News
2019 Borrower Survey Results
‘We feel understood. We feel the empathy. We feel respected’ The results are in from our 2019 borrower Survey and we couldn’t be more proud. An impressive 92% rated us as Very Good, up from 76% in 2018, and 88% said that if they needed a further loan, it would be ‘Very likely’ or ‘Likely’ […]
Mutual Aid – a Day at HM Treasury
On the 10th July, we were kindly invited by Co-operatives UK to a round table mutual workshop event with the aim of “Creating the conditions for people to form and develop successful, innovative coops and mutuals” hosted by HM Treasury to help feed into British Business Bank policy. We gathered on a hot day in […]
Celebrating 100 years at Plunkett Foundation AGM
Here at Co-operative and Community Finance, we’ve worked with the Plunkett Foundation for many years – in 2006 we were partners in a project which was then called Village Core. This was a programme where business support was provided by Plunkett, the local community raised finance, we provided a loan and with financial support from […]
“Like two cheeks of the same backside”
A community pub in Devon that has been run successfully by volunteers for eight years, was today (19 July) bought freehold by the local community. The Stoke Canon Inn, just five miles from Exeter, is now owned by a community benefit society with 140 members who have collectively invested £120,000. This investment, together with loans […]
Happy birthday to The Spotted Cow and Calf!
Community pubs are bucking the national trend – while almost a quarter of privately-owned pubs have shut down since 2008 community pubs have a 100% success rate. We see the benefits they bring to communities. So often, they are much, much more than a pub, they are the beating heart of a village. The Spotted Cow at Holbrook […]
Tim reflects on Co-op Congress 2019
Congress attendees had a rude awakening on Saturday morning with a false fire alarm before its start; not ideal for delicate heads following a night of high excitement generated by the 2019 Co-op of the Year Awards! More than 30,000 votes had been cast in the public vote prior to the event, which seems huge […]
Thank you to everyone who came to our AGM and Networking Lunch!
The dust has settled after a few busy weeks of events, and we want to say a big thank you to everyone who came to our well received AGM and networking lunch on the 13th of June in Bristol. Financially it was all good news on all companies and we are delighted to share news […]
Cheers! More Than A Pub is back!
We are delighted to share in the news that the Plunkett Foundation ‘More Than A Pub’ programme, supporting communities across England to save their local pub, is back – with a £2.2million funding pot. Launching today at The Dog Inn in Belthorn, Lancashire, the programme will run for 18 months, until December 2020. As a previous and […]
More Than A Pub relaunches on the 19th June!
We are thrilled to share in the news that the popular and successful More Than A Pub, the support programme for communities looking to take over their local pub is back! Being one of the two loan providers to the programme, and having supported Community Pubs like the Three Horseshoes at Hellions Bumpstead, the Bluebell […]
See who’s speaking at our Networking Lunch and AGM
You still have time to book tickets for our AGM and Networking Lunch, taking place next Thursday, the 13th, at Triodos Bank’s Foundation Space (Deanery Rd, Bristol BS1 5AS) Join us from 10.30am to see exhibits and stands from: The Bristol Cable Co-operative Futures Co-operatives UK Essential Trading Plunkett Foundation Power to Change Stir to […]
The UnFound Roadshow is coming to town
In our first blog of the year, our Chair Jon wrote that …we’re expecting to see the continued rise of the tech co-op, and possibly even the fintech co-op. As CoTech gathers together tech co-operatives under one umbrella, the size of this part of the sector becomes clear – £10m revenue across 35 co-ops, just […]
From shops… to co-ops
Working in the co-operative and community sector, as a values led business, it’s probably not that surprising to find that our team have similar backgrounds, and shared histories. We’ve discovered recently just how similar some of them are – are we, perhaps, really a nation of shopkeepers? Operations and FCA Compliance Manager Alain Demontoux, and […]