Practitioners Forum 2026

Practitioners Forum 2026 takes place on Thursday 26 November at The Studio, 51 Lever St, Manchester M1 1FN. 

Whether you’re in membership, HR, governance, communications or finance – Practitioners Forum is your chance to learn from the best, share ideas and sharpen your skills. With expert‑led sessions, practical takeaways and the flexibility to build your own agenda, Practitioners Forum is professional development made for co‑operatives.

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Booking

For more details on ticket prices and to book your place, visit - Practitioners Forum 2026 – book your place

Practitioners Forum 2025

Take a look back at what happened at Practitioners Forum in 2025.

Governance Forum

• Co-operative governance – ask the experts
• Essential Director training
• AI governance
• We built this city (on compliance alone) – time for new foundations

Membership Forum

• Widening the circle – the importance of broadening membership
• Members assemble – how to move and motivate your membership to do great work
• Shared ownership, shared leadership – building belonging through member participation
• Membership and duty: Turning transactional members into owners

HR Forum

• Disability confident employers – people and culture at Lincolnshire Co-op
• Sexual harassment in the workplace
• Encouraging diversity, equity and inclusion in The Co-operative Bank
• Employment law update

Finance and Assurance Forum

• How we did it – funding growth for community co‑ops
• The importance of tested business continuity planning
• Accounting for co-operatives: Pitfalls, insights and next steps
• From bookkeeping to the bigger picture

Communications Forum

• From trends to to-do – social media in 2026
• Authentic by design: Building brand equity the co-operative way
• You’ve got the hook – getting creative with short‑form content
• AI: Let’s go. A practical overview for co-operatives