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Brightkidz1a

From bright idea to brilliant business

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An award-winning co-op that is credited with keeping children healthier and safer while helping to reduce car-dependency, accidents and air pollution is scaling up its operation with help from Co-op Loan Fund.

Safe Kids Walking Ltd, which trades as Brightkidz, was set up in 2004 by concerned parents in Kettering, Northamptonshire, who were operating a walking bus scheme at their local school. A loan from Co-op Loan Fund helped Brightkidz get established and it was soon developing and supplying a range of products to support walk-to-school schemes such as hi-viz waistcoats and accessories whilst giving encouragement and information to schools and parents across the country. One of its major orders was supplying printed waistcoats to 35,500 children involved in the Co-operative Group’s Walking Bus scheme, which ran from 2008 to 2013.

Brightkidz has been widely praised and its awards include the 2007 Impact Award for Northamptonshire Casualty Reduction Partnership and the 2018 Modeshift Award for Contribution to Sustainable Travel (awarded to founder Alison Holland who was also a finalist in the Women In Ethical Business Awards).

Over the last 15 years there have been huge changes in the market for high-viz, attitudes towards it and in the awareness of the importance of walking or cycling to school. The high-viz waistcoats and other bright products were originally popular as a way of making drivers more aware of pedestrians and cyclists but are now also used for monitoring a group of pupils or drawing attention to a campaign.

Alison Holland, one of the founder members, said: “Now Brightkidz is at the ‘scaling up’ stage and the new loan will be crucial in enabling us to achieve the growth we know is possible. It will fund the staff costs of new team members including an apprentice and professional educators to help us develop the resources we offer so they meet the needs of schools. It will allow us to promote what we do more widely by covering the costs of events and marketing. It will allow us to invest in a wider variety and larger quantity of products which means we can offer more choice and great value. Although hi-viz waistcoats remain one of our most popular lines we offer many other products and we are keen to emphasise that keeping children safe is more about reducing car journeys and improving driver behaviour than about what the children wear”.

Brightkidz has just redesigned its online shop which includes some 100 products. It is also developing a complementary online shop of promotional products which is about to be launched under a different name.

The co-op has always sought to work in partnership with like-minded organisations. Its latest project, called ST:EPS (Safer Travel: Enabling Primary Schools), is being piloted in Kettering and in Corby. It aims to link schools to existing and new resources to enable them to promote safe, active travel to school. All ST:EPS projects are run in collaboration with local authority road safety or school travel teams with support from the local business community.

Alison said: “Any surplus we make is reinvested and used to promote walking to school, road safety initiatives and active lifestyles. This is a social enterprise and we are in business to solve problems. We are looking at ways of recording our social impact, which is something we have not done enough of in the past.”

Ian Rothwell of Co-op Loan Fund said “Brightkidz has been going almost as long as Co-op Loan Fund. We helped them start up and we are delighted to help them in the next stage of their development. During the last 15 years it has grown from a bright idea into a brilliant ethical business.”

Charlotte England, Ieva Padagaite and Simon Ball pictured in the new premises

New base for radical film-makers

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Blake House Cooperative is set for growth having just moved into new premises and taken out a loan from Co-op Loan Fund.

The London-based film-makers have achieved a lot since incorporating in 2015. The worker co-operative, which at one time operated from cafes, libraries and living rooms, has recently moved from a small, temporary office to a large studio in a brand new development for creative practices in Stockwell. Members Ieva Padagaite and Simon Ball have been joined by producer Charlotte England, and together they are planning to increase co-operative membership to half a dozen people over the coming years.

Blake House makes engaging and impactful films for progressive public and third sector organisations as well as other co-ops and campaign groups. They only undertake work for organisations whose values and purposes align with their own. They find that this selective approach is advantageous in strengthening their niche offering and their understanding of the sectors they work in. It helps them to build high quality meaningful relationships with their clients. They have produced videos for Co-operatives UK, the National Trust, Save the Children, University of Cambridge, University College London Hospitals, Global Social Economy Forum, Power to Change, Basildon Council, Compass, The National Education Union and Forum for the Future.

The loan is being used mostly as working capital to make cash flow management smoother as the co-op settles into its new premises and takes on more work.

Ian Rothwell of Co-op Loan Fund said: “We are really pleased to help Blake House move premises and grow. It is great that young people like Simon, Ieva and Charlotte are choosing the co-operative model to further their careers in the creative sector. They make beautiful, thoughtful films.”

Simon explained why they set up as a co-op: “We were feeling disillusioned with our careers and so we tried to imagine our dream work environment. It was a place where there was no hierarchy, where we produced work that aligned with our values, where we could be creative and where everyone’s work was valued and respected. A place where we were in control. We found that our dream already existed and it was a worker co-op.

