Co-operative News
Co-op merger a sign of confidence: Co-operative News
The Paul Gosling Column
A ‘United Co-operatives’ moment for Co-operative Financial Services may be looming. The impetus for growth and renewal in the retail sector provided by the merger of the Co-operative Group and United Co-operatives could be replicated by the possible amalgamation of CFS with the Britannia Building Society.
Following the media leaks of discussions between [...]
When sound financial management is penalised: Co-operative News
Building societies are angry – and no wonder. The collapse of former society Bradford & Bingley has left them facing massive financial contributions, significant reductions in their profits and a cost to their members through less favourably priced products.
Bradford & Bingley went bust, provoking its nationalisation by the Treasury. To put it in the formal [...]
Theft of ‘mutuality’ lies at the heart of the global financial crisis: Co-operative News
The Paul Gosling column
- this column was written on 22nd September for publication in the first October issue of Co-operative News
Washington Mutual remained in business as this sentence was written. By the time it is read there is a very strong chance that it will no longer be trading in its own right – perhaps [...]
Microfinance faces meltdown: Co-operative News
The Paul Gosling Column
Laily Begum has become famous in Bangladesh. She is the public face of those who borrowed from Grameen Bank, the microfinance institution that creates opportunities for Bangladesh’s rural poor. Begum’s face has been on thousands of posters and leaflets, promoting the benefits of microcredit.
Begum’s loan from Grameen was for a mere 500 [...]
New co-op legislation is welcome: Co-operative News
The Paul Gosling Column
Treasury proposals to bring co-operative legislation ‘into the 21st Century’ have been strongly welcomed. But the updating of legislation for co-operatives and other mutuals raises fresh questions about whether the right legal and regulatory framework is in place for social enterprises – whose legislation is not being reviewed.
In July, the Treasury announced [...]
Farewell out of town?: Co-operative News
The Paul Gosling Column
The Co-operative Group’s decision to abandon the out-of-town hypermarket sector is being made to look very clever indeed with the massive jump in energy prices. True, prices are beginning to fall back – but the world is getting used to the idea that energy will always be expensive.
Retail leaders are talking not [...]
High energy costs here to stay: Co-operative News
The Paul Gosling Column
The price of a barrel of oil had just fallen from $147 to $124 a barrel when this sentence was written. But that is no cause for celebration. Almost at the same moment, one of the largest suppliers of energy in the domestic UK market – France’s EDF – raised its prices [...]
Food for thought: Co-operative News
The Paul Gosling Column
Food prices in the UK rose 7.4% over the last year – with some items rising in price by a third. Uncomfortable enough, but this represents only a small indicator of the global problem. In Kenya, for instance, annualised food price inflation is a whopping 44%.
And when you look at what is [...]
What to do about social enterprise failures?: Co-operative News
The Paul Gosling column
Ealing Community Transport – ECT – is one of the largest social enterprises in the UK. The parent company has evolved from simply providing community transport, into a business with a multi-million pound turnover and interests in a range of trading sectors.
“Over 25 plus years, ECT has evolved into a highly complex [...]
In breach of trust?: Co-operative News
The Paul Gosling Column
The conversion of NHS trusts into largely autonomous foundations trusts (FTs) has split the co-operative movement. On the one hand, prominent co-op figures – notably Co-op Party sponsored MP, David Taylor – have bitterly opposed the creation of FTs as a move towards privatisation. On the other, the Co-operative Party and the Mutuo [...]
