News

16^th February 2009

Reasons to be Proud - As part of the presentation in Canada reviewed below, Bob showed a powerpoint set of slides (Reasons to be proud)  accompanied by a track of music “Proud” by Heather Small.The slides illustrate some major social and business projects and achievements by the Co-operative over the past 2-3 years. This was received enthusiastically by delegates, who asked that it be made available on Bob’s website. So, here it is – To get it to work properly the presentation and the music track must both be in the same folder.So,download them both from 'Presentations', put them into the same folder on your computer and run.NB.You need to start the presentation in slide show on slide 1. So, turn up your speakers, sit back and enjoy!

1^st – 3^rd February 2009

 Bob was invited to present at this week’s biennial Institute of Co-operative Studies convention hosted by the Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA) in Banff, Alberta. Banff is an interesting small town that is overlooked by the Rocky Mountains. At the time of Bob’s visit, as is normal for this time of year, there was plenty of snow on the ground and on the mountains, which contributed to the beauty of the conference surroundings. The conference itself was attended by about 70 co-operators, who were either CEOs or senior directors, representing a wide range of co-operatives and some credit unions. (for details of the conference see
www.coopscanada.coop/meetings

 
At the inauguration dinner, Bob presented 0902-01-Pillars-of Success in which he described the key elements of the continuing consumer co-ops renaissance in the UK, but with an emphasis on operational improvements being led by a renewal and re-affirmation of co-operative purpose.

Also, that the time and circumstances were right to proclaim the advantages of the co-operative economic model. Co-operatives had not caused the current, global economic crisis. Greed and short-termism, which were inherent defects in the investor-led model, were at the roots of the economic crisis. Co-operators should be confident in arguing the merits of the co-operative model. Finally, Bob presented the overseas premiere of the new advertising for The Co-operative. This launches on 16^th February 2009, with a unique TV commercial of 2.5 minutes, featuring Bob Dylan’s iconic song “Blowing in the Wind”. The showing received a strong and enthusiastic response from the conference delegates.

Then, within the main body of the conference, Bob presented on the subject of Co-op sustainability. His presentation 0902-03-Coop-sustainability examined the topic from the perspective of 2 interpretations of sustainability. First the requirements for co-ops to be sustainable over the long-term, ie. to enjoy enduring success. Bob argued that an important element of this was for co-ops to differentiate themselves successfully on the basis of co-operative values and principles, which were unique. However, it was important to be relevant and contemporary, which led to the second interpretation of sustainability.

Bob moved on to address the important topic of the appropriate co-op response to the issue of climate change. Having outlined some of the issues involved, including the interdependence of countries to global climate change impacts, and the inequalities of both impacts of and contributions to climate, and also the worldwide ICA policy on climate change, he raised the responsibility and opportunity for co-ops to act together to combat climate change. He commented on Canada’s disappointing record on this subject and drew attention to the sensitive issue of extraction of oil from the Albertan Oil Sands. This element, proved to be somewhat controversial, and drew some adverse response from Albertan delegates. However, overall, conference delegates supported Bob’s stance by about 3 to 1.

22^nd January 2009

Co-operative Financial Services has announced that it and Britannia Building Society are to merge to create a “super-mutual” in the financial services sector. The merger will take place in July 2009, subject to a positive vote by Britannia’s members on 29^th April.

If the merger is confirmed, Bob will continue as chair of CFS, including Britannia for the period  following the merger.

Bob and CFS are delighted at the prospects for the merged business, as the existing separate businesses have complementary strengths – For example Britannia has 250+ High St branches against 92 for CFS, but CFS is stronger in trading via the internet and via call centres. These and other areas present big opportunities for benefits to Co-op and Britannia members alike.

The merger is also very important in creating a stronger co-op presence in the financial services sector. In sharp contrast with many investor-led competitors, neither CFS nor Britannia requires any government support through the credit crunch.

The merger has been well received in the UK media as the following extracts from the Financial Times and The Sun illustrate (one serious, one irreverent – you decide which is which). See “Mutuals still a safer haven.mht” and “The Sun-Superbank.jpg”

1^st November 2008

Bob addressed the National Federation of Progressive Co-operators on various aspects of co-operation between co-operatives, particularly on an international basis. His presentation, Applying the 6th Principle, covered topics including;- international joint buying, co-ops buying from co-ops, worldwide co-op collaboration on climate change, the case for co-ops worldwide to use .coop to identify themselves on the web, the worldwide masters degree in management for co-operatives and credit unions. On this last point, Bob emphasised the importance of finding and developing the co-operative leaders for the next generation.

27^th September 2008  

Bob was invited to address the annual conference  of the Co-operative Funeral Managers’ Association. His presentation, climate change to funeral managers, argued the case for all co-operatives to work together to combat the climate change threat.