“We set up the business using our own savings and resources and favours from friends. We were nervous about taking on long term liabilities and for the first two years the business was based in several temporary workspaces. Now we can see that we need cash so that we can grow. We want to work with more organisations and we also plan to create our own self-commissioned content.”

Simon is full of praise for Co-op Loan Fund: “It has made a big difference to our attitude to loan finance to know that we are borrowing from an organisation that understands co-ops. Having a shared ethos with our lender have made us feel comfortable about borrowing.”

Film made for Co-operatives UK

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.”

spsc

Bouncers are clubbing together

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One of the UK’s more unusual new co-ops is getting ready to launch, with a little help from Co-op Loan Fund.

The Security Professionals Support Co-operative (SPSC), based in Tyneside, aims to improve the working situations of all security personnel, from bouncers to bodyguards, by providing access to training, insurance, legal protection and accountancy.

It is an ambitious co-operative business venture that has been developing for over a year and is nearly ready to start. Its new premises were opened by the Mayor of Gateshead on 31 July and the IT systems are being installed now so that the recruitment of new members can begin in mid-September. A loan from Co-op Loan Fund is helping to finance the start-up costs and provide initial working capital.

At the moment SPSC comprises four founder members/directors but soon the co-op will be inviting the estimated 7,500 security staff working in North East England to join them and use the co-op’s services. In later years it hopes to expand into Scotland and North West England and ultimately to the whole of the UK.

Founder member Rob Dixon has many years’ experience of working on the doors of pubs and clubs. It is difficult and sometimes dangerous work and Rob is very aware that many door staff have low morale and little support. He said: “Door staff still have a ‘thug’ image, which is totally wrong. They’re there to protect the customers, there to protect staff and there to help the police. The door staff know that, just no one else sees it.”

Although all security personnel have to be licensed by the Security Industry Authority, Rob feels that the training is basic and there is little opportunity for career development in the industry. SPSC will be working with a major training provider who will offer funding, educational loans and support for upskilling and advanced learning for existing operatives along with an unemployment programme and recruitment drive for new people entering the industry. SPCS will help to find work placements for newly trained security staff.

One of the immediate benefits of joining the co-op will be low cost insurance. Most door staff are self-employed and as it is a risky job income protection insurance is difficult and expensive to obtain. SPSC has negotiated a very advantageous deal with an insurance broker for the benefit of its members. “We’re providing security for security,” said Rob.

Ian Rothwell, Investment Manager at Co-operative & Community Finance which manages Co-op Loan Fund, said: “This is a perfect example of how the co-operative model can really improve the working lives of people who are in difficult and often low paid jobs. Many security staff have low self-esteem and limited prospects. SPCS is using co-operation to change that and Coop Loan Fund wants to help them do it.”

View this video made by Co-operatives UK. SPSC received support to register as a co-operative through The Hive, a support programme for co-ops delivered by Co-operatives UK in partnership with The Co-operative Bank.

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.

Bamburgh_beach

Centrifuge spins wider

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A consultancy co-operative with offices in Newcastle and Glasgow has extended its reach across the UK with help from Co-op Loan Fund.

Centrifuge Consulting provides a range of social and economic consultancy mostly to local authorities and other public sector organisations. Its work includes developing business cases, securing funding, designing and delivering policies and projects, and monitoring and evaluation. Most of its clients are based in the north of England or southern Scotland, but in the last year it has won contracts in the west of England, Cheshire and the Scottish Highlands and Islands.

“Recently we have been getting longer-term contracts,” explained Alastair Thomson, one of the co-operative’s directors. “This is good for our business planning but not so good for cash-flow management. The Co-op Loan Fund has helped us to smooth this out.”

One example of recent work is the two-year evaluation of a pilot programme for the West of England Combined Authority, targeting in-work poverty. The pilot programme is being funded by the Department of Work and Pensions and the evaluation will help to inform future developments, potentially improving the lives of many people on low incomes and zero-hours contracts.

Centrifuge Consulting was set up as a worker co-op in 2007 by Liam Marsh and Alastair Thomson. Both have extensive experience in social and economic development and both have a strong commitment to co-operative principles.

“We provide our clients with a wealth of experience and a reasonable price,” said Alastair. “And I think that is why we are getting the work.”

Ian Rothwell, of The Co-operative Loan Fund, said: “Centrifuge have managed to win new contracts in a difficult market, and they are now picking up work all over Britain, from Bristol to the Western Isles. We are very pleased to support these committed co-operators in developing their business.”

