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MyFerryLink, the newest operator on the Channel is a French worker co-op, or SCOP (Societe Co-Operative et Participative) which started operations from Calais to Dover on August 20th operating 10 crossings per day.

They are using the Rodin and the Berlioz, two identical modern passenger ferries taking up to 700 cars and 1,900 passengers each. After 11 months of inactivity since SeaFrance went into liquidation, the ferries have been bought back from the French Government liquidators by EuroTunnel and leased to a newly formed worker co-operative put together by the former employees of Sea-France. The new workforce of 350 in France and 50 in the UK is 98% former Sea-France staff. Continue reading →

The UK Society for Co-op Studies held another successful Annual Conference in Lincoln last weekend on the subject of Co-operatives – Community and Place.

The Society has extended its special membership offer as part of a drive to increase membership, and individuals can sign up for only £10 for a full years membership. To join just complete the special form below:-

UKSCS Application Form

Incidentally, Lincoln Co-op Society operates the oldest continuously open co-op shop in the world at Burton Road, Lincoln

A new film on worker co-ops is due to be released this October. The film, Shift Change, by Mark Dworkin and Melissa Young will be premiered on October 18th at the Grand Lake Theater, Oakland, California

More details at http://shiftchange.org/

Neath Port Talbot Credit Union recently attended Downing Street, and the Houses of Parliament in recognition of the credit union’s work in their school saving initiatives.
NPTCU’s work with schools has resulted in an outstanding growth to their current 36 School Savings Schemes, whilst at the same time contributing to the increase of the overall membership to over 6,000.

Representing NPTCU were Steve Mallinson (General Manager), Brian Warlow (Development Manager), Les Hughes (Chief Accountant), Joanne White (Company Secretary and Founder Member), Clare Bentley and Nick Baker (Development Officers). Representing Neath Port Talbot Local Education Authority were Jen Malcolm and Wynne Griffiths Continue reading →

Building on previous work on Co-op Capitalism by Professor Noreena Hertz, Co-operatives UK is pleased to support a new essay prize and crowd-sourcing website launched by Ethical Consumer, the UK’s leading alternative consumer organisation.

What would the world be like if most businesses were co-operatives? Would it be fairer and more sustainable? And what would it take to get to that place? The new Ethical Consumer competition site has been established to explore these ideas at a time when serious questions are being asked about our current economic model. Continue reading →

The Co-operative Loan Fund is one of three partners involved in the creation of a new fund designed to support communities wanting to raise investment by a community share issue. The Co-operative Community Shares Fund is managed by Co-operative & Community Finance and the initial funds have come from The Co-operative Enterprise Hub. The Co-operative Loan Fund has agreed to provide loan finance if required. Continue reading →

The report of the recent study visit to Mondragon in the Basque country was launched at the Co-operative Group Membership (Wales/Cymru) Conference on July 7th Continue reading →

Norman Lamb, Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs launches the Nuttall Report on employee ownership, Sharing Success.

Continue reading →

The ICA have released the 2012 International Year of Co-operatives statement of greetings to co-operators worldwide, which will be on International Co-operative Day, July 7th 2012

Read the statement here: International Co-operative Day 2012

Wales Contributes to UK Co-operative Economy Outperforming the Market for Fourth Consecutive Year

The 394 co-operative enterprises in Wales with a turnover of £1.3bn have contributed to the UK co-operative economy outperforming the UK economy for the fourth consecutive year, with a growth of 1.5% in 2011 compared with 0.7% in the UK economy, twice the rate of the UK economy.

Annual figures released today by Co-operatives UK, the trade body for co-operative businesses, show that while the real level of GDP in the UK in 2011 is 1.7% lower than in 2008, the turnover of the co-operative sector has grown by 19.5% over the same period.

‘The co-operative economy 2012 – alternatives to austerity’ details how a member-owned economy with a turnover of £35.6bn has experienced an 8.9% rise in the number of co-operative enterprises from 5,450 in 2010 to 5,933 in 2011 and a 5.5% rise in the number of memberships from 12.8m in 2010 to 13.5m in 2011. Continue reading →

Co-operatives which don’t already have a .coop internet domain name can get one free for the first year throughout 2012.

Don’t miss out.

Details and application at www.identity.coop

The popular gallery Craft in the Bay is celebrating its tenth birthday since opening the doors to the  refurbished ‘D Shed’, a Grade II listed Victorian maritime warehouse in the heart of Cardiff Bay. It is  10 years ago this month that the organisation successfully fund-raised £1.4 million to open the building to the public. The group says that the key to its on-going success is the strong cooperative ethos at it’s heart. With it’s membership of 76 of some of the very best craft-makers in Wales who are involved in all areas of the organisation, each craft-maker volunteers their time to help staff the gallery. Visitors to the gallery can meet a different craftmaker each day in the spacious, light, airy exhibition and craft retail area, or take part in hands-on craft workshops, hire a conference space, and visit the ever-popular Kemi’s café. The Guild also has a large programme of community work,  the most recent being a START project in conjunction with the Prince’s Foundation for Children & the Arts  – Continue reading →

Mondragon Co-operative Corporation have launched a new video for 2012

Don’t forget, there will be more details on Mondragon at the Co-operative Group conference Continue reading →

The Irish Cooperative Organisation Society, The National Association of Building Co-operatives and the Irish League of Credit Unions came together yesterday (May 15th) at Croke Park, Dublin, to launch the Co-operative Alliance Ireland to celebrate the International Year of Co-operatives. Around 100 people filled the room to hear a range of speakers including Peter Couchman and ICA President Dame Pauline Green. Great speeches by the Minister for Jobs, Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock, TD and especially the President, Michael D Higgins, who has a philosphical and historical knowledge and understanding of the movement in Ireland second to none. Both are fully committed to co-operatives and mutuals as a way of rebuilding the Irish economy in a more stable and sustainable way. Continue reading →

Scope have launched their policy thinkpiece, Individualism versus Collectivism in Care at the Assembly today, 08/05/2012. Continue reading →

Wrexham Supporters Trust, set up with the support of the Co-operative Enterprise Hub and Supporters Direct have launched a community share issue to raise £300,000 to add to the £60,000 they have already raised.

Our Club, Our Future was launched on Thursday, April 26th at the Nick Whitehead Theatre at Glyndwr University at 7.30pm when Wrexham supporters were given an opportunity to ask questions of the joint WST and Supporters’ Direct team, which developed the offer.

If you want to buy into the club, full details of the share issue are at:-
http://www.wst.org.uk/www2/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=912&Itemid=164 
or at
http://supporters-direct.coop/news/item/?n=15173&cat=sd_eng