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dunbar-1

Rise and fall and rise again

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The fortunes of Dunbar Community Bakery have gone up and down and up again since it started trading in 2011.

Dunbar is a small coastal town about 40 miles east of Edinburgh with a population of 8,500. Local people decided to set up the community bakery after the local 150-year-old high street bakery closed. They raised funds from a community share issue and a few grants and loans including one from Co-op Loan Fund which was used to pay for renovations and new ovens and equipment. Dunbar Community Bakery is wholly owned by over 1,000 shareholders who mostly live in the town or nearby.

When the new bakery started the emphasis was on artisan baking and patisserie. After three years it was trading well and sales were boosted by the publicity it received from being a runner up in the ITV’s 2012 competition Britain’s Best Bakery.

When the head baker left in 2014 to set up his own business in the next town, the community bakery’s fortunes fell and it started to lose money. Following an appeal for help at the 2015 AGM there was a surge of support from the membership who were determined to revive the business. They provided additional investment, as well as donations and loans, and they formed a core group of volunteer workers to act as delivery drivers or sales assistants at special events. They also brought new people and energy to the management committee which drew up a new business plan.

The turnaround began in 2015 with the appointment of a new bakery manager and the introduction of a broader, more affordable range of products. The business had returned to profit by 2017. It now employs nine staff (some part time) and is in the process of recruiting an apprentice baker.

In 2018 this remarkable example of community resilience was recognised when Dunbar Community Bakery won the Horace Plunkett ‘Better Business’ Award.

Erica Wimbush, Chair of Dunbar Community Bakery, said: “When I first got actively involved things were not going well. The recovery has been the result of big collective effort. Much of the credit must go to Colin, our manager, but many other people have helped too.

“Although the business is stable for now, all independent high street shops are fragile. It is interesting that our local fruit and veg shop is considering launching a community share issue. Having two community-owned food shops in the same street raises all sorts of exciting possibilities.”

Co-op Loan Fund is pleased to have helped this community-owned business through good times, bad times, and better times.

Boundary cans

Bright future for Belfast brewery

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The only co-operative brewery in Northern Ireland, whose ‘funky modern beer’ is appreciated from Finland to Singapore to USA, is set for further expansion with support from Co-op Loan Fund.
Production at Belfast-based Boundary Brewing Co-operative has increased rapidly since it started in 2015 as demand for its high quality craft beers has boomed. Last year it expanded into the next door premises and installed a canning line, and this year, using finance from Co-op Loan Fund, it has bought three 2,000L fermenters which will increase production by 150%.
There are several reasons for Boundary’s spectacular success. The first, of course, is the quality of the beer. Head brewer Matthew Dick has set out to make the best tasting and most memorable beer he can – beer that no one else in Northern Ireland is making. The Boundary range includes American-style craft IPA, creamy extra pale malt, Berliner Weisse with blood orange, Belgian pale ale, smooth export Stout, and much more. New specials are introduced frequently.
The second reason is the co-operative structure. Boundary Brewing Co-operative has over 1,300 members who have invested in the business. The first share issue in 2014 raised £90,000 in eight days, a record for community shares. Most members are enthusiastic beer drinkers who are happy to promote the products.
The third reason for success is the distinctive creative branding. The cans feature original abstract paintings by Belfast artist John Robinson, who has a studio in the brewery. Boundary cans are becoming collectable items.
Matthew Dick said: “Last year saw us move from a bottling machine to canning line, take the unit next door, begin to build a lab, get more storage space, expand from a 400L brewery to 2400L brewery, add a tiny bit of capacity and now we can brew a better volume of beer in a much healthier timeframe. We now have the space, brewing time, and finances to add further capacity as we like. We are pretty excited about 2019”.
Ian Rothwell, Investment Manager of Co-operative & Community Finance which manages Co-op Loan Fund, said: “We moved very quickly to finance the next stage of this inspiring venture. The loan was released just 13 days after I visited them. I know a good co-op business when I see it – and a good beer when I taste it.”

