Trendle Co‑operative: A stitch in time saves livelihoods!

While living in a small village in Suffolk, Lucy Marum found herself unable to get a simple repair done on her clothes.

“I struggled to find anyone outside of my family to do alterations,” she said. “Even in a connected world, it was hard to source someone. That’s when I started exploring this further.  

“I later moved to Southampton and started speaking to local seamstresses there. I realised there was a huge pool of skilled people, often women, often working alone, sometimes with English as a second language – who are often left out of the digital economy.”

So Lucy teamed up with her co-worker Annie Crossland and brothers Simon and Jonathan Coello to found Trendle Co‑operative. Its mission: use a digital platform to connect clothing repair and alteration specialists with people who need their services – in a way that empowers, rather than exploits. 

So that ruled out traditional tech business models. “We saw how extractive tech companies can be. We didn’t want to replicate the models where the people doing the work get paid the least,” said Lucy. 

Simon added: “Our goal is to create a model that offers meaningful livelihoods, not just a service for consumers. Existing tech solutions often focus on customers but ignore the wellbeing of the specialists doing the work. Not us.” 

The platform – which is currently in development – will provide a place where members can showcase their skills, receive enquiries and manage their work easily, all while helping reduce clothing waste and boosting the circular economy. 

To help make their vision a reality, Trendle’s founders turned to the Business Support for Co‑ops programme, delivered by Co‑operatives UK in partnership with The Co‑operative Bank – and they were teamed up with co-op advisor Nathan Brown from Co‑op Culture.

“Nathan has been incredible,” said Simon. “We’d already decided on the co‑op model, but he helped us turn our idea into a real business. He helped shape our feasibility study, build a proper financial model and create a clear community engagement plan.”

Additionally, Trendle used Co‑operatives UK’s registration service – significantly subsidised by The Co‑operative Bank – to register as a co‑operative society with the Financial Conduct Authority. Co‑operative UK’s Advice Team assisted with drafting their rules, provided governance advice and dealt with the FCA as registrar on their behalf. 

Nathan also supported them to prepare for a future community share offer, which they hope to launch later in 2025. 

The early-stage version of the Trendle platform is now being tested by a group of engaged alterations and repair specialists, whose feedback will guide the next phase of development, as Trendle works towards launching a community share offer. 

“This is more than an app,” Lucy said. “It’s a movement. People want change. They want to do work that matters and to be treated fairly while doing it.

“We have big dreams for Trendle. It won’t just be about clothing repairs. Once that’s established, there are many directions we can expand into. 

“You don’t have to choose between tech and doing the right thing for the planet, or between idealism and usefulness. We love what we’re building and the community we’re supporting.”

Find out more

Trendle Co‑operative – Website | Instagram