Practitioners Forum 2026

• Sociocracy – equal voice, better decisions
• Sharper messaging for stronger membership
• Understanding members with data and insight
• Turning co-operative impact into evidence your members can be proud of

• Getting human rights, right
• An update from the Financial Conduct Authority
• Deliberative democracy: Exploring new ways to engage members in your governance
• The 3 ‘ins’ of good governance

• Finance and Governance 101 for Non-Finance Leaders and Trustees
• VAT for Co-ops
• Financing your co-operative: Making the right funding decisions

• Employment Law update
• Upcoming changes to unfair dismissal law
• Menopause in the Workplace
• Work that works for everyone: Wages, hours and pensions

• Social Media engagement
• Put your co-op in the picture: smartphone photography knowhow
• Comms strategy without the overwhelm
• Beyond the press release: PR tools for co‑operatives of every size

An accessible introduction to the principles and processes behind sociocratic decision‑making. Sociocracy is a decision‑making system, based on the concept of equal voice (every member heard), that has helped co‑operatives engage members and govern themselves more effectively and fairly for decades – without endless discussion, minority veto or someone quietly steamrolling the group. Attendees will learn the core ideas and concepts, such as:

• Range of tolerance: why consent isn’t the same as agreement, and why that matters.
• Turn taking: how structuring who speaks (and when) transforms a discussion.
• Proposals: why having a concrete thing to react to is faster and fairer than open‑ended brainstorming.
• The consent process: a simple, repeatable process for making decisions your whole team can live with.

There’ll be space for questions and discussion throughout, and you’ll leave with practical ideas for new tools and process that can improve participation and encourage engagement with your members, regardless of size or structure. The session is for anyone wanting to learn more – there’s no prior knowledge needed, just bring your curiosity.

With Natasha Natarajan from Outlandish.

How do you move from telling members “this is what we do” to showing them “this is what we can do for you”? This practical session will explore how co-operatives can communicate more clearly and effectively with their members, helping build stronger engagement and loyalty – and supporting membership growth and retention. Participants will work on their own member messaging and leave with practical ideas they can take back to their organisation and put into action.

With community engagement specialist Steffi Joy. 

Do you want to better understand and engage your members? Join Mark Robinson-Field and Hannah Marchant Collier from the Co-op Group to explore how member data and insights can build stronger, more participatory relationships. The practical session will share new and emerging thinking, working with those in the room to consider how you strengthen your membership by forming more authentic and reciprocal relationships.

With Mark Robinson-Field and Hannah Marchant-Collier, Co-op Group.

2026 marks 11 years since the UK introduced the Modern Slavery Act (MSA), which was lauded at the time as the leading global standard of its kind. In December 2025, the government issued updated guidance on the steps that organisations should be taking to comply with the MSA, and in July 2025 the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights recommended that new legislation is needed in this space.

In this session, Joshua Domb will discuss learnings from the last decade and reflect on the range of risks that have crystalised for organisations around the world where their focus on human rights considerations has fallen short. Joshua will highlight key legal developments in this space globally, offer thoughts on how human rights focused governance and compliance is likely to evolve and share best practices for getting your human rights programme right.

With Joshua Domb, Founder, Gen-R Law.

This session will provide an update on the work of the Mutuals Team at the Financial Conduct Authority, the legislative environment and the priorities of the Team going forward. We will hear an update from Brian McQuillan, who leads the Mutuals Team, and receive an introduction to the team's new Technical Specialist.

With Brian McQuillan and Logan Cuthbert, Financial Conduct Authority.

This session will explore the concept of deliberative democracy and consider how co-ops could utilise it to engage their members in their democratic governance. We will hear about a recent project commissioned by Co-op Group to modernise its democratic governance processes using deliberative democracy. We will then practice some deliberative governance with Ben and Olivia from Sorted Collaboration.

Dan Sharples, Member Connection Delivery Lead, and Jess Clarke, Member Connection and Engagement Manager, Co-op Group; Olivia Stamp, Co-Founder Director, and Benjamin Redhead, Co-Founder Director; Sorted Collaboration

What does it mean to be genuinely inclusive in your governance? What does inclusive governance look and feel like in practice? And how can co-operative boards create environments where people of different ages, backgrounds and experiences can participate meaningfully and have real influence? 

This session will launch new guidance from the Co-operative Governance Expert Reference Panel, exploring how co-operatives can build more inclusive, intergenerational and intersectional governance cultures. 

