News Archive
Fifty years of friendship and finance – meet Andrew Hibbert
Today in our series of conversations with people who’ve been part of ICOF over the last fifty years, we speak to Andrew Hibbert. Andrew was involved with ICFO from the mid 1990s to 2008, first as a Board member and then from 1998, in employment as our Loans Officer. Andrew then became our Development Manager, […]
Celebrating ICOF 50th birthday – looking back at our early loans – Clansman Dynamics
Employee owned Clansman Dynamics began in Scotland in 1994 and represents perhaps some of the ‘heaviest’ industry that we’ve supported, coupled with innovative robotics. We lent to them in 2009 to support their employee buyout, and, going strong today, they design manipulators and robots to handle workload in the extreme environments of foundries and forges. […]
NEW: Business Support for Co‑ops
Get the help you need with Business Support for Co-ops If you’re curious about setting up a new business as a co-op, are keen to grow your existing cooperative, or looking to convert to one, Business Support for Co-ops is designed for you. Brought to you by Co-operatives UK and The Co-operative Bank, working in […]
Celebrating ICOF 50th birthday – looking back at our early loans – Primepac Solutions
PrimePac Solutions Ltd. was formed in the Summer of 2005 following the closure of the Budelpack Rhymney factory, in Ebbw Vale, South Wales. We first lent to Primepac to help with their employee buyout, following that closure. Since then, they have taken further loans from us, buying other machinery and prepacking kit. We were incredibly […]
Celebrating ICOF 50th birthday – looking back at our early loans – JD Fabrications
We’re back to the 80’s again with this image from Wolverhampton in 1984 – was the photographer inspired by Flashdance? Would that PPE pass muster today? JD Fabrications took out a loan to help them buy equipment and kit. They are still running today, providing services as Structural Steel, Stainless Steel and Aluminium Fabricators, and Welding […]
Fifty years of friendship and finance – meet David Dickman
In our series of conversations with friends from our fifty years so far, today we meet David Dickman. David was a trustee for ICOF from 2001 to 2007. David was, and remains, an investor in ICOF, too. ‘I was a regional general manager for The Co-operative Bank and I looked after a lot of the […]
Local pub thrives as residents prepare for next stage of community development
Residents of East Budleigh aim to attract more visitors and secure the long-term future of their community pub with a plan to refurbish the upstairs apartment as self-catering tourist accommodation. The Sir Walter Raleigh pub has quickly become a favourite in the region after being purchased by residents as a community pub with the help […]
Celebrating ICOF 50th birthday – looking back at our early loans – KER Plant Hire
There’s something very tangible about lending a business money to buy a whacking great piece of machinery. Ever wondered why businesses that rent our machinery are called ‘plant hire’? Apparently it comes from the verb ‘to plant’ in the sense that we ‘plant our feet’ on the ground and the heavy objects are also planted […]
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion – our progress so far
In April 2022, we signed The Diversity Forum’s Manifesto. When we wrote about this at the time, we said ‘We are sharing this with you not just to demonstrate our commitment to equity, equality, diversity and inclusion but also to ask you to hold us accountable and support us on our journey to get there. […]
Fifty years of friendship and finance – meet Cath Muller
Today in our series of interviews looking back over 50 years of friendship and finance, we meet Cath Muller of Radical Routes, a mutual aid network of co-ops committed to working for radical social change. One of the things we do at Radical Routes is make loans to our Members using money invested by the public. Many […]