Co-operatives UK

Foundation

During the resurgence in co-operation following the successes of the Rochdale Pioneers and the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS), the Co-operative Movement began to lift itself out of the decade of society failures between 1834 and 1844. The success brought pride but also anxiety for the movement's leaders as they began to fear that societies might forget their co-operative ideals in the face of material success. The solution, it was decided at the first of the modern Co-operative Congresses, was the creation of a national organisation that could hold the movement together and emphasise the important role that co-operatives could play in society at large.

The Co-operative Central Board was established in 1869, before changing its name to the Co-operative Union, and spent the first 40 years of its existence operating out of a variety of rented premises in the Long Millgate district of Manchester. Its purpose was described "propagandist and defensive action" and it listed the objectives of establishing and organising co-operative societies and provided advice and instruction on the co-operative principles. These educational activities were formalised first in 1882 with the creation of the education committee and then in 1919 when the Co-operative College was created.

The initial intention of the Union was that it would support and promote the interests of worker co-operatives but, given the number and financial strength of the consumer co-operatives, these soon began to dominate the organisation. Ultimately, this led to the splitting of the worker and consumer sectors of the UK Movement, prompted by the CWS' rejection of the idea of profit-sharing with its employees in 1880. From that point the Co-operative Union became an organisation that predominantly dealt with co-operative retail societies.

Holyoake House

In 1906 the co-operative activist George Jacob Holyoake died and the Co-operative Movement decided that to commemorate him by building a permanent headquarters for the Co-operative Union. The building was designed by architect F. E. L. Harris, who had also designed the nearby CWS building in the year of Holyoake's death. It was erected in 1911 on Hanover Street (also home to the Co-operative Bank) and named Holyoake House. A plaque was erected outside the building dedicating the building to Holyoake's memory, reading:

Holyoake House is also home to the Co-operative College (although between 1940 and 2001, the College moved to Stanford Hall, near Loughborough), the Association of British Credit Unions Limited (ABCUL) and The Co-operative News. The building was extended in the 1930s, and the Training Centre on the top floor was destroyed by an incendiary bomb in the Manchester Blitz of 1940. A collection of Holyoake's letters, papers and other writings are held in store in the National Co-operative Archive, also housed in the building, whilst the building itself received Grade II listed building status on 20 June 1988.

Promoting the movement

As well as its responsibility for organising the annual Co-operative Congresses, the Co-operative Union had a wider responsibility for promoting co-operation throughout the UK and worldwide. During the First World War, the movement began to feel hostility from the government: requests to set up a system of rationing to prevent private traders from hoarding goods and selling them at inflated prices were initially ignored and then, when sugar rationing was finally introduced, the union was refused a seat on the commission set up to control it although co-operatives were the largest wholesalers and retailers of sugar in the UK. A motion was put forward to the 1917 Congress to abandon the principle of political neutrality and when it was passed The National Co-operative Representation Committee was formed. Its purpose was to represent the views of the co-operative movement in Parliament and it was soon renamed the Co-operative Party, funded by individual societies within the Movement.

The union was also responsible for the establishment of the Independent Co-operative Commission (sometimes called the Gaitskell Commission after its chair Hugh Gaitskell). During a period of dramatic change in the retail landscape the union's Central Executive held discussions with the CWS, the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society (SCWS) and the Co-operative Production Federation before introducing a motion to the 1955 Congress empowering them to establish an inquiry commission "charged with the responsibility of surveying the whole field of co-operative production and marketing, both wholesale and retail". It submitted its findings to the union for presentation at the 1958 Congress. The union met the costs of the commission and made its own submission of evidence. The report made 51 recommendations on a variety of issues but failed to have significant impact on the movement, the Co-operative Union concluding in its 1967 Regional Plan that "If the serious warnings of the Independent Commission had been heeded, the Movement would be in far better shape to withstand the impact of new problems which have developed".

Changing environment

Through the end of the 1960s and the start of the 1970s the working environment of the Union began to change: Britain joined the European Economic Community (EEC) and so closer ties with the ICA were necessary. The retail industry was changing and the Union published its Regional Plan advocating reduction of the number of retail societies (to a "manageable" figure of 50) through mergers. The CWS began taking over some services the Union had traditionally offered, such as its trade Advisory Service, so that the Union had to re-examine and refocus the services it offered its members. On 10 August 1974 it also suffered a serious setback when its newly appointed General Secretary Clarence Hilditch died in office.