will mean co-operatives are enabled to fully respond to their desires to grow in a co-operative way.

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Appendix 1 – Literature Review

A summary of the literature review can be found earlier in this paper

Discussion

Co-operative Development Now There are a number of core themes that can be drawn from the literature that was reviewed in relation to co-operative development, with plenty of comment of where the state of co-operative development is now. The resilience of co-operatives during the economic downturn is especially noted in the literature, but co-operatives are a small part of the UK economy. Co-operation has been seen to support the economy and this has encouraged politicians/politics to start thinking co-operatively in the UK. (Murray, 2011) (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2012) (Co-operative Devleopment Scotland, 2014) (Wales Co-operative Centre, 2014) Co-operatives are generally agreed to be growing, (Co-operatives UK, 2014) (Co-operatives UK, 2013) but not fulfilling their potential. The challenges which commentators tend to agree on are innovation, productivity and levels of entrepreneurship (Murray, 2011). There are some differences as to what constitutes growth. For example, language used when describing co-operative development in practice uses economic or business factors to indicate success or failure (Co-operative Futures, 2012) (Murray, 2011) (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)) (Rocket Science, 2013). Growth in these terms is shaped by the success of the commercial sector (Mayo, 2014) but is also seen as inadequate relative to what co-operatives could achieve (Co-operative Futures, 2012) (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)). At the same time the community and social outputs of co-operatives are the ones most often cited in case studies (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2013) (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2012). Where growth has been observed, it has been with specific issues on a community scale – shops, pubs, renewables, sports clubs, social clubs, community food (Mayo, 2014) (Rocket Science, 2013). Co-operation is gaining traction with the growing recognition of the benefit of a more rounded approach to economics – co-operation challenges traditional assumptions that people are exclusively motivated by their own economic self-interest. (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)) (Rocket Science, 2013) (International Co-operative Alliance, 2013) Focus on big co-ops in co-operative development is not inspiring people internationally. (International Co-operative Alliance, 2013). It is noted that UK co-operative developers have not been working with the largest co-operatives in the UK (Rocket Science, 2013), perhaps as a result of International Co-operative Alliance’s findings - this is observable through case studies that are highlighted throughout the literature (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2013) (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2012). It is difficult to draw out whether this is an issue. The big co-operatives may be big, but struggle to compete with big private companies. A range of reasons explain this, especially the current use of generalist advice support by co-operatives (Co-operative Futures, 2012). Links are made to; how co-operative development support has been previously resourced (Rocket Science, 2013); that under resourced development has damaged the skills of current co-operative developers; and that larger co-operatives have traditionally used private business sector advice (Co-operative Futures, 2012). As these advisors lack understanding of the vision/values of co-operatives they have little experience of co-operative

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working/governance, especially democracy. There is scope for private sector advisors to engage from a Corporate Social Responsibility perspective. The ability of co-operatives to respond to innovation is explored deeply. Co-operation, like all other sectors is observing an information and communications ‘process of creative destruction’2. Arguments are made that innovation through co-operation is a role that co-operatives can play in supporting the economy as the co-operative business model can be a source of commercial gain. (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)). On the other hand, co-operation is noted as being both part of the formal and informal economy – that the economy is co-operative and growing (Murray, 2011). Co-operative development has adapted to become reactive to groups who have already decided to set up a co-operative – particularly noticeable by the spread/structure of co-operatives in the UK (Rocket Science, 2013) and resultant spread/structure of co-operative developers across the UK - clustering is seen in sectors, geography and demographics (Mayo, 2014). Co-operative development has evolved to meet arguments by the sector that have implied a plentiful ‘supply’ of start-up groups is needed (Rocket Science, 2013) to justify investing in boosting the capacity and skills of specialist support but there has not been a link between the demand developers have attempted and further available support. The result is seen to be a lack of support for moving from small to medium (Mayo, 2014) and support becoming a postcode lottery (Rocket Science, 2013). There are also trends across the literature that indicate that the UK movement focuses on internal debates (Co-operative Futures, 2012) (Murray, 2011) and not external promotion and inspiration (International Co-operative Alliance, 2013) (Rocket Science, 2013). There is also desire to see all co-operatives as equal but with little questioning of bad practice by co-operative developers and co-operatives themselves. (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2012) (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2013).

