News Archive
Uniform IT for employee-owned business
The UK’s leading supplier of personalised school uniform, which is employee-owned, is investing in new IT and preparing for growth with the help of loans from Co-operative & Community Finance and the Co-operative Loan Fund. Sheffield-based School Trends supplies 6,000 schools and well over 1 million school children throughout the UK with personalised school uniforms. […]
We are the Small Axe
A loan from Co-operative & Community Finance is helping an innovative international creative agency to expand and strengthen its co-operative structure. Small Axe, with offices in London and Colombo (in Sri Lanka), provides creative communications for courageous causes. The name comes from a Jamaican proverb made famous by Bob Marley: “if you are the big […]
Free tour of co-operative pubs in Northern England
Plunkett Foundation, our lead partner in the £3.62m programme for community pubs announced in March, is inviting community groups in Nothern England to a free, two-day tour of local pubs that have been saved successfully as co-operatives. Plunkett Foundation is offering places to groups at the early stages of considering community ownership as an option for saving […]
Co-op Centre leads £1.3m programme of support
One of the longest running co-operative enterprise centres in the UK is continuing to provide specialist training and business support, thanks to the timely provision of funds by Co-operative & Community Finance. Sustainable Enterprise Strategies (SES) in Sunderland is the lead partner in £1.3m programme of business support for North East England funded by the European Regional […]
First loans via Just Growth
We have released our first two loans via Just Growth, the funding programme for community food and farming projects launched in July 2015. The recipients are the Ecological Land Co-operative and Veg Box People. Just Growth is a Real Farming Trust project. Eligible ventures that raise finance from community investment or crowd funding can have it […]
Message to advisers to co-ops and community businesses
I am writing to introduce myself as the New Business Development Manager at Co-operative & Community Finance. You may be aware that there have been a couple of changes to the team this year and I have been recruited to take over Ian Rothwell’s role as he moves into the Investment Manager position. This follows Ian […]
£3.62m programme for community-owned pubs
A major new support and finance programme to help people take control of their local pub for the benefit of the community has been announced by Community Pubs Minister Marcus Jones MP. More than a Pub: The Community Pub Business Support Programme is a £3.62 million, two-year programme that will see a comprehensive package of […]
Maybush blooms after community investment
Almost a year after it closed, the only pub in an Essex village is about to reopen with new owners – the local community. Over 130 people from Great Oakley and nearby have invested a total of more than £83,000 to finance the purchase and refurbishment of the Maybush Inn. A loan from Co-operative & […]
Bigger Co-operative Web
Software developers Co-operative Web are expecting significant growth in their 10th year in business and a large loan from Co-operative & Community Finance is helping to ease the growing pains. The Birmingham-based workers’ co-operative builds systems, web applications and content-managed solutions across a range of technical platforms. It works with many different types of business […]
Awards and growth for care provider
Award-winning, employee-owned care provider Care and Share Associates (CASA) has completed the first phase of its ambitious plan to more than double its turnover in the next five years. Co-operative & Community Finance, The Co-operative Loan Fund and Big Issue Invest are providing finance following an innovative restructuring of the business. CASA provides domiciliary care […]