My role

I work as a consultant in the social business team supporting those seeking to set up new ventures trading for a social purpose; advising existing organisations on the transition from private investor-ownership or public ownership into democratic, member-based arrangements; and seeking to redesign structures so that they better support a collaborative and co-productive approach involving users, workers and citizens.

My experience

I have spent more than 20 years working with the UK co-operative movement, at all levels. For most of that time, I have been involved in the modernisation of public services based on democratic, member-based governance. I have worked in a range of sectors including retail, health, social housing, education and youth services, and have undertaken a range of governance reviews for organisations exploring transformation.

My specialisms

  • Ownership and governance
  • Co-operative and community benefit society law
  • Social enterprise
  • Collaborative arrangements for co-design and co-production

My latest articles

Procuring social value

Cliff Mills defines and talks about the importance of social value in his blog, and its potential within Greater Manchester.

Young people excluded?
Young people excluded?

Behind the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act, there is an implicit admission: we haven’t been taking sufficient account of the interests of future generations.

Building an economy for people, not profit - Social Business

Fundamentally, it’s an economy operating for the common good, rather than for private benefit. People might previously have thought that that’s what we already had, though recent events have made it clear that we don’t.

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