We will hear from the lived experience of young people involved in co-op governance and learn together about how to work towards inclusive participation, while exploring some of the opportunities and barriers to participation, from recruitment and onboarding to board culture, behaviour and decision-making. 

Through discussion and reflection, the session will consider what boards can do to move beyond representation and create governance environments where different forms of experience, insight and leadership can contribute meaningfully.

With Mya Badhan, Member of the Youth Advisory Group, and David Alcock, Partner, Antony Collins Solicitors. Both are members of the Co-operative Governance Expert Reference Panel.

In this session, we will demystify the essentials of financial governance for leaders without an accounting or finance background. We will explore the "Big Three" financial statements and walk through some of the key metrics that leaders and trustees should be aware of and how to calculate and look at how to translate complex financial information into plain English.

We'll also explore the use of finance from a storytelling perspective and how to identify trends that could potentially indicate concern and strategic questions that can be thought about during financial discussions and decision making processes such as:

• Are we doing well financially or should I be worried? 
• Are we receiving the right level of information or should I be asking for more?
• What numbers/metrics should I be monitoring on a regular basis?
• Are our financial processes in line with similar organisations?

With Abbas Shapuri, Third Sector Accountancy. 

Common VAT issues and potential VAT savings for Co-ops. A brief outline of the key issues including exemptions, business / non-business, VAT records, reverse charge, option to tax.

With Patrick Morrello, Third Sector Accountancy. 

There is no single "best" way to finance a co-operative. Different sources of capital bring different opportunities, risks and implications for governance, ownership and future growth. This session will help participants understand the full range of financing options available to co-operatives and how to select the most appropriate mix for their circumstances. 

Drawing on real-world examples, we will explore community shares, loans, grants and other forms of finance, helping co-operatives make confident and mission-aligned financial decisions.

With Jo White, Co-operative Futures.

In this session, we will look at what has changed in the world of employment law in the last 12 months and what to look out for in 2027.

With Emma Bagshaw, Nexa Law. 

An interactive workshop on the upcoming changes to unfair dismissal law and the practical implications for things like probationary periods.

With Kate Fielding and Stephen Jones, Co-operatives UK. 

A practical session about getting people to engage with your organisation on social media, both through the content you create and the conversations that happen afterwards.

We’ll look at what makes people stop, react, comment and join in, with practical ideas for creating posts that invite participation rather than simply broadcasting information.

Then we’ll look at what happens in the comments: how to start and continue conversations, write replies that sound human, encourage more interaction, and handle the awkward, critical or unexpected comments that inevitably turn up.

People will leave with: practical ideas for creating more engaging content, getting more comments and conversations, and feeling more confident about talking to their audiences when they respond.

With Helen Reynolds from Comms Creatives.

This session will give you the confidence to tell your organisation’s story with better images taken on any smartphone. Creating a bank of good photography may seem difficult, but with a few simple tips on basic photography skills and the tools available in all smartphones, anyone can improve their shots.  

Topics will include:

• Using natural light, background and composition
• Editing with your phone
• Tips for photographing events/people in action as well as taking your own portrait or headshot

This workshop will be delivered by Breige Cobane. After working in local government for 15 years before starting her own business in 2021 Breige has been taking photographs and making videos for a living ever since. She is known for capturing genuine emotion and human connection, showing off people in places, deliver high quality engaging work and finding that beautiful shot in the most unexpected surroundings.

With Breige Cobane Photography.

A straightforward introduction to creating communications strategy that people actually use.

Rather than getting buried in enormous documents, we’ll explore what a useful strategy needs to contain, how to understand audiences and priorities, how to involve colleagues and leaders in developing it, and how tools including AI can make research and analysis easier.

Most importantly, we’ll look at turning strategy into something that guides everyday decisions rather than becoming a lovely PDF that quietly spends the rest of its life in a folder.

People will leave with: a clearer understanding of how to approach communications strategy, useful tools for creating one and more confidence about getting colleagues involved and bought into it.

With Helen Reynolds from Comms Creatives.

Great PR starts with a good story, not a press release. In this session, we’ll look at how to spot the stories within your co‑operative that will actually appeal to journalists, and the different routes you can use to get them out into the world – from traditional media relations to digital channels and content creator engagement. 

This session is designed with DIY and smaller-budget PR in mind but – whether you’re doing this yourself, working with a small budget, or want fresh ideas to bring back to an in-house team – you’ll leave with practical thinking to help answer:

• What makes our story newsworthy?
• Which channel suits the story we want to tell – media, social, or working with a creator?
• Where should we focus first when time or budget is limited?

With Alison Bell and Liam Walsh from Red Alert PR.