Supporting fair and ethical business in partnership with The Co-operative Bank

Business Support – start a co-op: Application form

Share

Please complete the application below.

You may save and resume your application at any stage. However, we advise you to prepare your responses in advance in a word document and then copy the text into this form, so you have a backup version of your responses should there be any technical issues.

IMPORTANT: Please fill in the "Primary contact details" and the "Privacy Notice" in the main form BEFORE you click on "save my progress and resume later" as otherwise the form will not save.

After that, at any stage, click on "save my progress and resume later". Please ensure to save as you go along. The link to resume your application will be sent to your email address. If you do not receive the link, please first check your spam/junk folder and then contact [email protected].

| Resume a previously saved form
Resume Later

In order to be able to resume this form later, please enter your email and choose a password.

Password must contain the following:
  • 12 Characters
  • 1 Uppercase letter
  • 1 Lowercase letter
  • 1 Number
  • 1 Special character
1. Primary Contact




Please include national prefix for non-UK numbers.
2. Privacy notice
By completing the application, you agree that the information is a fair and accurate reflection of your organisation and its support needs.  

By completing the application form you also agree with our privacy notice below.  

Co-operatives UK is committed to processing information in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and in line with our privacy policy. 

This form requires you to enter a small amount of necessary personal data which will be held securely and will only be used for administration purposes. You are welcome to contact us to discuss the data we hold about you at any time.  

The information captured in your application form will help Co-operatives UK and our funding partners to review and decide on your application for support. Business Support for Co-ops is a national programme delivered by Co-operatives UK in partnership with the Co-operative Bank. Some support packages are provided by additional partners listed here.  

If your application is successful, you will have entered into a contract with us to deliver the support requested. In order to fulfil that, it is essential for us to share your contact details with relevant third parties who will be delivering the support., All our third-party support advisors (listed here) are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information in line with our privacy policy and they are only permitted to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.  

Please note that your consent is considered valid from the moment you check the box below and start your application, not when you submit your finished application.

3. Organisation
Your organisation's registered address, or, if it is not set up yet, an address for the primary contact.





4. About your co-op

Please use the name you intend to use for your co-op, even if it might change in the future. If you are already incorporated, please use the exact name that is registered with the relevant regulatory body, for example the Financial Conduct Authority or Companies House.

Summarise in one sentence the purpose of your co-op. (Max 25 words)



Please indicate the group of people the co-op is being set up for. It could be workers, consumers, online users, the local community, etc. If there are multiple groups, please list them all, and indicate if there are priorities within the list. (Max 150 words)

(Max 150 words)

(Max 150 words)


Please indicate the primary region where the co-op will start operating from.

(Max 150 words)

5. Your organisation's structure
Understanding how your organisation is structured and its scale will help us identify the co-op experts best suited for your organisation.

This is the number your organisation is given when it registers with the relevant registration body, i.e. Companies House or the Financial Conduct Authority.





Use the double arrows (<<) to jump to previous years.


Including board members that are employees.

Including board members that are employees.


6. Your co-op structure

Can also include volunteers and/or contractors.

For example, consumers or receivers of a service.





This is not a requirement to participate in this support programme.
7. Your organisation's finances
Understanding your organisation’s finances and its scale will help us identify the co-op experts best suited for your organisation.

If you have not started trading, just indicate 0.








Please indicate what type
8. Your support needs
Understanding your needs and the steps you have already taken to address them will help us identify the co-op experts best suited for your organisation. 

For example, have you interviewed users? Have you undertaken any research? Have you started trading? (Max 150 words)

Please indicate some milestones you would like to reach. (Max 150 words)

How can the support help you achieve your goals? (Max 150 words)

We cannot provide all the activities below as part of your support package, so please indicate your top three priorities.

If so, please indicate the name of the programme, the type of support it provides and if you have been awarded the support. (Max 150 words)

These activities are strongly encouraged but are not a requirement to receive this support package.