Matthew Dick
Regather-4

Urban venue co-op to start farming

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Work has started on the development of a 15-acre site on the edge of Sheffield as a community-owned market garden to supply the city with organic fruit and vegetables. Co-op Loan Fund has provided the multi-faceted Regather Co-operative with loan finance to expand its food production operation.

Regather Co-operative provides a range of inter-related services including a vegetable box scheme, a micro-brewery, a kitchen, a venue, and events planning.

Gareth Roberts delivering vegetable boxes by electric tricycle.

The vegetable box scheme is very popular, expanding from 40 customers in 2014 to 300 in 2018. To keep pace with the growing demand, the co-operative is developing Regather Farm which will include a mixture of fruit and vegetable beds, polytunnels, free-range hens, orchards and woodland. The site in the Moss Valley, some 5 miles from the centre of Sheffield, is adjacent to several organic and environmental ventures including Friends’ Field and Sheffield Organic Growers with whom Regather works closely. The ground for the hard standing is currently (in January 2019) being prepared and the polytunnels will be erected in the spring. It is hoped that the first produce will be cropped in late summer.

The idea for Regather started in 2005 when social entrepreneur Gareth Roberts and friends were organising events in Sheffield. In 2010 it was incorporated as a co-operative and later it leased premises in Highfield where it hosts a wide range of events including live music, films, comedy, training courses and also runs a micro-brewery.

At the end of 2018 it became a community benefit society with the intention of increasing its membership and raising investment by community shares.

Gareth Roberts, one of the founder members of Regather Co-operative, said:
“ We have always been a co-op but as we have grown we felt we needed a new structure and rules to really achieve our vision of a community-owned and managed food system in Sheffield. The community benefit society will allow us to greatly increase membership and attract investment and there is an asset lock so it will always benefit the local economy.

“We hope to hold a community share issue later this year to raise capital investment for the further development of Regather Farm. We want to encourage co-operative involvement in the food system in Sheffield, so that money is retained in the local economy. Our aim is for Regather Co-operative to be a significant producer and supplier of local food in a values-based chain that creates employment and shares skills.”

Tim Coomer, Business Development Manager at Co-operative & Community Finance, which manages Co-op Loan Fund, said: “I was really impressed with Gareth and the Regather team when I visited them. Gareth has built a skilled and committed team around him who not only provide the capacity to scale up but also have all the operations now in place to make the vegetable box scheme in particular work better and grow.”

Shashukaclose

Innovative agency opens two new kitchens

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One of the UK’s longest established and most successful social enterprise development agencies is opening two new commercial kitchens and cafes in London, north and south of the Thames, that will provide training and business incubation, as well as good food and refreshments.

Co-op Loan Fund and Big Issue Invest have provided Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency (GCDA) with the working capital it needs to set up the kitchens/cafes at Lockside in Newham and Lakeside in Thamesmead. Lockside has just opened and Lakeside is expected to open next spring.

GCDA in South East London was established as an enterprise agency in 1982. The aim was, and still is, to support the establishment of community owned, democratically managed businesses to create employment, local economic opportunities and protect or provide local services.

Over the last 36 years GCDA has adapted to major changes in the funding of support agencies by being agile and entrepreneurial. In 2010 GCDA established its own business start-up centre which houses a number of food and health-related businesses. GCDA also runs cafes and community hubs on a contractual/subsidised basis and provides specialist catering and food business support across England. GCDA employs 38 staff most of whom are based at its two main business/community hubs in Greenwich and Woolwich, although it operates in other parts of London as well.

CEO Claire Pritchard, who has been with GCDA for 16 years, explained: “We receive very little grant funding. About half our income comes from contract work in the public sector, much of it to do with health and food, and half comes from our own business activities. We are constantly looking to develop new projects, especially those that improve the health, wealth and wellbeing of people in disadvantaged communities.

“We believe our activities have a significant social impact. Last year we recorded more than 60,000 individual interactions with people. About 5,000 of these are people who took part in repeated or regular activities such as training courses, cookery clubs and business support.”

