UKSCS Conference 2023

Day 1: Friday 24 February 

12:00–12:30   Registration and lunch

12:30–12:40   Welcome

12:40–13:30   Keynote lecture 1

Debbie Robinson (CEO, Central Co-op), "A Members' Owned Business Today"

Chair: Francesca Gagliardi

13:30–15:30  Panel session – "Consumer Co-operation: Past, Present and Future"

Chair: Nick Matthews

Laura Dunne (Head of Marketing and Membership, Lincolnshire Co-op & Member of the Members Council, Co-op Group)

Steve Galjaard (Chief Financial Officer and Acting CEO, Lincolnshire Co-op)

Mark Robinson-Field (Member Participation Manager, Co-op Group)

Tarra Simmons (Head of Community and Democratic Engagement, MidCounties Co-op)

15:30–17:00   Guided visits to Cornhill Quarter and Science Park

(Delegates will be assigned to one of the two visits)

For many years, a key element of Lincolnshire Co-op’s strategic intent has involved being at the heart of developments in both the city of Lincoln and the wider County. In recent years the Co-op has been involved in the regeneration of the Cornhill Quarter in Lincoln, and in helping to jointly develop Lincoln Science and Innovation Park with the University of  Lincoln. Senior staff from the Lincolnshire Co-op Management Team will present the background to these developments and then guide Conference attendees on a visit to the Science Park or the Cornhill Quarter to see and consider how the strategy has been turned into reality in these two locations. The Chair of Lincolnshire Co-op’s Board will add further insight as the After-Dinner speaker on 24th February.

17:00–18:30   Networking with debrief on visits at Double Tree by Hilton

18:30–19:00   Free time

19:00–21:00   Conference dinner

21:00–21:30   After dinner speaker – David Cowell (Lincolnshire Co-op Board Chair)

Chair: Mike Wistow

Day 2: Saturday 25 February

09:00-09:30   Registration and refreshments

09:30–10:10   Keynote lecture 2

Tony Webster (Northumbria University), "Consumer Co-operation in the 21st Century: Some Examples of Strategic Renewal "

Chair: Francesca Gagliardi

Short talks

10:10–10:30   Jeevan Jones (Vice-President Business, Performance & Strategy, Co-op Group), "Member Economic Value"

Chair: Mike Wistow

10:30–11:00  Rory Ridley-Duff (Sheffield Hallam University), "Report Back on New Co-operatism Seminar Series"

Chair: Mike Wistow

10:45–11:00   Break

11:00–12:30   Paper session 1

Chair: Rory Ridley-Duff

Katharine McCrossan (University of Glasgow), "Talking Shop? The Co-operative Independent Commission and the Movement in Scotland"

Andrew Bibby (Independent), "Co-operative Housing Initiatives before the 1919 Addison Act"

Claude-André Guillotte (University of Sherbrooke), "The Impact of COVID-19 on Canadian Co-operatives and Mutuals: Lessons Learned"

Roger Spear (Roskilde University & The Open University), "Governance in Retail Societies"

12:30-13:10 Lunch

13:10–13:30   Book Launch

Andrew Bibby, "These Houses Are Ours: Co-operative and Community Led Housing Alternatives, 1870 - 1919" (Gritstone Social History, 2023)

13:30–15:00   Paper session 2

Chair: Nick Matthews

Francesca Gagliardi (University of Hertfordshire) & Rory Ridley Duff (Sheffield Hallam University), "Co-operative Values, Principles and Sustainable Development"

Steve Graby (University of Leeds), "Disabled People's Personal Assistance Co-operatives: An Overlooked Form of Consumer Co-op with Radical Potential?"

Lakshmi Jayan (Sree Narayana College, India), Abilash Unny (Price Waterhouse Coopers LLP, UK) & Raju G (University of Kerala (India), "Consumer Cooperative Playbook (CCP): A Knowledge Sharing Digital Platform"

15:00–15:30   Concluding remarks: looking forward