Support the campaign to protect the word 'co-operative'

As requested by Co-operatives UK, FC United is calling for members and other supporter-owned clubs to respond to a government consultation, which could be damaging to co-operative businesses such as our club.

Co-operative principles are firmly based on one member, one share, one vote as is our club. We are proud of our democratic and inclusive structure, which is a relatively new but increasingly popular model for British football. Its viability is illustrated by the fact that the four clubs contesting the Champions League semi-finals this year were all fan owned.

In the recent past there have been examples where, to curry favour with fans, some club owners have tried to pass off their clubs as fan-owned when in reality most supporters are not offered a democratic say in the running of the club. Only clubs that are co-operatively owned with membership open to all fans can truly call themselves fan-owned and that is a vital benchmark for our sport.

New proposals could mean that any business would be able to call itself a co-operative, allowing rogue or misguided enterprises to trade off the co-operative identity, while tarnishing its reputation. For example, many profit-oriented companies are trying to dress themselves up as ’social enterprises’.

We are calling for protection to be improved and strengthened, so that the process is efficient for business whilst ensuring the integrity of the movement.

To help you prepare your submission, we have drafted a response which can be found here. The deadline for submissions is 22 May, and they should be sent to catherine.crowsley@bis.gsi.gov.uk (please copy in denise.morrisroe@uk.coop ).

Thanks

Andy Walsh