Co-operatives UK Staff

Ed Mayo

Ed Mayo is Secretary General of Co-operatives UK, the membership network for co-operative businesses. He is a long-term co-operator and has a track record of innovation and impact in his work to bring together economic life and social justice.
From 2003 – 2009, he was Chief Executive of the National Consumer Council, merging this with two other bodies to found a new statutory consumer champion, Consumer Focus, in 2008. He was described by the Independent as "the most authoritative voice in the country speaking up for consumers", while the Guardian has nominated him as one of the top 100 most influential figures in British social policy.
He has co-written a book, “Consumer Kids” with Agnes Nairn on marketing to children, published by Constable in 2009.

David Coulter

David leads on the development of our membership base, the identification of trading opportunities that support our core purpose, monitoring the performance of the co‑operative economy and of individual co‑operatives, the development and use of information technology systems that support our operations and members’ needs.
David is also responsible for the overview of management of Holyoake House. Along with the Secretary General and the other members of the Senior Management Team he plays a key role in establishing the strategic direction, structure and culture of Co‑operatives UK

Philip Holmes

Phil has overall responsibility for the operation of the Finance team within the organisation and is part of the Senior Management Team responsible for the strategic direction and operational efficiency of the business.
He is also the Secretary for the Co‑operative Performance Committee (CPC) of Co‑operatives UK which bring together accountants and other professionals from all parts of the co‑operative movement providing recommendations and guidance to its members on best practice for accounting standards, KCPIs and CESPIs.

Sarah Alldred

At Co-operatives UK I project manage the Making Local Food Work's Good Food, Good Governance programme. The programme has the overarching aim of reconnecting people and land through community food enterprise and has created a series of delivery strands which work towards that goal i.e. food co‑operatives and buying groups, local distribution and supply, farmers markets, country markets etc. Our strand plays a supporting role in providing training and support on governance and legal issues (http://www.makinglocalfoodwork.co.uk/Training).

My specific role is to manage the successful delivery of the project. The day to day work oversees this through regular supervision, co-ordinating the writing, design and publication of a series of legal and governance resources with external agencies, managing the project budget, writing interim reports and developing and maintaining relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

This programmed work feeds into and complements Co-operative UK's core aims of Promoting, Developing and Uniting the ethos of co-operation and all the training and support material is free to Co-operatives UK members.

Linda Banks

Linda’s work involves providing legal and governance advice to existing co‑operatives and assisting organisations and individuals that wish to form a co‑operative.
As well as providing legal and governance advice to organisations working in the third sector, such as not for profit organisations and charities. This includes, taking initial enquiries over the telephone and email, advising on the different legal structures available, as well as assistance with registration and, where appropriate, charity registration both with the Charity Commission and HMRC. Providing legal and governance training and presentations to organisations working within the third sector is also part of her work.

Leanne Cank

Leanne assists the finance team in the daily input onto the Sales/Purchase and Nominal Ledgers of Co‑operatives UK, Co‑operative Press and the Co‑operative Party. This includes the issuing of sales invoices, payment of suppliers, credit control and staff and committee expenses.

Ged Devlin

Ged provides legal and governance advice to existing co‑operatives and assists organisations and individuals that wish to form co‑operatives, as well as providing advice to organisations working in the Third Sector, which predominately includes not for profit organisations and charities. Ged also assists with the registration of co‑operatives and other Third Sector organisations, drafting amendments and liaising with the relevant regulatory body on the client's behalf. Ged has also recently undertaken research projects in order to help define the sector.

Sundeep Grewal

Sundeep is responsible for delivering effective campaigns for recruitment and retention of Co‑operatives UK’s members and providing leadership within the organisation in terms of best practice and strategic direction with regards to membership.
Sundeep is responsible for all members, other than worker co‑operatives, and works closely with the Worker Co‑operative Development Officer to encourage wherever possible our members are engaged and informed about and in our work. On a day to day basis, Sundeep has a good degree of engagement with members, through general enquiries on the telephone, via email and through member visits.

Zena King

Zena provides support to the Secretary General, which includes diary management and administration. She also carries out administrative and logistical duties for the Board of Directors, their subcommittees and the Senior Management Team.

Tom Litherland

Tom is responsible for efficient running of Holyoake House particularly with regard to ensuring the building is cleaned and well presented. He manages the meeting rooms and conference facilities by making sure they are ready for use by staff and customers, ensuring the rooms are laid out as required and any catering requirements are managed.

Belinda McEwan

Belinda is responsible for efficient running of Holyoake House particularly with regard to ensuring the building is cleaned and well presented. She manages the meeting rooms and conference facilities by making sure they are ready for use by staff and customers, ensuring the rooms are layout as required and any catering requirements are managed. She is also a first aider and a fire warden.

Petra Morris

Petra's role includes co-ordinating the work of the Co‑operative Business Development Panel (formerly New Ventures Panel). Currently involved in the Community Shares (Government funded 2 year action learning research project promoting raising finance from community share offers) www.communityshares.org.uk, Health & Social Care (Department of Health funded 2 year project to develop mutual responses to delivery of social care) and Greener Together- the co‑operative way www.greenertogether.coop projects. She also co-ordinates the meetings of the Co-operatives UK Forum and delivers events and conferences as appropriate.

Joe Robinson

Joe's role is to assist in the planning, organisation and management of all Co‑operatives UK's events. Joe acts as a point of contact for the event management company the Conference People, working closely with our event manager dealing with all event related issues.
Joe works on a part time, two day a week basis, as he is currently a full time student studying an Event Management Degree at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Mark Simmonds

Mark is employed through the Making Local Food Work project and works as a peripatetic development worker, delivering training to other development workers helping to set up community food enterprises. Mark also works directly with new and existing community food enterprises to ensure that they choose the most appropriate structure and governance.

Mark’s work is accomplished through delivering workshops, generating paper and web-based resources, administering the Good Food Good Governance pages of the Making Local Food Work website (www.makinglocalfoodwork.co.uk) and running a legal and governance helpline. He also works closely with Co‑operatives UK membership section to bring new and existing community food enterprises into membership where appropriate.

In his spare time, Mark co-ordinates Calderdale Local Orchard Group is treasurer of his local allotment society and is restoring an historic canal icebreaker.

Paul Smith

Paul provides a research function for the senior management team, researching new legislation, topical issues, news or events of interest to Co‑operatives UK. Paul is responsible for looking after the organisation's website, providing members with passwords and ensuring other staff keep their pages updated. He also assists the Secretary in their role in the corporate governance of Co‑operatives UK.

Lesley Taylor

Lesley is part of the Finance Team and is responsible for the daily input onto the Sales/Purchase and Nominal Ledgers of Co‑operatives UK, Co‑operative Press and the Co‑operative Party. This includes the issuing of sales invoices, payment of suppliers, credit control and staff and committee expenses. She works closely with Michael on the reconciliation of membership subscriptions which involves updating and maintaining records on the database.

Pat Wilson

Pat is part of the Finance Team and is responsible for the payroll for Co‑operatives UK, Co‑operative Party, Co‑operative Press and Co‑operative Press Pensioners as well the payroll service which is provided as a membership service. Pat monitors the bank balances for the above organisations and invests any surpluses to ensure assets are used effectively. She is also responsible for all banking matters, electronic transfers etc and monthly reconciliations.