Delivered by Co-operatives UK in partnership with The Co-operative Bank

The Hive application: Step 2

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Complete The Hive application form below. Please ensure you have all the information required. If you need to stop and save at any point, please follow the instructions.

We will close this application form on 29 January

We are no longer taking new applications. However, if you have started and saved an application using the 'save my progress and resume later' function, you have until Sunday 29 January to submit your application. We are making changes to this programme – a new application process will be live from the week of 16 January 2023.

To finish an existing application:

  • You should have an email with a link to continue and complete your application
  • If you don't have an email, please contact [email protected] with any details of your application, including the email you used for your application and we will help you access your application
  • Deadline for submitting applications through this form is midnight, Sunday 29 January – please contact [email protected] if you have any questions

Have you read the application guidance?

Before you start we recommend you have read and prepared answers to the application questions. You can preview the application questions for the different pathways via the links below:

We advise you to prepare your responses in advance on a separate document.

Once you've started your application, you can save it at any point using the 'Save my progress and resume later' function. If you do this, you will be emailed a unique link to resume your application – if you do not receive this, please check your spam/junk folder. If you experience any technical issues whilst completing this form, please contact [email protected]

Start your application

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Resume Later

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

Organisation information




Contact details




Address









Social media
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 social media links as you can. These links will also help us to assess your application and understand more about your group/business




Other funding and support
Have you received, or are you currently applying for, support or funding over the past 12 months? If so please provide details of the funder, the name of the programme and the value below. For example, Power to Change, More than a Pub, £10,000.
Funder Value
1
2
3
4
5

                      

Support pathway


*Please note: All successful applicants will be asked to pay a commitment fee of £100 -  or £75 for members of Co-operatives UK (both figures include VAT)
Support for Existing Co-ops

Organisation aims/brief description
  • Briefly describe the co-op business aims and purpose

Organisation aims/brief description
  • Briefly describe the co-op business –aims and purpose

Organisation aims/brief description
  • Briefly describe the business –aims and purpose

Background/motivation
  • What’s your motivation for starting the co-op and why do you think it’s needed?
  • What’s your background and experience? This can be about your personal circumstances, career and skills. 
  • How long have you been working on this and what have you achieved so far?
  • Why is a co-op a good fit / better model?

Products, services & customers
  • What are your products and services?
  • Who are your customers, users and members? Are they individuals or businesses?
  • Try to be specific e.g. numbers, demographics, where located, what is their interest in the co-op, are they individuals, local community or businesses? 
  • How do you engage with existing customers and members (e.g. social media, surveys, events, meetings, subscribers)?
  • How do you actively demonstrate your co-operative values and principles?

Products, services & customers
  • What are your products and services?
  • Who are your customers and users? Are they individuals or businesses?
  • Try to be specific e.g. numbers, demographics, where located
  • What is your motivation for converting to a co-op? This could be due to retirement or succession? Are you looking to transfer ownership to the employees or your community? 
  • How have existing employees/proposed members been consulted? How will a co-op model of ownership add value to your business?

Products, services and customers
  • What are your products and services?
  • Who is the co-op for e.g. workers, community, customers? 
  • Who will be the members?
  • Who are your intended customers, users and members? Are they individuals or businesses?
  • Try to be specific.  How many customers or users will you aim to have? What are their demographics? Where are they located (local community, regional, national or wider)? 

Testing and viability 
  • How have you tested your business idea? 
  • What evidence can you provide? This can be market research, feasibility study or a prototype. 
  • Are you filling a gap in the market, offering something new?
  • Have you undertaken any community engagement?  (pledges, surveys, social media, crowdfunding) 
  • Have you drafted a business plan?
  • Have you produced financial forecasts, cashflow?
  • How are you raising the funds to start your enterprise? This could be from your own funds, loans, grants, crowdfunding etc.
  • What are the likely risks, main barriers?
  • What are your ambitions for the business?

Sustainability & growth
  • What are your ambitions for the business?
  • If available, please attach a copy of your current business plan and / or strategic plan at the end of the form.
  • If available, please attach a copy of your most recent annual accounts at the end of the form. 
  • What are your likely risks, challenges and barriers?

Trading Difficulties
  • Are you having to make a significant, rapid change to your business?
  • Are you having to adjust or ‘pivot’ the business model to respond to changing circumstances?
  • Is there a risk of insolvency?
  • If available, please attach a copy of your current business plan and / or strategic plan at the end of the form.
  • If available, please attach a copy of your most recent annual accounts at the end of the form.