25^th September 2008

Bob spoke at the biannual Congress for Colombian Co-operatives in Cartagena, to more than 700 delegates. This was a massive challenge for his fledgling Spanish. His presentation, climate change Colombia, outlined the background to climate change, including the inequalities in its causes and impacts, the actions of Co-op Group and CFS in the UK, the projected impacts for Colombia and Bob’s belief in the necessity for co-ops to work together internationally to combat climate change.

1^st September 2008

Bob has accepted an appointment as a non-executive director of NUSSL, the commercial affiliate of the National Union of Students. NUSSL negotiates purchasing contracts on behalf of its student unions in membership, and provides common services where these are of benefit to the individual university unions. One such area is responsible environmentalism, in which the student unions have a very good record in reducing the environmental impacts of their student union operations

10^th August 2008

Bob was a guest tutor over the weekend of 8th- 10th August at St Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia for the induction of students in the Master’s Degree in Co-operative and Credit Union Management. He delivered a number of briefings and presentations, including:- An outline of the decline in UK co-ops in the late 20th century and the background to the current renaissance in UK co-ops – co-op background in UK to 2001; An overview of the role of the new Co-operative Brand in the co-op renaissance – branding & the co-op turnaround; and a review of business models and opportunities that he had found useful in his work in the co-op turnaround – business models & co-op opportunities; He illustrated some points to the students using examples of the new CFS TV advert and a recent screening on BBC national TV of the results of a Watchdog survey on customers’ ratings of their banks that showed the UK Co-operative Bank in a very positive light – new CFS TV Ad and Watchdog bank survey.

7^th February 2008

Bob gave a keynote presentation - Waking the sleeping giant (the renewal of the UK Co-op)- to an audience of about 700 retailers and suppliers of central and eastern Europe, at the invitation of the Czech and Morovian consumer co-operatives union. They were keen to publicise their brand transformation programme, which seeks to emulate the UK Brand programme, and arranged for Bob to be interviewed live on Czech TV to talk about the renaissance of the Co-op. He also argued the case for all co-ops to use .coop as their main Internet identity for coherence of image and integrity.

1^st December 2007
 
Bob was discharged from hospital today, following a successful spinal fusion operation on 26th November. He will be convalescing at home at least until the New Year. Our thoughts and best wishes for this period go to Judy.

1^st November 2007

Today marks the latest stage in Bob’s phased wind-down towards retirement, in that Bob has retired from full-time employment with the Midcounties Co-operative, having moved to a part-time role. In the future, his responsibilities will include focusing on supporting and promoting the .coop domain, and acting as the secretary of West Midlands Chemists Ltd. Click on .coop for more details of this exclusive domain for co-ops. 

27^th October 2007

Bob retired today, at the half-yearly General Meeting, as Chair of the Co-operative Group Board after three and a half action-packed years, culminating in steering through the merger between the Group and United Co-operatives. The newly enlarged, temporary Board, pending the Constitutional Review now comprises 25 regional directors elected from individual members and 8 corporate directors representing other societies. Bob will continue to serve on the Group Board and as Chair of CFS (Co-operative Financial Services). Click here for Bob’s speech to the Co-op Group half-yearly meeting.

20^th October 2007

The biennial International Co-operative Alliance General Assembly (ICA-GA) held this year in Singapore has concluded. It was an extremely busy week for Bob, culminating in his presentation to the plenary session on Thursday on A Co-operative response to climate change, and then on Friday the Assembly adopted unanimously the proposal moved by Bob that co-operatives throughout the world should adopt a 3 point action-plan to combat climate change (see ICA climate change motion and ICA climate change motion presentation). Bob also chaired the Wednesday meeting of Consumer Co-operatives Worldwide (see Social goals on co-op marketing).

1^st July 2007

Eurocoop celebrated its 50th birthday last week with a joint conference with the European region of Consumer Co-operatives Worldwide. The subject of climate change was chosen to be forward-looking, as this is a key matter for co-ops to focus on for the future. Bob gave a presentation focusing on co-op members acting on climate change.

11^th May 2007

Log on to www.cooperatives-uk.coop and then click on Midcounties Results under the NEWS list for an overview of Midcounties' good first year. For more details, click on or enter www.midcounties.coop and then select Annual Report 2007.

4^th May 2007

Collaboration between major European co-ops progressed at conference organised by Eurocoop and Consumer Co-operatives Worldwide (Europe).

Bob called for more collaboration between European consumer co-ops at this major conference in Helsinki on 4^thCo-operatives Worldwide (Europe), which recently announced their intention to work closely together in future May 2007. This was the first event organised jointly by Eurocoop and Consumer

Download Bob’s presentation from this conference.

28^th April 2007

At an exciting and historic special general meeting of the Co-operative Group’s members, they voted by 90% to 10% to approve a merger between the Group, which is the largest in the UK, and United Co-operatives, which is the next largest.

Bob spoke strongly in favour of the merger in a passionate speech, which can be downloaded here.