Now that we’re getting into the autumn, and moving past the party conference season, many of us are working together to influence how government pledges to ‘double the size of the co-operative and mutual economy’ will translate into resources, policy tools, and supportive legislation over the next parliamentary term. In this issue, we have a special feature, with different contributors from across the sector sharing their hopes for seizing this generational opportunity.
Part of this ambition for growth must also create space for more research and development to experiment with models that have been rarely used in the recent history of the democratic business movement, from franchises to mergers to secondary co-ops, which can not only achieve scale more quickly, but also make it easier to set up or convert a business, and build in more resilience across the sector beyond the strength of each individual business.
Another area for development is leveraging existing structures that have proven popular in the conversion market. In this issue, researchers from Slovenia’s Institute for Economic Democracy argue that the current pilots in several European countries to adapt EOTs – not using the trust model while keeping other core mechanisms – could facilitate more co-operative conversions in mature companies.
Let’s also remember that we shouldn’t only be looking to influence the Department for Business and Trade. This whole business movement started in civil society and has been most successful when the wider population participates in creating solutions in housing, food, energy, and other foundational parts of our economy. We need to focus on transforming culture in the everyday economy, as much as taking more of the market from big business.
Jonny Gordon-Farleigh, Editor
