The phone co-op

Abstract This report looks at the only telecoms co-operative in the UK and measure how the phone co-op demonstrates evidence of the seven co-operative principles within its business. All the information gathered was sourced through the companys website. Overall the phone co op clearly satisfies all aspects of the seven co-operative principles and is a credible contender for best co-operative enterprise of 2012. Introduction In this report I have been ask to select a cooperative of whom I think deserves the award for best co operative enterprise of 2012. The co-operative I have selected is the phone co-operative, which is a consumer co-op run and managed by their members who are also their customers. The Phone Co-op is a British telecommunications co-operative, which operates under self-imposed environmental and ethical guidelines. It provides telephone and internet services, including web hosting and broadband to private customers, businesses and charities. Seven members currently sit on the board, while each members term last for 3 years each. The Phone Co-op's service has been taken up by some 15,000 customers, including Christian Aid, Amnesty International, Triodos Bank and the Centre for Alternative Technology. In this report I will be analyzing how the phone co-op measure up against the seven co-operative principles. Methodology All the information I will gather will be from the phone co-operatives website. This includes the phone co-operative 2010-2011 financial statement which can also be found on the companys website. Findings

The first cooperative principle is Voluntary and Open Membership which means that all Cooperatives should be voluntary organisations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination. The phone co-op illustrates this principle as during 2011, 789 new members joined and 125 left, leading to a net increase of 664 members1. This is further supported in the table below. The second co-operative principle is Democratic Member Control. Co-operatives are democratic organisations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. Men and women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary co-operatives members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and co-operatives at other levels are also organised in a democratic manner. The phone co-op illustrates this principle as Members are encouraged to vote in the election of the Board of Directors and to contribute actively to General Meetings. They can become directly involved in the running of The Phone Co-op by standing for election to the Board. In the 2012 Election Results, eight nominations were received for three places on the board. A total of 8,298 ballot papers were posted to members, and 1,905 were received back by the deadline, a turnout of 23%. There were 2 spoilt papers, leaving 1,903 valid ballot papers.2 The next principle is Member Economic Participation. Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their co-operative. At least part of that capital is usually the [Type text]

common property of the co-operative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing their co-operative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the cooperative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership. The phone co-op illustrates this principle as can be seen in the table below trade with member as percentage of sales were 36.04 in 2011. The forth co-operative principle is Autonomy and Independence. Co-operatives are autonomous, selfhelp organisations controlled by their members. If they enter to agreements with other organisations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their co-operative autonomy. The phone co-op is self sufficient as a question on their website asked, Can I invest in The Phone Co-op without becoming a customer? No. Only members of The Phone Co-op can invest, and only users of our service can become members.3 This statements show that no other organisation has an external influence with regards to the running of their co-op. All investment made are from existing members only. The next principle is member and employee training. Co-operatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their co-operatives. They inform the general public - particularly young people and opinion leaders - about the nature and benefits of co-operation. The phone co op illustrates member training as a members take part in a training and development sessions during the year, employee training is evident at the phone co-op as the company continues to improve employees service qualities 4, further supports of employee training at the co-op is shown in the table below. The sixth co-operative principle is Co-operation among Co-operatives. Co-operatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the co-operative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures. The phone co-op illustrates this principle as purchases from other co-operatives as a percentage of no personnel overheads increased from10% in 2010 to 11% in 2011. Sales of telecoms and internet services to other co-operatives totalled 12% of total sales as can be seen from the table below.. The phone co-op also promotes a co-operative and social economy development fund which invests in new and developing co-operatives. Torrs Hydro New Mills is the first community funded hydro electric scheme in the UK. The Phone Co-ops Cooperative & Social Economy Development Fund invested 7,500 in share capital in the co-operative to help provide the start-up financing the project required 5. The last co-operative principle is Concern for Community. Co-operatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members. The phone co-op is committed to offsetting all carbon dioxide generated by its activities and those of its telecoms suppliers through the purchase of CO2 offsets. They also purchase the electricity from renewable sources. 68% of their business journeys in 2011 were made by rail, bus, cycle or foot. This will lower their overall C02 and fuel consumption. 100% of their paper waste is recycled or reused. These statistics can be seen in the table below. Recommendation Overall, of all the businesses offering phone, broadband and mobile services, the phone co-op are the only co-operative, which means they operate for the good of everybody. They are run by a group of people united by shared values, shared ownership and democratically made decisions. Their members [Type text]

own the business which means all members can have a say in how the business is run. Their work has been recognized by numerous awards which include The 2011 Reseller of the Year award which recognises the contribution made to competition by the reseller who has carved a niche for themselves in a very competitive space and the innovation and service levels they have employed in doing so. Furthermore, the phone co-operative also won the FCS Green Award for large business, the third consecutive year that it has won their Green award, in recognition of its efforts in addressing environmental issues. The phone co-op clearly meet and goes beyond the seven co-operative principles which is why feel they should be awarded the best co-operative enterprise of 2012.

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Reference.

1 http://www.thephone.coop/images/stories/about_us/membership/annual_reports/annual_report_11.pdf

page 6 of the 2011 annual

report.
2 http://www.thephone.coop/membership/board-elections

3 http://www.thephone.coop/membership/membership

4 http://www.thephone.coop/images/stories/about_us/membership/annual_reports/annual_report_11.pdf

pages 5 and 13

5 http://www.thephone.coop/about-us/development-fund

6 http://www.thephone.coop/images/stories/about_us/membership/annual_reports/annual_report_11.pdf

pages 8,9,10

OLUKAYODE BANJOKO 1225 words.

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