Discover co-ops at informative, interactive and fun FREE workshops in Glasgow or Edinburgh.
Are you thinking of starting a business? Or looking for a different approach to your existing business or community venture? Do you want it to be inclusive, democratic and empowering for everyone involved?
Join us at one of our interactive and fun FREE sessions in Glasgow and Edinburgh and find out more about co-ops and the support out there to help you.
Why co-ops?
All kinds of businesses operate as co-ops – pubs, energy suppliers, taxi firms, bookstores, community gardens, wine sellers, farms, sports clubs and much more.
They are owned and controlled by their members – customers, employees, residents, suppliers or a combination of these – making it a fairer, more collaborative, and democratic way of doing business
Co-ops are also resilient as a business model. They are more than twice as likely to survive the early years of trading when compared to other start-up businesses.
What to expect
The workshop will be led by a co-op specialist from Co-operate Scotland on behalf of Co-operative Development Scotland and Co-operatives UK. They will be joined by guests from local co-ops who will also share their experiences of starting and running a co-operative:
- Fractals Co-operative, Loco Home Retrofit and Jangling Space (Glasgow event)
- Harlaw Hydro and Open Data (Edinburgh event)
These informative, interactive and fun sessions will give you a more in-depth understanding of co-operatives, as well as the next steps for starting one. You’ll discover:
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- A brief history of co-ops
- The different kinds of co-ops and which might suit you best
- What membership means – the benefits of co-ops
- The strengths of co-ops versus traditional business models
- Co-op values and principles
- Co-op facts and figures – how many there are and in which sectors
- The different legal forms a co-op can take
- Support available for starting up or converting to a co-op in Scotland
The current programme of events is complete. New events are being planned for 2024. Please register your interest in future events by emailing our team.
These workshops are brought to you by Co-operative Development Scotland as part of a wider series of events taking place across the UK through Co-operatives UK‘s Business Support for Co-ops programme.