I have contributed the following as a chapter in a new publication by the Cooperative Party being launched at a conference today at which I cannot, unfortunately, be in attendance: It is unsurprising that the Co-operative Party should have an interest in Fair Tax. Co-operatives do, of course, operate in open markets and it is,
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Cooperatives UK have issued the following press release that I am pleased to share: The UK co-operative sector, worth £37 billion to the British economy, has agreed a partnership with the Fair Tax Mark, an initiative that enables businesses to demonstrate to consumers that they deal with tax transparently and fairly. In the context of
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I was intrigued by Paul Myners’ demand that now that the Co-op has had the temerity to change his plan for its governance that they must ‘now bring in a top-class chairman and chief executive from outside’. Rumour had it that this is not the plan: insiders are tipped for these posts. I am not
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If Lord Myners is to be believed then the Coop Group was and is in a profound mess due to serious faults in its corporate governance. Let me start with an important caveat: I am sure Lord Myners is telling what he believes to be the truth. Equally there is always room for more than
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The Guardian has just reported that: The Co-operative Group was thrown deeper into crisis on Tuesday after the new boss Euan Sutherland threatened to resign in the face of opposition to his reforms for the mutually owned chain of supermarkets, funeral homes and banks. So having already  grabbed a £3.6 million salary  from a battered and bruised Board
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As the FT notes this morning: The Co-operative Bank is preparing for multiple investigations lasting for years as regulators try to get to the bottom of the failures that unhinged the mutual. As pressure mounts for the bank to finalise its restructuring plan, probes by UK regulators are expected to be announced imminently and the Treasury
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I’m angry that the Co-op group is in a mess. As a member I have been let down. As a customer of the bank they’ve failed me. As a believer in the co-op approach to business I am disappointed that flagship co-op has failed so many other successful co-ops by its actions. I am annoyed
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I think this point is worth making: the Co-op Group is but one of 6,000 co-ops in the UK. The Co-op Group is in a mess. That happens to all businesses from time to time. But it does not mean that the co-op ideal is that tarnished. Or that the co-op movement is finished. Can
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FT.com / Companies / Industrial Goods – Clansman’s staff take co-operative approach. A thriving engineering company, Clansman Dynamics, is the latest Scottish venture to become an employee-owned business. Founded in 1994 by Dick Philbrick, Clansman makes robotic handling equipment for forges, foundries, steelworks and garbage handling. Employing 30 staff and with turnover of £7m ($11.3m),
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