The People's History Museum in Manchester, England, is the UK's national centre for the collection, conservation, interpretation and study of material relating to the history of working people in the UK. It is located in a grade II-listed, former hydraulic pumping station on the corner of the Bridge Street and Water Street designed by Manchester Corporation City Architect, Henry Price.
George Jacob Holyoake was an English secularist, co-operator and newspaper editor. He coined the terms secularism in 1851 and "jingoism" in 1878. He edited a secularist paper, the Reasoner, from 1846 to June 1861, and a co-operative one, The English Leader, in 1864–1867.
Bishopsgate Library, now known as Bishopgate Institute's Special Collections and Archives is an independent, charity-funded library located within the Bishopsgate Institute in the City of London.
The Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS) was a large consumer co-operative based in south east London, England. The co-operative took its name from the Royal Arsenal munitions works in Woolwich and its motto was: "Each for all and all for each". In 1985 it merged into the national Co-operative Wholesale Society.
The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844, was an early consumers' co-operative, and one of the first to pay a patronage dividend, forming the basis for the modern co-operative movement. Although other co-operatives preceded it, the Rochdale Pioneers co-operative became the prototype for societies in Great Britain. The Rochdale Pioneers are most famous for designing the Rochdale Principles, a set of principles of co-operation, which provide the foundation for the principles on which co-ops around the world operate to this day. The model the Rochdale Pioneers used is a focus of study within co-operative economics.
The United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 7,000 registered co-operatives owned by 17 million individual members and which contribute £34bn a year to the British economy. Modern co-operation started with the Rochdale Pioneers' shop in the northern English town of Rochdale in 1844, though the history of co-operation in Britain can be traced back to before 1800. The British co-operative movement is most commonly associated with The Co-operative brand which has been adopted by several large consumers' co-operative societies; however, there are many thousands of registered co-operative businesses operating in the UK. Alongside these consumers' co-operatives, there exist many prominent agricultural co-operatives (621), co-operative housing providers (619), health and social care cooperatives (111), cooperative schools (834), retail co-operatives, co-operatively run community energy projects, football supporters' trusts, credit unions, and worker-owned businesses.
A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit. Many cooperatives, however, do have a degree of profit orientation. Just like other corporations, some cooperatives issue dividends to owners based on a share of total net profit or earnings ; or based on a percentage of the total amount of purchases made by the owner. Regardless of whether they issue a dividend or not, most consumers’ cooperatives will offer owners discounts and preferential access to good and services.
The East of England Co-operative Society is the fourth largest consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom after The Co-operative Group, The Midcounties Co-operative and Central England Co-operative. It is a registered society with its headquarters in Wherstead, near Ipswich and trading in the eastern counties of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. The Society is the area's largest independent retailer.
Co-operatives UK is a British co-operative federation described as "the central membership organisation for co-operative enterprise throughout the UK". It was founded in 1870 as the Co-operative Central Board, changing its name to the Co-operative Union before finally becoming Co-operatives UK following its merger with the Industrial Common Ownership Movement (ICOM) in 2001. Historically associated with the consumer co-operatives, the merger broadened its scope to include worker co-operatives and it now exists to support and promote the values of the entire co-operative movement throughout the UK.
The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement began with the application of cooperative principles to business organization.
The Working Class Movement Library (WCML) is a collection of English language books, periodicals, pamphlets, archives and artefacts, relating to the development of the political and cultural institutions of the working class created by the Industrial Revolution, in Salford, Greater Manchester, England.
Holyoake House is a building in the NOMA district of Manchester, England, which was completed in 1911. Designed by F.E.L. Harris, it was built for the Co-operative Union in memory of George Holyoake. It is located alongside other listed buildings such as the CIS Tower, Hanover Building and Redfern Building and is owned by Co-operatives UK.
Ian MacPherson was a Canadian historian, and a supporter of the co-operative movement. MacPherson was born in Toronto, Ontario.
Lothian, Borders & Angus Co-operative Society Limited , founded in 1839 in the Scottish Borders, was the oldest independent consumer co-operative in Scotland until it merged with The Co-operative Group in December 2008. It operated over 50 food stores in the south and east, as well as some other retail businesses, and funeral services. At the time of the merger, Lothian Co-op was owned by 65,000 consumer members on a one member one vote basis.
Anglia Regional Co-operative Society Limited was the fifth largest consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the merger of the Greater Peterborough Regional and Anglia co-operative societies in 1987. The Society had over 80 stores, principally trading in East Anglia. Head office was located at Westgate House, Peterborough until 2011.
The Rochdale Pioneers Museum is housed in the building where the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society started trading on 21 December 1844. The museum is regarded as the birthplace of the modern co-operative movement. It is located in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England.
The Rochdale Pioneers is a British biographical feature film, released in 2012, that tells the story of the foundation of the first successful cooperative retail store by working class members of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, in 1844. This came at a time of chronic unemployment, poverty, hunger and social inequality, and it was met with prejudice and opposition.
Charles Howarth was a British cotton-worker, co-operator, Owenite, and co-founder of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers. Howarth also played a key role in the establishment of the North of England Co-operative Wholesale Society.
William Cooper was an English co-operator, Owenite, and a founding member of the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers.
Abraham Greenwood was a prolific English co-operator who from 1863 to 1870 served as the first President of the Co-operative Wholesale Society.
