democratic business models (IDBMs) and publication of the subsequent report Developing Scotland’s Economy: Increasing the Role of Inclusive and Democratic Business Models. An extremely timely piece of work as we head into IYC 2025.

Published in September, the report provides guidance for increasing the number of IDBMs in Scotland. We were pleased to be invited to share our insight during the process. For nearly two decades we have adapted our service to meet changing economic conditions but always with the goal of increasing awareness and understanding about the range and value of IDBMs among entrepreneurs, business advisers, policymakers and communities. Collaboration across stakeholders and intermediaries is critical to fully understand, respond and celebrate the value of these organisations. We welcome the opportunity to ramp up this work and collaborate with our many partners through the new proposed Economic Democracy Group recommended in the report. This independent review recognises the value of IDBMs and their importance in helping to create the necessary change for a fairer economy. CDS is excited to be part of this discussion especially with the UN stating the importance of co-operatives in sustainable development across social economic and environmental dimensions as we head into IYC 2025.” Read the full blog article here.

Glen Dott, Specialist Advisor Employee Ownership

“This year we kicked off a brand-new event programme to complement our existing offer of successful events for business owners and advisors.  The Employee Ownership Transition: A Deep Dive workshop was aimed at business owners looking for a more in-depth review of the process.  Topics covered include:

• How a transaction / sale of shares to an EOT works.
• Valuation, purchase price and repayments
• Seller protections and the role of the exiting owners.

Find out more here.

“We published the Employee-owned business Census 2024 in spring 2024 and the number of employee-owned businesses operating in Scotland had grown to 286 as of March 31, an 47% increase since 2022 demonstrating the growing interest in the business model.  Read the full census here.

We look forward to hosting more events in 2025 and supporting the continued growth of the sector.”

Helen Dickson, Marketing Project Manager

“Back in 2023 we carried out some research with business advisors to get feedback around their perceptions of co-operatives and it was both an informative and eye-opening experience. We could see quite a few misconceptions across the piece and decided it was the perfect opportunity to address some of these. The project came to fruition this year and we recorded a new video series in January called Dispelling the Myths of Co-ops. It was a brilliant project to work on and we’ve created a really useful resource that helps our clients get a better understanding of the potential of co-ops and deal with the misconceptions upfront.” You can what the full series here.

Stewart Macgregor, Specialist Advisor Co-ops

“After two successful pilot events early in 2024, CDS designed and launched a new workshop series to explore how businesses can thrive as co-operatives. Our Understanding Co-ops series consists of informative and interactive workshops that give an in-depth understanding of co-operatives, as well as the initial steps required to start one. Each event features a co-op expert from Co-operate Scotland LLP and two local co-ops who can share their first-hand experience of operating a co-op business. The first event took place in December with long established Green City Wholefoods as well as new formed co-op Radiophrenia, an artist run radio station. We have three more events scheduled for 2025 with Open Data Services, Tripod, Scottish Flowers Co-operative, gaming co-op Very Evil Demons and Theatre Arts Collective among the exciting guests lined up. It’s a fantastic way to kick off IYC 2025.” Find out more here.

“But we also can’t reflect back on this year without noting our first co-operative learning journey. In November our team hit the road and visited Highlands and Islands to help raise awareness of co-operatives and share the stories of the successful businesses working this way in the region. Working in partnership with Highlands and Island Enterprise the two-day event was a great success, and we hope to bring more events like this to our programme of activity for IYC 2025. Read the full summary here.

Angela Wardrope, Marketing Project Manager

We held our third annual Employee Ownership Learning Journey in October and it was an incredible 2 days. We had 39 participants join us for the programme visiting and hearing from employee-owned firms in Edinburgh and Lothians. The agenda was packed with tours of employee-owned business premises as well as informative speaking slots and workshops. Our speaker line up included Jerba Campervans, Computer Application Services, Edinburgh Designs, Glen Drummond, Tepnel Pharma Services, i4 Product Design. Ewan Hall from Baxendale Employee Ownership, John Housego from Aquascot and Simon Fowler, Chair, Director, and Non Executive Director. Year after year, the Employee Ownership Learning Journey continues to be a huge draw for those considering employee ownership as well as those already employee-owned and we look forward to bringing you more events like this one in 2025.” Read the full article here.

Gillian Kirton, Project Manager

“Earlier this year we worked with Bold Studio and Social Enterprise Scotland (SES) to create new animations to explain what a social enterprise is and how to identify one. 

Social enterprises are of huge importance to Scotland and are part of the overall IMDB landscape that our team support. They already contribute £4.8bn to the economy, positively impacting wellbeing at the same time. There is a significant opportunity for the sector to grow further by working with the wider business support community to recognise the potential and support these types of organisations.  

The animations are aimed at frontline business advisors and this content will provide them with a useful resource to help them understand this type of business and go on to provide support to them in the future.”

 You can access the animations here.