Co-operative Development aspirations As well as exploring current state of co-operative development, there are trends in where co-operative development needs to get to. The stand out theme relates to the need for an economy of member led businesses (International Co-operative Alliance, 2013) (Murray, 2011) There are subtleties within this which relate to the level of co-operative activity in the economy. (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)) (Co-operative Futures, 2012). (Wales Co-operative Centre, 2014) The need to dramatically improve the public awareness of co-operatives is occasionally raised (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)) (Murray, 2011), but not as strongly as might have been expected – there is an increasing understanding that inspiring by doing. There are also the exploration of new ideas in co-operation such as the scope for a co-operation policy (like a competition policy) (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)) and how best to advocate and lobby for co-operative principles to be part of policy making (Murray, 2011) and how that policy is made (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)). There is special consideration too of the need for support for pre-start-ups and helping those new or near to the movement to join together and co-operate (Rocket Science, 2013) The question of motivation is explored across the texts - co-operation in UK was initially motivated by the idea of an expansion of a different kind of economy (Murray, 2011). Posing co-operation as

2 The phrase made popular by Joseph Schumpter (Schumpter, 1942) which describes how old technologies are trumped by new ones, particularly in monopoly markets.

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a different economic system is largely seen to be what should make co-operation attractive across the board. The method that has appeared to have most success has needed proactively inspiration for people that make co-operative approaches relevant to people and communities (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2013) (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2012) Team approaches are to development and specialists alongside generalists are especially noted as where co-operative development needs to be (Mayo, 2014) (Mayo, 2014) (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)) (Rocket Science, 2013). The idea that no one person has all the answers is gaining traction as good practice. The Co-operative Enterprise Hub has been a good start to co-op development (Co-operative Futures, 2012), but was under-supported by co-operative businesses in the UK and it is now unavailable. It is felt that co-operative development needs to be at a point where a comprehensive and meaningful range of support is available everywhere in the UK:

No postcode lottery

No better support for one co-operative than another

Co-ops funding co-op development

Co-operatives mentoring other co-operatives

Co-operatives hosting study visits for groups looking to set up co-operatives (Co-operative Futures, 2012) (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2012) (Co-operative Enterprise Hub,

2013) (Rocket Science, 2013) There is also mention of professional standards, demand led support that rewards those that inspire and the need for government agencies to be improved by developing their co-operative thinking (Mayo, 2014) There is increasing acknowledgement too that co-operatives developed today that look small and insignificant will make up large parts of the movement in decades to come. (Murray, 2011) (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2012) (Rocket Science, 2013) (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)). There are similar arguments made that approaching co-operative development in the UK, could be segmented by sector (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)) (Rocket Science, 2013)

How Co-operative Development gets there Although the range of ideas in the literature is large and varied, there is a consensus on how co-operative development gets where it needs to be. That is the need to co-operate to make co-operative development happen! (Rocket Science, 2013) (Co-operative Futures, 2012) (Mayo, 2014) (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)) (International Co-operative Alliance, 2013) (Wales Co-operative Centre, 2014) The Co-operative Enterprise Hub has been positive (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2012) (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2013) (Rocket Science, 2013) alongside positive developments in Wales and Scotland (Wales Co-operative Centre, 2014) (Co-operative Devleopment Scotland, 2014) and is seen as a springboard to build upon, now that support has been paused (Mayo, 2014). The next step is to explore how co-operative businesses could take better responsibility for supporting development to resource this. (Co-operative Futures, 2012) The mechanism achieve this is co-operation. (International Co-operative Alliance, 2013)