The new 70-seat open plan kitchen at Lockside is part of a development within Royal Albert Wharf. GCDA is working in partnership with Notting Hill Genesis Housing Association and Bow Arts to develop a thriving local cafe as well as incubate new food businesses and host training activity.

The Lakeside kitchen will be within an old community centre which is part of a big development by Peabody, one of the oldest and largest housing associations in London, to build 20,000 new homes over the next 25 years. Peabody is working with Bow Arts to renovate the building, creating work and studio spaces as well as the teaching kitchen and cafe.

GCDA’s innovative work in developing food initiatives is widely recognised, and in March the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, appointed Claire Pritchard as the new Chair of the London Food Board.

Ian Rothwell, Investment Manager at Co-operative & Community Finance, which manages Co-op Loan Fund, said: “We are happy, once again, to support this innovative and enterprising agency. They have been very successful at adapting to the changes in funding regimes over the last 30 years, and have developed many new projects that have a direct and positive impact on local communities.”

Hempen

Co-op leads UK hemp production

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Co-operatives are known for being innovative and Co-op Loan Fund’s latest borrower is certainly that. It is also very unusual. Hempen, based near Reading, is the leading grower and producer of organic hemp CBD (cannabidiol) products in the UK.

The worker co-op, which has six members and six volunteers, has been developing since 2015 By the end of the 2017 growing season, Hempen had harvested over 25 tonnes of hemp seed for use in culinary produce and cosmetics and harvested and dried over 800kg of plant material for essential oil production.

The finance from Co-op Loan Fund will enable Hempen to build a new barn and purchase equipment to increase production significantly.

Hemp is a very versatile low-impact crop with over 25,000 known uses including food, health products, cosmetics, housing, fuel, textiles, composite materials and more. At present Hempen mostly produces health food supplements including CBD essential oil, which is claimed to have anti-inflamatory, anti-spasmodic and relaxing qualities, and hemp seed oil which is particularly high in vitamins and essential fatty acids.

Hempen co-op member Patrick Gillett said: “We set up as a co-op because we believe in sharing power and responsibilities equally. We wanted to embed co-operative values into the core of the business from the very start.”

One of the challenges that the business faces is the degree of legal uncertainty around the growing of hemp. What they are doing is legal but they must reapply to the Home Office every year for a licence. Patrick Gillett said: “Strangely, there is less regulation involved in importing CBD products than there is in making them in the UK. This uncertainty works in our favour to some extent because it has kept bigger risk-averse businesses out of the market.”

Ian Rothwell, of Co-op Loan Fund, said: “This is a very enterprising business that is developing new markets for the produce of a traditional and versatile plant. It’s great that the leading producer of organically grown hemp in the UK is a co-op. It is another example of co-operatives nurturing innovation.”

Hempen received specialist support from the Just Growth funding programme designed to support community-based food and farming projects. Co-operative & Community Finance worked in partnership with Funding Enlightened Agriculture and Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to deliver the programme, which is now closed to further applications.

cattle at Lauriston Farm

Community-owned future for family farm

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An Essex farm that is one of the leading practitioners of biodynamic farming and conservation has secured its long-term future by becoming a charitable community benefit society. The new community-owned venture is being helped by a loan from the Co-operative Loan Fund as part of the Just Growth programme.

Lauriston Farm is located on the Blackwater Estuary and most of the land is a Site of Special Scientific Interest because the sea meadow and salt flats are rare and vital habitats for many birds and other wildlife. The 210-acre farm has rare-breed cattle and sheep, hens and beehives as well as large vegetable garden. As well as producing organic beef, lamb, eggs and wool products, Lauriston Farm also runs an education and training programme and provides co-worker placements for people with learning disabilities.

trustees of the community benefit societyUntil July this year the family-owned farm had been run by the owner’s son, Spencer Christy, as a sole trader since 2004. Spencer had built a unique enterprise that was environmentally and socially responsible. He and his team wanted to expand and diversify the business and to ensure that it remained rooted in the local community, so they drew up a five-year business plan, set up a charitable community benefit society and launched a community share issue.

So far over 140 people, mostly local residents, have invested in Lauriston Farm and become members of the society. This community engagement attracted further funding from other sources.

