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Co‑operatives UK is the voice for the UK’s thousands of independent co‑ops.
We support co‑ops to start up and thrive – join us to access expert advice, events and training. Find out what a co‑op actually is and how we can help.

InFact Digital Co-op, which received start-up support from The Hive
Featured content

Pioneering business support programme aims to create new ethical tech businesses
Content by Unfound
The UnFound Accelerator has opened for applications, aiming to launch a new wave of fairer, ethical and co-operatively owned tech platforms before the end of the year.
Content by Unfound

Co-op of the Year shortlist announced – vote for your favourites
Content by Co‑op of the Year
Voting opens today (21 April 2021) for the Co-op of the Year Awards with 23 co-ops and five co-op councils shortlisted for a prestigious national award.
Content by Co‑op of the Year

There’s arsenic in the sugar – and inequality in our tech
Content by Unfound
The prolific adulteration of foodstuffs was common practice in 19th century Britain and although the arsenic was accidental it was commonplace to find grit in the oatmeal, dirt in the cocoa and chalk in the flour!
Content by Unfound

Co-operatives UK offers open surgeries with new CEO
Co-operatives UK’s newly appointed CEO, Rose Marley, is offering one to one surgeries to talk all things co-operative.

Support for your co‑op
As the network for the UK's thousands of co-operative businesses, we provide support in HR, culture, governance, finance, marketing, membership strategy and co-operative development. Browse our extensive library of online resources, blogs and…

What is a co-op
Many of us have heard of co-ops, but do you actually know what one is? Spoiler alert: high street convenience stores are the most well-known type of co-op here i the UK, but they're not the only type of co-op.
Latest news
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Co-op of the Year shortlist announced – vote for your favourites
Content by Co‑op of the Year
Voting opens today (21 April 2021) for the Co-op of the Year Awards with 23 co-ops and five co-op councils shortlisted for a prestigious national award.
14 hours ago
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Pioneering business support programme aims to create new ethical tech businesses
Content by Unfound
The UnFound Accelerator has opened for applications, aiming to launch a new wave of fairer, ethical and co-operatively owned tech platforms before the end of the year.
30 days ago
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Co-operatives CEO selected as one of Europe’s Top 100 Women in Social Enterprise
As millions of people celebrate International Women’s Day across the world (8 March), Rose Marley, CEO of Manchester-based trade body Co-operatives UK has been honoured in an international list of…
1 month ago
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We must get the £150m Community Ownership Fund right - warns co-op trade body CEO
The trade body representing thousands of co-operative businesses welcomes the proposed £150m Community Ownership Fund, announced in yesterday’s Budget and the extension of Social Investment Tax…
1 month ago
How many co-ops are there?
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- The UK’s 7,063 independent co-ops employ 241,714 people
- Over 14 million members own and have a say in how the nation's co-ops operate
- Co-ops contribute £38.2 billion to the UK economy
- 76% of co-op start-ups are still flourishing after the difficult first five years
- Just 42% of new companies make it through to the end of year five
Programmes to support your co-op

The Hive
Support for new co-ops, with advice, training and mentoring

Community Shares
For community owned organisations looking to raise funds through community shares

UnFound
For tech founders and start ups looking for a different way to run digital platforms

The Ownership Hub
Developing a fairer and more resilient regional economy by supporting more worker and employee ownership