News Archive
Ethics and employee ownership are still in style
Scott Bader is celebrating 100 years of existence, and 70 years of Employee Ownership in 2021. Today, Scott Bader is a global chemical company. Back then, the company Scott Bader was the sole agent for a Swiss manufacturer of Celluloid and the founder, Ernest Bader, a Quaker, believed that ethical and moral action to improve […]
Community secures keys to The Locks Inn
Residents of the Waveney Valley on the borders of Norfolk and Suffolk rallied together at impressive speed despite the restrictions of a global pandemic to purchase and renovate iconic riverside pub The Locks Inn. The community benefit society that now owns the popular ex-mill and lock keeper’s cottage turned public house at Geldeston raised over […]
Ever wanted to own a farm? You can with Kindling Trust!
We have been so proud to work with Manchester based Veg Box People and we’re thrilled to hear that The Kindling Trust, the co-operative to which they are connected, is buying a community owned farm. Even more excitingly, you can be one of the owners! Saturday 3rd April saw the launch of their campaign to attract community […]
Save the Date! Our AGM is on 23rd June, online
We are delighted to announce that the ICOF Ltd and associated companies AGM’s will be held online on Wednesday 23rd June 2021 Please watch this space for more information and joining instructions. We look forward to seeing you as we look back on the last year. First posted 19th Mar 2021
RECRUITING: New trustees to create a more diverse board
We are recruiting new trustees to create a more diverse board: We need you to help grow the co-op and community business sectors in 2021 and beyond. What we do: ICOF Ltd trading as Co-operative and Community Finance or CCF is the Lender for Social Purpose, lending to ethical businesses since 1973. We offer fair, […]
New platform co-ops / community shares support available
Two new programmes delivered by Co-operatives UK are now open and accepting applications The UnFound Accelerator, is a 10-week business support programme for teams at the early stage of setting up their platform co-operative. A Platform co-operative is a democratically owned and controlled business that uses an online platform or mobile app to trade, connect […]
What do you need? Tell us in our Annual Survey
Calling all borrowers, partners and friends! Will you help us understand the needs of the co-operative and community business sectors? Please complete our Annual Survey – it should take under 10 minutes and you could win a £50 co-operative bookstore voucher! Each year we send out a short survey to help us understand the co-operative […]
Covid Stories – Sencio Community Leisure
We’ve been incredibly impressed with the way so many Co-ops and Community businesses have managed through the Covid-19 situation and lockdown. The commitment to serving their communities and the resilience and ingenuity they have shown has been amazing! We’ve spoken to a number of our clients about how they have managed – here we share […]
Peace, people, planet – and then profit
Twenty-two years ago, in March 1999, the International Treaty to ban Landmines, which had been in the making since the 1980 ‘Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects’, came into effect. The Ottawa Treaty aims to eliminate […]
Save our pubs!
The Plunkett Foundation, our partner on the More Than A Pub (MTAP) programme, is calling on Government and the public to save pubs across the UK With thousands of pubs across the UK closing or under threat, community owned pubs offer a real life-line for those who want to save their much-loved, local pub. Plunkett Foundation, […]