Very pleased to have been invited to speak with Llandridnod Wells U3A on the emergence, philosophy & achievements of British Co-operative movement @MetropoleHotel.

Self-organised adult education at its best.

Thanks to Co-op Heritage Trust for their support.

We’ve just updated our Facts & Figures page with the latest stats, which are from 2022.
(For comparison we’ve kept the 2012 stats at the bottom of the page)

See also the latest World Co-operative Monitor 2023 which has the latest stats on the top 300 co-ops worldwide
https://monitor.coop/en/media/library/research-and-reviews-world-cooperative-monitor/world-cooperative-monitor-2023

2022 Statistics

Worldwide
Co-ops – 3 million
Co-op Members – 1 billion
Co-op Employees – 280 million
Co-op Turnover (Top 300 only) – US$ 2.146 trillion
Credit Unions – 86,000 in 118 countries

UK
Co-ops – 7,586
Jobs – 249,142
Members – 14.3m people – over one in five of the population
Total turnover – £40.9 billion
Consumer co-op turnover – £12.5 billion
Agricultural Co-ops – 61
Agricultural Co-op Turnover – £4.4 billion
Agricultural Co-op Members – 155,000 (half UK farmers)
Worker Co-ops – 396
Worker Co-op turnover – £13.2 billion
Retail Co-operatives (The Co-operative) £16.1 billion
Retail Co-operatives Members – 12.9 million
Building Societies – 43
Building Societies Membership – 25 million
Building Societies Assets – £500 billion
Mutual Insurers – 138
Mutual Insurers Employees 22,563
Mutual Insurers Policyholders – 33.8 million
Mutual Assets under management – £202.1 billion
Community Shops – 392
Community shops Turnover – £58 million
Credit Unions – 246
Credit Unions Members – 1.94 million
Credit Unions Turnover – £2.41million
Credit Unions Total assets of £2.46 billion
Credit Unions Employees – 2,490
Energy Co-ops – 200 +
Energy Co-ops Members – 126,000
Energy Co-ops Investment – £200 million +

Wales
Co-operatives – 521
Employees – 14,000
Turnover – £1.5 billion
Credit unions – 15
CU Members – 80,000
CU savings £53 million

France
Credit Agricole – Biggest retail bank in France
Credit Agricole Turnover US$ 117.01 billion
Credit Mutuel – 3rd biggest retail bank in France
Credit Mutuel Turnover US$ 4.066 billion

Spain
Mondragon – Seventh largest corporation in Spain
Mondragon employees – 79,931
Mondragon turnover – US$3.11 billion
Eroski – third largest supermarket

Netherlands
Second biggest bank in Netherlands – Rabobank

Europe
Housing Co-operatives – 28,000
Housing Co-op Members – 5.1 million
Housing Co-op Employees – 38,000
Dwellings – 28 million

Sat, 1 Jul 2023 09:45 – 11:40 a.m. BST

Pat Juby: Co-ops & Mutuals Wales introduces ’The Co-operative Movement  Needs Women and Women Need the Co-operative Movement’

Session 1 – 10.00 – 10.45 a.m.

Speaker: Debbie Robinson, Chief Executive of Central England Co-operative Ltd. Continue reading →

Funding Our Future

The left must create a sustainable economy by putting all the resources available within society to best use, including those that the market fails to use to best effect.

Robert Owen Day – and the need for a new economic paradigm for the left https://taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2023/05/13/robert-owen-day-and-the-need-for-a-new-economic-paradigm-for-the-left/

Lively and very relevant contribution with £100 billion available if public subsidies used in in different way. In doing so Richard clearly explains why the rich get richer, the poor get poorer and the blame!

Richard blows away the current HM Treasury pre Kenysian playbook and underlines the need for radical tax changes.

Other valuable contributions from First Minister Mark Drakeford MS, Dr. Sarah Longlands  (CLES), Dr. Liz McIvor (Co-op Heritage Trust) Dr Sue Evans (Cwmpass) at our Robert Owen Day event will be placed on our YouTube channel shortly. All supported by two able chairs: Counsel General Mick Antoniw MS, and Professor Cllr. Jackie Jones.

How big things get done! Robert Owen Day

 Saturday 13^th May 2023 10 am -12.30 pm online

Session One 

10.00 – 11.10 am

• Key Note contribution, Mark Drakeford MS, First Minister, Welsh Government
• ‘A new economic narrative for the left’ with Richard M Murphy, Professor of Accounting Practice, Sheffield University
• Chair: Mick Antoniw MS, Welsh Government Counsel General

11.10 – 11.20 Short break

Session Two

• 11.20 – 12.30 am – Driving Community Wealth Building – Owen and Co-operation

• ‘Owen & his theory of community wealth building today?’ – Liz McIvor, Manager, The Co-operative Heritage Trust
• ‘The Power of Community Wealth Building’ – Sarah Longlands, Chief Executive, Centre for Local Economic Strategy
• ‘The trade union role in developing networks & initiatives’ – Cllr Laura Smith, Political Consultant, Communications Workers Union
• ‘Wales’ perspective’ – Sarah Evans, Commercial Director, Cwmpas
• Q&A Panel Chair: Cllr. Jackie Jones with audience contributions

