Building Back Better: Co-operative Development Hubs
Offer of Community Shares
Applications conditional on SEIS tax relief welcomed
Closing date: March 31 2022
With co-ops we can do more than weather the economic storm caused by COVID-19. We can help meet the biggest challenge of our time, by rapidly reducing environmental harms while still living in a way that engenders widespread wellbeing. And we can do it in ways that are fair, democratic, empowering and aspirational.
The Directors, Development Co-operative Limited
Executive Summary
This is an invitation to invest in a new co-operative venture that seeks to develop a series of hubs for co-operative enterprise. This is a pioneer offer for a business with no trading track record and uncosted plans, and so there is more risk to capital than some other offers of community shares.
Our co-operative brings together member owned co-op development bodies, individual co-op practitioners and social investors in a ‘multistakeholder’ co-op. Investors will be supporting mutuals, trusts and workers co-ops, as well as many experienced co-operative consultants, as they tackle the biggest problems facing our country in the wake of Covid-19.
- How do communities find work for the millions of unemployed and underemployed?
- How do we reinvigorate local economies shattered by the loss of small businesses and the
stagnation and cynicism in transnational plcs? - How do we bring people back together when conventional workplaces and high streets
are in decline? - How do we fix our broken relationship with the earth’s ecosystems?
We believe that co-operatives have the answers – but that effective coordination requires a new level of engagement between communities and experienced development workers.
Our goal is to raise £150,000 of working capital to launch development projects in at least three cities which will lead to community owned mixed developments. Once we have exceeded the £75,000 minimum, we may also go on to raise an additional £250,000 for investment in fixed assets, which may not be tax advantaged.
In each development we’ll seek to include a balanced mix of flexible workspace and affordable housing, at least one robust co-operative enterprise as an anchor tenant, and in-house co-operative advisors. We’ll be working in partnership with a local community co-op to embed the practice of supporting co-ops. That way, the area around the hub will continue to see co-operative development and community wealth building over the long term.
At the same time, we will pool our resources to secure public sector contracts and grant funding to strengthen the co-op movement across the UK. This enables us to take on jobs that would be out of reach of our members working alone.
Key facts:
| Minimum to be raised: £75,000 | Closing date: January 30 2022 |
| Maximum to be raised: £400,000 | Share type: withdrawable, full risk |
| Purpose: no more than £150,000 will be used for working capital at risk; sums in excess of that amount will be ring-fenced for investment in fixed assets. | |
| Minimum individual investment: £500 | Tax relief: SEIS, subject to qualification and on working capital only. |
| Maximum individual investment: £15,000 | Interest: 4%, normally credited as additional shares on the same terms |
The shares will pay 4% interest and while our goal is to enable withdrawal from three years after the date of issue you should be aware that withdrawals are likely to be in stages over several years.
They are full risk shares, and while every effort has been made to accurately evaluate income and profitability you may be unable to recover the full amount if losses exceed gains.
Our financial forecasts suggest that we can proceed to implement a limited version of our plan in the event that we raise just £75,000. However, this route delivers benefits to significantly fewer communities, and would take us to reserves of just £15,000 in 2024. By contrast we might well reach £55,000 if we achieve our full investment target.
The closing date for investment is as stated on the front cover of this document (though the board may extend this, if it is likely to improve the outcome).
We have prepared forecasts on the basis of no further resources being available to us; however, in practice we expect to seek further investment in our growth in coming years. In particular, we want to be able to make capital investments in development sites. You should expect this share offer, if successful, to be followed by others relating to specific projects.
This offer is ideal for sophisticated social investors who are over 18, UK residents, comfortable with risk and who wish to support the development of a stronger co-operative economy, in particular through the expansion of the co-operative development and support sector.
This is an unregulated investment with no rights to statutory compensation or complaint. It may be employed as working capital, with no fixed assets on the balance sheet. It is best suited to experienced social investors, and you should not invest money that you cannot afford to be without.
For full details please read our Share Offer Document and Business Plan.
Once you have read these documents in full you can Apply for Shares.