A wholefood shop and online retail co-operative business in Leicester is celebrating its 30th anniversary with the purchase of a new van, partly financed by the Co-operative Loan Fund. Leicester Wholefoods operates from the same 4,600 sq ft warehouse on the outskirts of the city where it started trading in 1987. The majority of its […]
New lending to a community-based food and farming enterprise has added to the accolades being given to the managers of the Co-operative Loan Fund. Just two weeks after winning the Citi Microentrepreneurship Award for Effective Partnership in recognition of its work with the Just Growth Fund, Co-operative & Community Finance, which manages the Co-operative Loan Fund, […]
A co-operative that provides a broad range of wood-related services, from tree surgery to selling fuel, is consolidating after a period of rapid growth with support from The Co-operative Loan Fund. Greater Manchester TreeStation, based in West Gorton, aims to make the conurbation a greener, more sustainable environment by a combination of responsible woodland management, […]
2016 was the year that Co-operative Loan Fund passed the landmark figure of £4m lent to co-ops. During the year we made nine new loans totaling £235,000. Since the Fund started in 2002 we have lent over £4m to 151 co-operatives throughout the UK. When the loans are repaid the money is lent again to other […]
An ambitious venture that aims to use high quality bread to improve diet, health and the local economy in Scotland is taking a step up in production thanks to a loan from The Co-operative Loan Fund. Scotland The Bread, based in the Scottish Borders, is a collaborative project to establish a Scottish flour and bread supply […]
The first pub in the UK to be owned by a co-operative dedicated to jazz has started a new phase in its development with help from the Co-operative Loan Fund. Jazz.Coop, which owns The Globe bar and music venue in Newcastle upon Tyne, has employed a manager and bar staff for the first time. The […]
A community-owned vegetable growing business in Somerset is making major improvements to its site with help from The Co-operative Loan Fund. Plotgate Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms a 10-acre site in Barton St David near Glastonbury and supplies the local community with boxes of seasonal organic fruit and vegetables. The community benefit society was set […]
The UK’s leading supplier of personalised school uniform, which is employee-owned, is investing in new IT and preparing for growth with the help of loans from the Co-operative Loan Fund and Co-operative & Community Finance. Sheffield-based School Trends supplies 6,000 schools and well over 1 million school children throughout the UK with personalised school uniforms. […]
The Co-operative Loan Fund has reached the milestone of £4m lent to co-operative enterprises with a loan to support the expansion of one of the UK’s longest established and most successful social enterprise development agencies. The Co-operative Loan Fund and Big Issue Invest have provided Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency (CGDA) with the capital it needs […]
The only community-owned local TV channel in the UK, launched 18 months ago, is growing with help from The Co-operative Loan Fund. Sheffield Live! TV is broadcasting seven days a week to 500,000 adults via Freeview, cable and the internet, reaching an estimated 19% (95,000) each week. There is a full programme of live TV […]