[photo caption: the beach at Bamburgh, Northumberland. Centrifuge developed the Economic Plan for the Bamburgh, Seahouses and Beadnell Coastal Community Team]

co-opWeb-robot

Co-operative Web

Software development company Co-operative Web is an excellent example of how supportive finance from Co-op Loan Fund can help with business growth.

The Birmingham-based workers’ co-operative builds systems, web applications and content-managed solutions across a range of technical platforms. It works with many different types of business from small social enterprises to large multi-nationals. Its clients include Premier League football clubs and government organisations.

It was set up in 2006 by four former employees of the IT department of Midcounties Co-operative. Now there are over 20 employees. They elect a board of directors to manage the business with elections occurring each year.

Nicholas Greenhill said: “We are incredibly busy. In 2016 our turnover topped £1m and growth is continuing. We keep winning big contracts, which is nice but it can also have its challenges. Borrowing from a lender who really understands co-ops has allowed us to recruit in the areas needed to deliver these projects while not having cash flow impacted. I don’t think we could have managed to get where we are now without their help.”

Much of Co-operative Web’s work goes on in the background helping to make large organisations and complex processes function effortlessly. The co-operative rarely gets (and doesn’t expect) public recognition (“Basically, we’re geeks for hire, we focus on making the right product for the right client so they can get the most out of their business. Our goal is to deliver a solid, and slick system that does everything the client needs!” Nick Greenhill says).

Ian Rothwell of Co-operative & Community Finance, which manages Co-op Loan Fund, said: “Co-operative Web is an excellent example of how skilled technical people work better in a co-operative environment. The workers are happy and so are the customers, and we are happy to support them.”

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.”

croydon-trainees-crop

Lending tops £4m with loan to co-op agency

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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 to start two major new contracts in public health and catering training/enterprise.

GCDA in South East London was established as an enterprise agency in 1982. The aim was 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 34 years GCDA has managed to adapt to major changes in the funding of support agencies by being agile and entrepreneurial.

CEO Claire Pritchard, who has been with GCDA for 14 years, explained: “We have 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.”

GCDA employs 33 staff based at various community hubs in and around London. New staff are due to be recruited in the next few months. Last year GCDA changed its legal structure to become a community benefit society and it now encourages users of its services to become members.
Talking about the future, Claire Pritchard said: “We are constantly looking to develop new projects. Although much of our work can be seen as charitable at our core we are building enterprise. Our energy co-op [SELCE] continues to be very important and we would like to do more work in housing. We are also looking at developing a community land trust.”

The Co-operative Loan Fund is a unique fund set up to provide supportive finance exclusively to co-operatives. It is funded and run by co-ops and any surplus is reinvested in the fund to lend to more co-ops. Since it was established in 2002 it has lent a total of £4m to 146 co-operatives many of which would have found it very difficult to borrow from other lenders.

Ian Rothwell of the Co-operative Loan Fund said: “GCDA is a highly entrepreneurial agency that has adapted and grown in a sector where many have perished. We are especially pleased to support them in a joint deal with Big Issue Invest.”

 

[The photograph shows a group of trainees on a food business training course delivered by GCDA]

Rural-Development

Helping public bodies improve what they do

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A unique English/Scottish consultancy co-operative is poised for growth after receiving finance from The Co-operative Loan Fund.

Centrifuge Consulting, which has offices in Newcastle and Glasgow, provides a range of social and economic consultancy mostly to local authorities and other public sector organisations from northern England to central Scotland. Its work includes strategy/policy development, monitoring and evaluation, service design, business planning and community consultation.

“We aim to help public bodies improve what they do and to access additional resources such as European funding,” explained Liam Marsh, one of the co-operative’s directors.

Centrifuge Consulting was set up as a workers’ co-operative in 2007 by Liam Marsh and Alastair Thomson. Both had extensive experience in social and economic development and both had a strong commitment to co-operative principles.

“We feel passionately about co-ops and about engaging communities in co-operative solutions to social and economic problems.” said Liam.

Public sector consultancy is a highly competitive marketplace in which Centrifuge has done well by consistently offering good value for money. Working with a growing group of associates, Centrifuge is taking on larger contracts but this can cause cash flow difficulties. The Co-operative Loan Fund was happy to provide a loan that would give them the working capital needed to lay a firm foundation for growth.

Ian Rothwell, of The Co-operative Loan Fund, said: “Centrifuge have established a very good track record in a difficult market, so we are very happy to help them develop. They are also very committed to co-operation in the way they work and in the consultancy they provide, and that can only be a good thing.”

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