The Co-operative Economy 2012

Owned and controlled by members and not shareholders, more than 5,900 co-operative businesses in the UK contribute £35.6bn to the UK economy and operate across all business sectors. For the past four years, the sector has outperformed the UK economy, demonstrating resilience in difficult economic times and proving that values and principles go hand in hand with commercial performance.

The UK co-operative economy is the annual state of the sector report produced by Co-operatives UK, the trade association for co-operative and mutual businesses.

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Performance of the
co-operative economy

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Across the country

Co-operatives across
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Shape of the economy

The shape of the
Co-operative Economy

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Performance of the co-operative economy

Resilience in a downturn

Number of memberships, 13.5 million

In 2011, the number of memberships grew by 5.5%.
Between 2008 and 2011 the number of memberships grew by 19.7%.

2008
11.3m

2009
12.9m

2010
12.8m

2011
13.5m

Turnover of the co-operative economy, £35.6 billion

In 2011, the co-operative economy grew by 1.5%, outperforming the UK economy for the fourth consecutive year. The co-operative economy has grown by 19.6% since 2008 whilst the UK economy in 2011 is 1.7% smaller than in 2008.

UK Economy		2008 contracted -1.1%	2009 contracted -4.4%		2010 grew by 2.1%	2010 grew by 0.7%
Co-operative Economy		2008 £29.8bn grew by 5.4%	2009 £32.2bn grew by 9.2%		2010 £35.4bn grew 7.7%	2010 £35.6bn grew by 1.5%

Performance of the co-operative economy

In times of economic downturn, whilst the UK economy considers cuts and businesses react to the short term, the co-operative economy behaves differently.

Run by its members and for its members, without shareholders, it is an economy that is free to act for the benefit of many, free to make decisions based on the longer term.

This richness allows the sector space to listen to all voices, gain a wealth of opinion and plan for the future benefit of the business, its members and its community. It affords co-operatives a wealth of resilience.

Number of co-operatives in the UK, 5,933

In 2011 the number of co-operatives grew by 8.9%.
Between 2008 and 2011 the numbers grew by 23%.

4,820

2008
up 1.8%

4,992

2009
up 3.6%

5,450

2010
up 9.2%

5,933

2011
up 8.9%

tags:

co-operative economy

co-operative performance

Co-operatives UK

Co-operatives across the country

Resilience in a downturn

Number of co-operatives by region

England

East Midlands 382
East of England 353
London 703
North East 561
North West 617
South East 555
South West 688
West Midlands 463
Yorkshire and Humberside 462

Northern Ireland 251
Scotland 578
Wales 394

382

353

703

561

617

555

688

463

462

251

578

394

Co-operatives across the country

Co-operatives are starting up at the rate of 450 a year, that’s more than one a day. They range from those with a multimillion-pound turnover to brand new community owned windfarms or sports clubs and exist everywhere from rural communities to city centres. With more than 11,000 outlets between them, co-operatives can be found in every postcode area across the UK and are owned by one in four of the adult UK population.

The four nations

England Number of co-operatives 4,784 Turnover £29.7bn	Northern Ireland Number of co-operatives 251 Turnover £860m
Wales Number of co-operatives 394 Turnover £1.3bn	Scotland Number of co-operatives 578 Turnover £4bn

“Public interest in co-operatives is growing in Wales. Co-operatives are providing jobs, wealth and services in a way that can stand up to the rough and tumble of the global economy.”
Derek Walker, Chief Executive, Wales Co-operative Centre

“Co-operative models are becoming widely recognised for their role in achieving shared objectives, enhancing business performance and sustaining communities.”
Sarah Deas, Chief Executive, Co-operative Development Scotland

The shape of the co-operative economy

Resilience in a downturn

Turnover and number of co-operatives by sector

	Agriculture	Construction	Education & training	Financial Services	Fishing
Turnover as % of co-operative economy
	11.4%	3.7%	1.3%	6.2%	0.1%
Number of co-operatives as % of co-operative economy
	5.4%	0.9%	14%	4.1%	0.1%

Health & social care	Leisure & tourism	Manufacturing	Retail	Transport	Energy & environment

1.8%	0.6%	1%	71.1%	0.1%	0.1%

5.5%	48.8%	0.9%	14%	1.6%	1.7%

Ownership of the co-operative economy, 13.5m memberships in total

Consumers	Workers	Enterprise	Mixed ownership
12.7m 96%	79,557 0.6%	336,000 2.7%	75,000 0.6%

The shape of the co-operative economy

From knickers to nurseries, noodles to news, co-operative businesses come in all shapes and sizes and across many different sectors. Owned by workers, consumers, residents and businesses, co-operatives make up an economy that considers society and the environment to be just as important as the pursuit of profit.

It is an economy that gives its members ownership and control.

Less than £25k	£25k to £100k	£100k to £250k	£250k to £500k	£500k to £1m	£1m to £5m	Over £5m
Number of co-operatives by turnover size
26.1%	14.7%	24%	15%	7.6%	7.9%	4.6%

The Co-operative Economy 2012

The UK co-operative economy is the annual state of the sector report produced by Co-operatives UK, the trade association for co-operative and mutual businesses.

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