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Social Innovation, Investment and Entrepreneurship Social innovation, investment and entrepreneurship are currently helping to drive development in the social enterprise field (What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth, 2014) (Murray, 2011). Social Enterprise development is enabling current co-operative development bodies to practice working and build experience given the close association of co-operative and social enterprise development. (Mayo, 2014) The movement is anticipating uses of the co-operative business model to help address a number of different challenges. For example co-operatives are seen as socially innovative because they are co-operatives and can quickly and effectively help provide solutions to rural transport, rural credit (especially for rural businesses) or school meals. (Murray, 2011) with some reference to the use of online technology as a way to enable and support this. There are emerging co-operative sectors that are making use of social innovation, which are predicted to inspire co-operation in others, such as tourism and housing developments. (Mayo, 2015) Of increasing importance are the use of community shares, which in are associated with a range of social investment products such as social impact bonds and loans linked to positive social outputs. (Rocket Science, 2013). Community Shares are seen to enable both place based communities, but also communities-of-interest to invest in, save, own and manage assets and initiatives that are important to them, such as shops, pubs or farms. (Mayo, 2014). There is a prospect too that social investment will become normal behaviour, rather than treated as a solution for when things go wrong (Mayo, 2015) as co-operatives would be enabled to better raise finance from institutional investors. Social entrepreneurs are anticipated to participate in co-operative platforms that promote the expansion and establishments of new co-operatives (Murray, 2011) for example spin off firms, incubating hubs or providing finance. But co-operative development recognises that utilising social entrepreneurs will work best with those that take a partnership approach. (Mayo, 2015)

Methodologies The methodologies used to explore co-operative development have been varied - in general there is not a common or frequently used way that co-operative development is investigated. It could be argued that the conclusion from this can be that a varied approach is positive as it allows co-operative sectors to engage in consultation and development in the way that suits them. As a summary the following methods have been used to investigate co-operative development in the UK.

Benchmarking against another industry types.

The use of case studies to observe and draw out trends.

Consultation and discussion at specialist events.

Desk research on framework

Interviews with professionals

Surveys of those using services.

Market segmentation at levels of co-operatives (start-up, more established and largest co-operatives)

Monitoring and evaluation of groups supported measuring outputs and Impact including investment in Management Information Systems.

Use of business statistics as performance indicators. Particularly quantity of those seeking support, business survival rate

26

Multiple input from across co-operative stakeholders especially industry experts.

Observational review of all the cooperative development in the UK from national, to local level

Commissioned research using academics, third sector and mutual representatives A sector-by-sector approach is often used to investigate and analyse co-operative development. (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)) (What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth, 2014). Particular success has been seen in sports clubs, rural services, energy and housing. Other ways of exploring co-operative development include by theme and by geography. (Co-operative Devleopment Scotland, 2014) (Wales Co-operative Centre, 2014) There is not one research approach that appears to have given better results than others – many studies have drawn similar conclusions from using a different method, but what is clear is that actors in the movement are able to engage well with various co-operative sectors on research and consultation. There are also some exemplary case studies to draw upon that are of particular note that have helped shape the arguments about how the structure, operations and delivery of co-operative development in the future might be shaped. The recent ‘return’ of micro enterprises plus retail co-operatives encouraging directors to volunteer is cited and has helped build partnerships between groups that would not otherwise meet. (Murray, 2011) The Plunkett Foundation’s approach to co-operative development is frequently cited across texts (Mayo, 2014) (Mayo, 2014) (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)) (Rocket Science, 2013). Plunkett’s use of teams, long term engagement, shared learning amongst advisors, proactive searching for people to support and focus on a few areas (and being good with them) are all cited. There are some gaps in the approaches to development too. The lack of public understanding about co-operatives, and different co-operative types is not largely mentioned. This is occasionally indirectly explained by the understanding that in that many societies in the UK are co-operative in structure and governance, but the structure of co-operative name is not explicitly stated to members (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)). There are plenty of examples of co-operative development bodies supporting small scale co-operatives, where larger co-operatives helped to develop is questioned. The ICA blueprint infers that co-operation is inspired most with small scale, but other co-operative cultures and economies do support larger co-operative development. This could be investigated further. Bootstrap3 co-operation is an approach that has been trialled for example by Evergreen Co-operative in Cleveland and has been kick-started by local partnership of resources. There is a risk in co-operatives believing that bootstrapping provides all the answers to sector development, but this could be explored more as the nature of co-operation is cyclical. The ICA blueprint also implies that all communities have the right to be able to co-operate, no matter how developed they are. Given that co-operative development is better developed in other parts of world, an investigation of less developed nations (in traditional economic terms) but advanced in their co-operation, directly providing support to under-developed co-operative nations could be explored. In summary, the literature covered indirectly helps provide answers to three questions.

