Key words


What factors contributed to the decline of the co-operative movement in the UK?


A co-operative is an organization, often known as a ‘society’, which is owned and run by a group of people for their mutual benefit. The owners, or ‘members’, all have an equal share in responsibility for running the society, and they also share any profits. The early co-operative societies in the UK together formed the co-operative movement, to provide a degree of unity and to establish important principles for their future development. These principles included: fairness, honesty, equality, democracy, self-help and responsibility for others.


After its foundation in 1844 and rapid growth throughout the 19th century, the


co-operative movement expanded worldwide, bringing benefits to many poor communities (Dyson, 2008). However, during the second half of the 20th


century,


the co-operative movement declined in the UK, mainly because its founding principles prevented it from competing successfully in new markets. In this essay, I will briefly examine the reasons for these founding principles and then I will show how they affected the UK movement’s ability to compete in a rapidly changing market. Finally, I will show how they might influence the movement’s future.


The impact of the co-operative movement’s principles on the poor was profound. The values of fairness and equality meant fair prices and fair wages for the members, who were ordinary shoppers and workers, not wealthy shareholders. In addition, all profits were shared by members, and so they all benefited directly from the success of their shops and factories. The democratic system for managing the co-operative societies meant that decision-makers were directly elected by their local members, each having the same voting powers. All of this meant that, for the first time in the history of the UK, producers and consumers controlled their own shops and factories and shared the profits; they were no longer exploited for the profit of distant, wealthy shareholders.


The values of self-help and responsibility for other people in the local district created organizations that were a significant community asset, especially for poor communities. Local democracy and local autonomy required skilled managers and directors, and this meant that local members had to be trained and educated to run the societies effectively. The movement invested in its people by providing high-quality training and education to talented young men and women who had no other route into education. Furthermore, the movement’s expanding businesses provided secure, life-long careers in manufacturing, distribution and retail management, as well as banking and insurance.


Major changes in the second half of the 20th century had a significant impact on


the growth of the co-operative movement in the UK. The two main challenges for the movement were demographic change and rapid growth in competitors. With the decline in manufacturing, cohesive local communities which were linked to specific industries disappeared. The local societies no longer had a clearly defined, loyal market. Television and then the Internet also worked against the narrow focus of local communities, rapidly bringing in new ideas from a vast world beyond the local shops. At the same time and for similar reasons, the movement’s main competitors, small local family run businesses, changed. Many went out of


a society mutual a degree of unity fairness equality bringing benefits poor communities prevented from influence the poor profound meant were elected voting powers exploited distant district asset autonomy directors trained educated invested in talented provided careers distribution retail banking insurance demographic competitors cohesive disappeared loyal worked against narrow focus vast beyond went out of business


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ACCESS EAP: Foundations • Unit 8


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