Resilient Co-operative Economy holds lessons for UK PLC

The co-operative sector has significantly outperformed the wider UK economy according to new figures just released. The combined turnover of all UK co-operatives grew by 4.4% last year to £33bn, and has grown by 21% since the start of the credit crunch in 2008.

The UK Co-operative Economy 2011, the latest annual analysis into the size and performance of the UK's unlisted co-operative businesses, reveals that membership of co-operatives has increased with growth of 18% since 2008, to 12.8 million. Although this is a slight drop from a high point in 2009, it means that one in five of the entire UK population is now a member of a co-operative.

The biggest percentage growth in turnover was seen amongst organisations owned by their employees such as John Lewis and Suma Wholefoods, with 8.7% growth to £9.4bn. The largest sector remains consumer-owned co-operatives which amounts to £16.1bn with growth of 6.5%. This includes The Co-operative Group, whose £14bn revenue includes food, financial services, pharmacy and funeral services.

Ed Mayo, secretary general of Co-operatives UK, the network which collects performance data on co-operative enterprises, believes the resilience of the co-operative economy holds lessons that could help the UK economy avoid repeating the problems of recent years.

"The evidence we have is of remarkably stable growth across a wide array of co-operative businesses. The values of shared ownership, shared wealth and democratic control appear to provide resilience in the face of economic adversities. Our co-operative economy is in good health - still further proof, to both the public and private sectors, of exactly how economic success can be pursued alongside social responsibility."

Download your copy of the economy from www.uk.coop/economy2011.