Continue reading →

We now have a new date. Thanks for your patience. Continue reading →

You can download the presentation here

Robert Owen – Neil McInroy

Explore the roots of Community Wealth Building / Foundational Economy a quarter of a millennium after his birth. Free online event ‘Robert Owen’s Impact: Learning lessons for co-operation and education’ with Prof. Chris Williams, University College Cork, Cork. Book here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pioneer-robert-owens-impact-learning-lessons-for-co-operation-education-tickets-318910819847  A Taster…

 “Among the many movements and ideas that Robert Owen inspired and influenced, co-operation has a claim to be the longest-lasting and most important. The co-operative movement in Britain pre-dated Owen but, from the 1820s, it was infused with his optimism that a better world could be organised around, as he put it, ‘principles of union and co-operation’. Such principles took many forms: communitarian experiments, producer associations, the ‘labour exchange’ movement, and ultimately, the foundation stone of British co-operation, the co-operative store. Although Owen, in this as in so many other cases, moved on rapidly to other enthusiasms after the mid-1830s, his ideas continued to function as a touchstone for co-operators for generations to come. More than a quarter of a millennium after his birth, Owen continues to offer much food for thought for twenty-first century co-operators”

FREE ONLINE EVENT: Saturday, July 2nd, 2022

Download the event programme (English, pdf) | Lawrlwythwch rhaglen y digwyddiad (Cymraeg, pdf)

Register for your FREE ticket on Eventbrite.

Lecture: ‘Robert Owen & co-operation’

by Prof Chris Williams with audience’s contributions to promote his ideals within our national curriculum

International Co-operators Day – online event

Programme

Saturday 2nd July 2022, 9.55  – 11.10 am

Robert Owen’s Impact: Learning lessons for Co-operation and Education

Welcome: Mick Antoniw Labour & Co-operative MS for Pontypridd, Counsel General for Wales https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Mick Antoniw

Speaker: Professor Chris Williams, Head of College, College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences, University College Cork, Cork http://research.ucc.ie/profiles/A019/chris.williams@ucc.ie

‘Robert Owen and co-operation’ – Among the many movements and ideas that Robert Owen inspired and influenced, co-operation has a claim to be the longest-lasting and most important. The co-operative movement in Britain pre-dated Owen but, from the 1820s, it was infused with his optimism that a better world could be organised around, as he put it, ‘principles of union and co-operation’. Such principles took many forms: communitarian experiments, producer associations, the ‘labour exchange’ movement, and ultimately, the foundation stone of British co-operation, the co-operative store. Although Owen, in this as in so many other cases, moved on rapidly to other enthusiasms after the mid-1830s, his ideas continued to function as a touchstone for co-operators for generations to come. More than a quarter of a millennium after his birth, Owen continues to offer much food for thought for twenty-first century co-operators.

Chair: Chris Hall, Chairperson Co-ops & Mutuals Wales

Joseph (Joe) Reeves was born on 28 January 1888 in Camberwell, London. His childhood was impoverished and he left school at 13. He was a conscientious objector during World War I.  Joe was Education Secretary of the Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS) from 1918-1938. He believed that ‘the dynamic of education must be altered from individual assertiveness to service on behalf of the community’. While Reeves was secretary the Education Committee expanded its activities and provided equipment and premises for classes as well as holding drama groups and orchestras. In 1945 he was elected as a member of parliament for the Greenwich Constituency, until 1955. He also served on the RACS Political Purposes Committee from 1946-1953. https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/search/archives/1421fc6e-153c-3142-8ae9-ddcaf00e00f3

https://gov.wales/economy-minister-sets-out-plans-banc-cambria-wales-new-community-bank

Welsh Government statement issued today.

Excellent cross-party support for Monmouthshire Building Society backing a civic society mutual intiative for a community bank – long in the making in Wales. Many more miles to travel. Mutuals are member controlled. If you want a say in branch location/policy join this mutual to make it a great success.

As part of Congress’s first key theme, Examining Our Co-operative Identity, delegates gathered on the afternoon of 1 December in Seoul and online to discuss cooperative and cultural heritage. In 2016, UNESCO formally recognised cooperatives as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, and in her introduction, the session’s facilitator Stefania Marcone referenced this decision as something to reflect on in this conversation, saying, “if we want to rebuild a better world, cooperative culture and the culture in cooperative sectors are fundamental.”

David Smith, lifelong co-operative activist and Trustee of the Robert Owen Memorial Museum offered a presentation from Wales, where he shared that despite having global recognition in the co-operative world, Robert Owen, whose 250th birthday is being celebrated this year, is little known in Wales. Mr Smith explained that there is sadly poor understanding of the co-operative movement in Wales, something he and his colleagues are working to counter through educational programmes, media coverage and events. He ended his presentation with a question to Congress: Would the creation of a global annual Robert Owen Day spur us to action in creating a co-operative education system for the co-operative world we wish it to be?

https://www.thenational.wales/news/19737010.robert-owen—one-waless-greatest-political-icons/ 

Francis Jones explores the life and work of Welsh businessman and social reformer Robert Owen: why do we know so little about a man whose work is revered across the world?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000z4vj

The radio programme is on this evening, 31^st August 2021 at 18.30 hrs, and will be available on the BBC Sounds app for the next month so there’s plenty of time to take advantage of its presence online for a while yet.

.