Spencer Christy explained the difference becoming a community benefit society had made: “There’s a lot more paperwork, of course, but we were expecting that. The feeling on the farm is different, we feel supported by the local community, many of whom have bought shares.

“The big difference is just starting and that’s the increase in the opportunities we provide for co-workers with learning disabilities. By the middle of next year we hope to have seven placements a day, five days a week. This will mean that the horticulture, livestock and crafts operations increase as well.”

Tim Coomer from Co-operative & Community Finance, which manages the Co-operative Loan Fund, said: “This is a very interesting and unique venture that brings together care for people and care for the environment in a community-owned business. We are delighted to support it.”

Lauriston Farm is one of the six ventures to be selected for the Just Growth funding programme designed to support community-based food and farming projects. Eligible ventures that raise finance from community investment can have it matched with a grant (funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation) and a loan (arranged by Co‑operative & Community Finance). The Just Growth programme is now closed to further applications however Co-operative & Community Finance has funds available and works with a range of partners to invest in similar enterprises.

Earlier this year Co-operative & Community Finance won the Citi Microentrepreneurship Award for Effective Partnership in recognition of its work with Just Growth.

interior of Leicester Wholefoods

Wholefood co-op celebrates 30 years

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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 customers come to the shop but an increasing number are ordering online and benefiting from the personal delivery service within 30 miles of the city.

The market for wholefoods has changed greatly over the last 30 years but the guiding principles of Leicester Wholefoods have not. Its aim remains to supply high quality natural and organic food that takes into account good nutrition, environmental concern and compassionate practice.

The worker co-op is managed democratically with all five members being trained on most aspects of the business. All staff are paid at the same hourly rate. One of the five, Paul Charnock, is a founder member who has a unique perspective on the business.

“For our first 20 years we supplied many shops, cafes and groups on a wholesale basis,” said Paul. “Although we had a big turnover the profit margin was very small. Since 2009 we have been concentrating exclusively on retail sales, both in the premises and online. We have invested in our website and social media and sales and profits have increased consistently for the last seven years.

“I see no reason why this growth should not continue. My only concern is the likely rise in prices of imported foods due to a weaker pound.”

Ian Rothwell, Investment Manager at Co-operative & Community Finance which manages the Co-operative Loan Fund, said: “We were delighted when this long-established worker co-op contacted us again after many years. They are rooted in the community and have a very loyal customer base. We are pleased to help them buy a new van in their 30th year.”

Lake at Sacred Earth

Nurturing the Sacred Earth

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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, has released another loan under this innovative programme, this time to Sacred Earth, a community land project that is reclaiming and nurturing a 40-acre site of an abandoned brickworks near the village of Horam in East Sussex.

The site is home to a number of nature-based ventures including the production of biochar (a form of charcoal), growing and processing of herbs, animal husbandry, willow production and basket making, ecotherapy, and a wide range of courses and workshops.

The project had been developing gradually since a local philanthropist bought the site in 2011, but last year it registered a community benefit society and launched a share offer. It raised £45,000 from a total of 170 members and this made the venture eligible for a grant and a loan under the Just Growth Fund.

Project manager Oliver Bettany said: “The success of the share offer has given us an enormous boost. We have spent the last few months putting in place new protocols to streamline the organisation so it is transparent and accountable to its members. We plan to hold our first AGM in September and we will be inviting our new members to discuss key issues and elect a management committee.”

Over the next five years Sacred Earth plans to increase the production and sale of biochar, expand its educational programmes, provide practical support and training for young rural entrepreneurs, produce food and medicinal herbs, establish a centre for ecotherapy, and look after the land for the benefit of the local community and future generations.

Ian Rothwell, Investment Manager at Co-operative & Community Finance, said: “Sacred Earth is an amazing venture that has attracted people who are passionate about nature and the environment. Now with support from Just Growth and the Co-operative Loan Fund they are turning a project about sustainability into a sustainable business.”