Sustainability & growth
  • What are your ambitions for the business?
  • If available, please attach a copy of your current business plan and / or strategic plan at the end of the form.
  • If available, please attach a copy of your most recent annual accounts at the end of the form. 
  • What are your likely risks, challenges and barriers?

Governance

  • Who are your core founding group?
  • How many people?
  • What are their roles, skills and relevant experience?
  • How long have you been working together?

Governance
  • Which of your board members / management team will participate in the reviews, support?
  • Who is responsible for enacting any actions that result from the support?
  • Tell us about your ownership model, legal and governance structure and decision-making process

Governance
  • What is the current business model and how is it organised?
  • Who is involved and what roles will they play in this process-i.e. vendor and employee committee etc.?
  • How have existing employees/proposed members been consulted?

Impact
  • Tell us how your business idea/organisation supports, serves or benefits under-represented or hard to reach communities and demographics, e.g. Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic communities (BAME), or young people.
  • Tell us how you are creating or delivering social value and environmental impact (what issues, problems are users/beneficiaries facing and how are you solving these issues? How will you measure social impact?
  •  Do you have an understanding of the co-operative values and principles? 


Impact
  • Tell us how your co-op supports, serves or benefits under-represented or hard to reach communities and demographics,  e.g. Black, Asian & minority ethnic communities (BAME), or young people.
  • What are your social or environmental aims? Tell us about how you are creating or delivering social value and impact. 

Impact
  • Tell us how your business idea/organisation supports, serves or benefits under-represented or hard to reach communities and demographics, e.g. Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic communities (BAME), or young people.
  • Tell us how you are creating or delivering social value and environmental impact (what issues, problems are users/beneficiaries facing and how are you solving these issues? How will you measure social impact?
  •  Do you have an understanding of the co-operative values and principles? 

Support needs
We offer a bespoke support package, which will include some or all of the following:
  • One-to-one direct advice: Delivered by experienced support providers 
  • Peer mentoring: Working with an existing co-op 
  • Bespoke skills training: Delivered to your group by experienced trainers. It will be helpful to indicate what kind of support you require and how these elements will help you to achieve your intended outcomes.    



Support needs



Support needs



Bespoke skills training
b) Tell us how bespoke skills training will help you. 
This might involve skills training for your steering group or board around strategic planning, change management, governance, membership, communications, HR or finance etc.

Peer mentoring support
c) Tell us how peer mentoring support will help you.
  • Are you looking to learn from an existing trading co-op in a similar sector, same type of business and/or ownership model?
  • Are you looking to learn from their experience around their governance arrangements,  member recruitment and engagement, strategic planning, community share offer etc?

Hive support
When do you want the support to commence and over what period?  
  • The Hive is open to applications all year round with applications reviewed at monthly panel assessment meetings. We aim to notify applicants of the outcome within two weeks of a monthly panel meeting, which means that the maximum amount of time you will have to wait for a decision following submission is eight weeks.
  • The Hive expects the delivery of the support to be completed within a period of six months, please be sure to let us know if you anticipate requiring a longer duration.


Sector information







Please do not include £ sign or commas. An example of the correct format - 56000
Number of staff
How many employees, volunteers or members do you currently have? Please only insert numbers, no text. If there are none please enter 0: 
Support providers
You are able to indicate a preferred support provider for all aspects of the support available as part of your application. If your application is successful, we will make every effort to allocate you your preferred support provider. However, we reserve the right to offer an alternative based on availability, geography, skills and
experience. You can see a list of The Hive Support Providers here
Do you have an existing working relationship with the selected provider? You will be asked to select the provider from a drop down list.




Peer mentoring




Training providers

The Hive


Supporting documents


To upload more than one file please click on 'Add another response'. You can upload a maximum of 30MB in total.
Privacy
The information captured in this application form will help Co-operatives UK and our funding partner The Co-operative Bank to review and make a decision on your application for support. 
Co-operatives UK is committed to processing information in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and in line with our privacy policy https://www.uk.coop/privacy The personal data collected on this form will be held securely and will only be used for administration purposes. You are welcome to contact us to discuss the data we hold on you at any time. 

If your application is successful, we will share your personal details with relevant third parties who will deliver the programme of support. All our third-party support providers 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.  

You must tick the boxes below otherwise we cannot process your application for support.



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Submission
If you are happy with the details completed on this form, you can now submit the form. You can hit the previous page button to go back if you wish to check any details before you submit. Once you have submitted you will be sent a confirmation email with a pdf copy of the application you submitted
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