The national worker cooperative background in the United Kingdom

This chapter details the history of worker cooperatives in the United Kingdom, beginning with the Fenwick Weavers’ Society (1761), the world’s first documented cooperative, having cooperativised labour. It traces the development of worker cooperatives through various periods, including their rise and fall in the 19th and early 20th centuries, influenced by factors such as economic crises, political movements (Chartism, the Labour movement), and government policies. The chapter highlights key organisations like the Cooperative Productive Federation, the Industrial Common Ownership Movement (ICOM), and the Cooperative Development Agency. It also discusses the merger of ICOM and the Cooperative Union to form Cooperatives UK and the subsequent creation of workers. Coop in 2023, a new federation aiming to revitalise and expand worker cooperatives in the United Kingdom. The chapter contrasts the United Kingdom’s approach to worker cooperatives with other countries, noting the tax advantages given to Employee Ownership Trusts but not to worker cooperatives. Finally, the chapter emphasises the UK worker cooperative movement’s ongoing commitment to international collaboration through organisations like CECOP and CICOPA.