Governance advice and support

Good governance is critical to the success of a co-operative. It supports the governing body to create and maintain a strong and sustainable business that meets the needs of its members and is robust enough to embrace change. Our Advice Team has supported co‑operatives with their governance, HR, finance and membership for more than 20 years. How can we help yours?

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Governance support for co-operatives

Good governance helps your co-operative make better decisions, stay compliant, involve members and build a stronger, more sustainable business.

Contact Package

Our Contact Package – exclusively available to members of Co‑operatives UK – provides access to the best support from leading advisers on co‑operative governance, finance, HR, health and safety and membership.

Governance training for co-operatives

Good governance is essential to every successful co‑operative. Our expert governance training helps directors, chairs, secretaries, boards and governance leads understand their roles, meet legal duties, improve decision‑making and strengthen member…

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Governance Wheel Review

Ideal for smaller or growing co-operatives and community businesses, our Governance Wheel Review provides an expert‑led assessment of your governance, showing where you’re doing well – and where and how to make improvements.

Review or update your co-operative’s governing document

Your governing document sets out how your co-operative is run, from member rights and board powers to meetings, decision-making and accountability. If it is out of date, unclear or no longer reflects how your co-op works, it can create legal,…

Governance Code Review

A comprehensive, expert review of your co-operative’s corporate governance to strengthen the foundations that are crucial for success.

Board Effectiveness Review

We offer a comprehensive, expert review of your society’s Board to make it the best it can be.

Co‑operative governance consultancy

Our co‑operative governance experts can work with you to address any specific challenges your organisation has that require a bespoke, individual approach.

Apply for HMRC Exempt Charity Status

Charitable community benefit societies can apply to HMRC for Exempt Charity Status once registered with the FCA. Let Co‑operatives UK handle your application smoothly for a fixed fee of £350 + VAT.

Co-operative Corporate Governance Code

This code is a tool to help chart what good practice can look like. It focuses on best practice around democracy and quality of leadership that emerges through good governance.

What is good governance?

Good governance is crucial to the effective operation of co-operatives regardless of size, legal form or business sector.

From Conflict to Co-operation

The From Conflict to Co-operation series aims to help co-operatives not only to deal with conflict when it arises but also to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Directors toolkit

The directors toolkit is a comprehensive series of resources for inducting directors onto a co-operative board. This page contains downloads of the editable elements.

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