Scott Muir

Cooperative: Infinity Foods
City: Brighton
Country: United Kingdom
Sector: Wholesale and distribution
Founded: 1979

I think that cooperative business models on the whole are the way forward, especially in the current economic climate. If more business's were run this way, with highly motivated worker owners then everyone would be better off

I become a member of Infinity Foods in 1996, my main role here is split between being a buyer and working in the warehouse.

Since starting work after leaving school, I have had experience in numerous jobs including painting and decorating, working in a canning factory and travelling the UK installing acoustic noise control products.

In the eight years preceding Infinity Foods I worked for the music retailer HMV in London and Brighton. I soon discovered that if you showed willing and worked hard then promotion was possible. I was put on fast track management programs. As you rose through the ranks, there was a price to pay, you had to be prepared to move around the country and put more and more hours in that were unpaid. Yes you could do well, but you had to pretty much sell your soul to the company. I became very disillusioned with the set -up and attitudes.

At Infinity everyone is encouraged to join in the debate, and the decision making process is as open as it could be. We have an elected Management Committee for the business and we hold regular department meetings and meetings for the entire membership. I have served as Health and Safety officer, and have been a serving member on the personnel department and the Management Committee.

I definitely think that Worker Coops have an advantage over more conventional business’s in the market place. Because we have a much stronger sense of ownership, this gets reflected in the fact that we are a multi- skilled workforce, people can do more than one job and so we can cover for each other if need be. Our sickness rates must be one of the lowest in the country, and our customer service levels are a lot higher than the norm because we know that good customer service and a low percentage of out of stocks translates to higher turnover for the business.

I think that cooperative business models on the whole are the way forward, especially in the current economic climate. If more business’s were run this way, with highly motivated worker owners then everyone would be better off.

The idea that a highly paid manager can operate a business by pretty much flogging cheap labour does not pay long term dividends.

I feel that job security at Infinity Foods is as good as it can be. We operate on a quarterly bonus system that relates directly to sales, in times of hardship this gives us a buffer. We also try to run a tight ship, so that we do not have the problems of overstaffing. The multi skilled workforce means we can move people around to tackle priority tasks more efficiently.

www.infinityfoods.co.uk

Cooperatives a sustainable employment solution!

A cooperative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.

Enterprises represented by CECOP are enterprises in which workers unite to satisfy their needs in terms of creation of sustainable jobs. They can be industrial enterprises or services rooted in the territories and having a long-term strategy. They are a genuine solution for sustainable jobs in Europe: they are broken down into workers’ cooperatives, social cooperatives and other types of enterprises owned by their workers.

Workers’ cooperatives: Workers’ cooperatives are enterprises subject to the same restrictions of competition, management and profitability as other companies. Their originality lies in the fact that their workers hold the majority of the shares, at least 51%. In doing so, the workers decide jointly on the major guidelines of their enterprises and appoint their leaders (managers, boards of directors, etc.). They also decide on how to share the profit with a twofold aim: to give the preference to the workers of the enterprises, in the form of refunds based on the work done and to consolidate the enterprises with a view to handing it over onto the future generations, i.e. creating reserves to reinforce the equity and ensuring thereby the sustainability of their enterprises. In all cooperatives, the internal democratic control is based on the principle of “one man, one vote” whatever the capital share held by the respective workers. Finally, the cooperative spirit promotes its employees information and training, a prerequisite to develop the autonomy, the motivation and responsibility, accountability required in an economic world which has become insecure. (Source: www.scop.coop)

Social cooperatives: Social cooperatives are specialised in the provision of social services or reintegration of disadvantaged and marginalised workers (disabled, long-term unemployed, former detainees, addicts, etc.). A large number of such cooperatives have been set up in Italy but also in other EU countries. Most of them are owned by their workers while offering the possibility or providing for the obligation (according to the national laws) to involve other types of members (users, voluntary workers, etc.).

Other types of enterprises owned by their workers: There are other types of enterprises owned by their workers such as for example the “Sociedades Laborales” in Spain which are real driving forces of economic and social activities which have contributed to lower the unemployment level and to revamp a sustained growth in Spain.

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Scott Muir

Cooperatives a sustainable employment solution!