You can indicate more than one. Please explain why you would like to work with them. If your application is successful, we will make every effort to allocate you your preferred support advisor. However, we reserve the right to offer an alternative based on availability, geography, skills and experience. (Max 150 words)

As part of this support package, you can receive up to half a day of peer support from another co-op. If your application is successful, we will make every effort to allocate you your preferred co-op. However, we reserve the right to offer an alternative based on availability, geography, skills and experience. (Max 150 words)

Please let us know if there are any barriers to your team’s participation in this programme or if some of your team members have specific needs that we need to consider when assigning the support package. For example, restrictions on time, or barriers that require the support to be delivered in person or online, etc. (Max 150 words)
9. About Your team
These questions will help us understand more about your team and your motivations to set up a co-op.  

Please fill in the following questions for each founding team member. The form allows for a minimum of two team members and a maximum of four.
Team member information 1


Please tell us what your motivation is for setting up the co-op and provide a short biography outlining the skills and experiences that you bring to the co-op. Please also mention if you have an existing relationship with potential members, users or beneficiaries of your co-op. (Max 300 words)


Completion of this question is voluntary but encouraged as it will be one of the aspects we will consider when prioritising applications in our assessment process. (Max 50 words)
Team member information 2


Please tell us what your motivation is for setting up the co-op and provide a short biography outlining the skills and experiences that you bring to the co-op. Please also mention if you have an existing relationship with potential members, users or beneficiaries of your co-op. (Max 300 words)


Completion of this question is voluntary but encouraged as it will be one of the aspects we will consider when prioritising applications in our assessment process. (Max 50 words)
Team member information 3


Please tell us what your motivation is for setting up the co-op and provide a short biography outlining the skills and experiences that you bring to the co-op. Please also mention if you have an existing relationship with potential members, users or beneficiaries of your co-op. (Max 300 words)


Completion of this question is voluntary but encouraged as it will be one of the aspects we will consider when prioritising applications in our assessment process. (Max 50 words)
Team member information 4


Please tell us what your motivation is for setting up the co-op and provide a short biography outlining the skills and experiences that you bring to the co-op. Please also mention if you have an existing relationship with potential members, users or beneficiaries of your co-op. (Max 300 words)


Completion of this question is voluntary but encouraged as it will be one of the aspects we will consider when prioritising applications in our assessment process. (Max 50 words)
10. Supporting documents
You are welcome to submit additional documentation, though it is not a requirement. 

Please attach supporting documents clearly named [Organisation name-document name]. Documents can be .pdf, .doc, .docx, .xlsx, .xls. Each file can be a maximum of 25MB. 



Your marketing channels
Co-operatives UK would like to follow/engage with you on your journey through this process. Please help us do this by providing as many of the below marketing links as you can. These links will also help us to assess your application and understand more about your co-op.













Once you have submitted your application, we will share your details with The Co-operative Bank.

We're pleased to pass your details to The Co‑operative Bank, however, Co-operatives UK is unable to take any responsibility for the next steps and for how quickly the Bank responds to you.

* The Co‑operative Bank reserves the right to review the account tariff for Community Directplus customers who exceed any one of the following annual limits: credit turnover exceeds £1 million, deposit more than £100,000 in cash, or deposit more than 5,000 cheques. When submitting your application on The Co‑operative Bank’s website, your application is subject to status. This means your financial circumstances will be assessed and credit checks completed. 

This fee is to ensure your commitment to the support package. Please let us know if this is an obstacle to your participation in the programme as we will consider waiving the fee (max 50 words).
Submit form
If you are happy with the details completed on this form, you can now submit the form.  
To check your response before submitting you can use the 'previous page' button.

Once you press submit you will be sent a confirmation email with a copy of the application. 

If you do not receive a confirmation email, please first check your email spam or junk folder. If you’ve still not received an email, get in touch via [email protected] and we can confirm if we have received your application.
Save my progress and resume later | Resume a previously saved form