3 starting a self-sustaining system

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Where is co-operative development now? It is underdeveloped in the UK, but making good ground with the resources available in some defined sectors.

Where does co-operative development need to get to? An economy of member led businesses that are inspiring co-operation by doing.

How does co-operative development get where it needs to be? Co-operatives must co-operate amongst themselves. Working in partnership with one another is the best approach.

Defining Co-operative Development In attempting to create a ‘co-operative development’ definition, it was useful to draw upon the literature that was reviewed. The following compares and contrasts ways the associations and ideas that accompany the phrase ‘co-operative development’ Most conventional business development defines success using sales or business growth. In a co-operative concept, member value or co-operative high performance is the key indicator as financial returns are part of the mix of co-operative objectives. (Co-operatives UK, 2013) Development needs to be rooted in the ability of co-operatives and their members to create value - a focus on co-operative’s capabilities, in the context of enabling a business environment, to create co-operative success. The toolkit of interventions that enables co-operative development ability is the means by which co-operative development is delivered, rather than co-operative development itself. (What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth, 2014) Establishing new co-operatives is often the role that Co-operative Development Bodies play in the UK. Co-operative Development Bodies are also promoters of co-operative ideas and development opportunities, by providing common business advisory services. (Murray, 2011) The model of sector development is also explored. There are a range of existing sector development agencies and networks in the field but there is not an agency or network in every sector. These agencies act as a catalyst for development drawing on bootstrap communities of practice. (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming)). Agencies have eight potential roles:

Animation

Strategy.

Global, national, regional and local intelligence

A promoter of innovation

A provider of advice and information

Formation of a coalition of interests

Regulatory Framework

Funding channel

Development is also seen to be supported by specialised and connected communities of practice, with a range of functions, social values, local knowledge and expertise. Diffusion of knowledge, the replication and scaling-up of current work, alongside education training and information are also all mentioned in literatures. There is a rising interest in less formal co-operative structures (Murray, 2011). These open co-operatives (Bollier & Conaty, 2015) present both an opportunity and a threat to the traditional co-operative movement. Co-operation is modestly developed in the informal but should be embraced. Informal co-operation is collective intelligence and by improved information sharing.

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There is discussion in the literature around the need to change the term co-operative development from being vague by introducing SMART objectives based on promotion and growth. (Co-operative Futures, 2012) Practicing co-operative development has helped draw in important meanings around the term. Helping the next generation of co-operators to build sustainable co-operative enterprises and deliver a stronger co-operative economy in the UK need to be considered. (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2012) (Co-operative Enterprise Hub, 2013)

Innovation is also important. Using innovation as a common goal for co-operative development could mean the outcome of activity would indirectly be a growth in numbers and value of co-operatives, if co-operation becomes part of the process involved in innovating sectors/businesses. (Mayo, 2015)

Research Questions and Summary These questions and answers directly relate to the research questions identified earlier:

How do we know what we want a NCDS to be? A review of where the co-operative movement is at the movement identifies where opportunities lie and what challenges are being faced. These can be built on to find solutions and to scale up and replicate successes.

How is a NCDS organised (or not) to make it possible? The exercise of identifying where co-operative development needs to get to has helped to show that identifying a common goal for co-operative development will organise and mobilise action. A proposed common goal could be could be innovation – each sector can specialise in its ‘territory’, but using co-operation as the ‘innovation’. (Mayo & ed., 2015 (forthcoming))

What interactions are needed to make a NCDS happen? Identifying where co-operative development needs to be shows that a shared goal helps to better justify partnership working amongst decision makers that can make a co-operative development strategy happen.

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