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?
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 – Co-operative capital in a global economy
This clever trading arrangement only worked because of another less well-known feature: the funding of the business by members. Co-operative retailing could not start until impoverished individuals had saved sufficient […]
Building an economy for people, not profit – A Co-operative vision for public services
It can be done from the bottom up, as new businesses are set up; and it can emerge through transformation of existing private businesses, many of which already recognise the […]
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 […]
The Exchange: Enterprise for Common Good
We’ve partnered with Co-operative Energy and the Phone Co-op for Greenbelt 2017 to host a brand new venue and programme called The Exchange. The Exchange will focus on Enterprise for […]