'Scotland The Bread' launches a Community Share Offer

Scotland the Bread

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 that is healthy, equitable, locally controlled and sustainable. Veronica Burke, one of the founding directors, said: “Our idea is simple – grow nutritious wheat and bake it properly close to home.”

The business sells specialist grain and flour and runs comprehensive bakery courses for community groups. It is aiming to expand during 2017 and start its own quality assurance system for grain, flour and bread. At present eight community-based groups, including the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, are actively involved.

The venture began in 2012, bringing together plant breeders, farmers, millers, bakers, nutritionists and citizens with the common purpose of producing healthy food. Working with scientists in leading institutions, they began to research heritage Scottish and Nordic wheats to find nutrient-rich varieties that do well in local conditions. At the same time, they started building capacity in community-scale, artisan bread making. The co-operators set up a community benefit society in April 2016 to bring the project into community ownership and to raise investment.

Veronica Burke said: “Working together, we’ll change the entire system for the better: fair deals for local farmers growing nourishing food, fewer damaging food miles, more nutrition in every slice of bread and more jobs per loaf.”

Scotland the Bread is aiming to train 100 community bakers a year who by 2021 will be baking over 500,000 loaves a year made from highly nutritious grains. There is likely to be a ready market for such bread among people already interested in healthy eating but Veronica’s vision extends much further. “It is essential that our grain, flour and bread gets into the public procurement supply chain. That’s what will make the big difference to public health – high quality nutritious bread available in prisons, care homes, hospitals, schools – places where citizens with the most need have the least choice.”

Veronica’s husband, Andrew Whitley, is also a founding director. Andrew is one of the best known bakers in Britain. In 1976 he set up The Village Bakery in Melmerby, Cumbria, which from small beginnings became a market leader in organic artisan bread making. His 2006 book Bread Matters is widely regarded as the bread makers’ bible.

So far 160 people have bought shares totalling more than £37,000 in Scotland the Bread. It is one of just six ventures to be selected for the Just Growth funding programme designed to support community-based food and farming projects. Eligible ventures that raise finance from community investment can have it matched with a grant (funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation) and a loan (arranged by Co‑operative & Community Finance). The loan was released in December and is being used to finance initial staff costs, the setting up of an office and the purchase of equipment of an appropriate scale for community growing and baking.

Tim Coomer, Business Development Manager at Co-operative & Community Finance, which manages the Co-operative Loan Fund, said: “This is an innovative and highly ambitious venture – a society that is aiming to benefit the community in a very fundamental way, through nutrition. The Co-operative Loan Fund is pleased to support inspiring new ventures like this.”

Plotgate4

Digging deep for local community

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 up in 2015 and following a successful pilot project went into full production in 2016. It currently produces 35 boxes a week and is aiming to increase this to 100 over the next two years.

Plotgate CSA is one of just six ventures to be selected for the Just Growth funding programme designed to support community-based food and farming projects. Eligible ventures that raise finance from community investment can have it matched with a grant (funded by Esmée Fairbairn Foundation) and a loan (arranged by Co‑operative & Community Finance). So far 62 people have bought shares totalling £25,000. The loan was released in November and work started immediately on excavating a reservoir.

Amy Willoughby, one of the founding directors of Plotgate CSA, said: “We are using the loan to help improve the infrastructure. The whole site is completely off grid and we like it that way. We are entirely responsible for our own water collection, irrigation and drainage and for generating our own power from solar PV.”

The infrastructure works will include building a barn, landscaping, irrigation and reservoir, solar power system, polytunnels, track and hard standing improvements, as well as the purchase of some tools and a small tractor.

Tim Coomer, Business Development Manager at Co-operative & Community Finance, which manages the Co-operative Loan Fund, said: “This is a really good community supported agriculture project. It’s run by people who are not only passionate about growing fruit and vegetables but who are also committed to enhancing the ecology of the site, the health of the soil, and the wellbeing of all the people involved. The Co-operative Loan Fund is pleased to support inspiring new ventures like this.”

Plotgate CSA was registered as a multi-stakeholder community benefit society using rules developed by Somerset Co-operative Services. The rules allow for different classes of membership for producers, volunteers and consumers.

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