Busy Bee Toy Shop
When the owner of the much loved toy shop decided to retire after 25 years the residents of Chorlton, South Manchester, formed a community co-operative to take over the business.
They held several meetings to build local support, drew up a business plan and invited people to buy shares in the co‑operative. In just five weeks they raised over £32,000, enough to buy the name and stock and take on the lease. In July 2009 Busy Bee Toy Shop re-opened under new ownership.
The main driver for this was the number of local people who were sad to see the shop shut," said James Hillon, one of the founder members. "Some people considered taking in on themselves but no one felt they had the money or energy to do it alone. We formed the co-operative because we wanted the shop to be run by the community."
James, who works for Co-operative Financial Services, said that one of the main challenges was building a convincing case to persuade people that it was a worthwhile investment.
"There's a broad cross section of people involved and not everyone is financially literate," he said. “Everyone thinks it's a great idea but then money comes into it and the problems start."
Setting up the co-operative and re-opening the shop in such a short time involved a massive community effort. The 115 members of the co-operative are mostly residents of Chorlton or people who have links with the area. Several of them fondly remember visiting Busy Bee Toy Shop when they were children. Every member of the co‑operative has made a personal investment in the
venture. The minimum shareholding is £250 but many people have invested more. Each member has one vote regardless of the number of shares owned.
Busy Bee Toy Shop received free consultancy from Co-operative and Mutual Solutions (CMS) working on behalf of The Co-operative Enterprise Hub.
"They gave us sound advice about what financial controls to have in place, how to stay on top of things, good governance, and areas where co‑ops can sometimes come unstuck," said James.
Busy Bee's tips for other community ventures
- Spend plenty of time checking that your business idea is viable. It’s easy to get carried away with the excitement of starting a new co-operative.
- You're not alone. Other communities have done this. There’s plenty of free advice available [including The Co‑operative Enterprise Hub!]. Use it.
- There are many different tasks involved in starting a new venture, so get lots of people involved. It spreads the load and builds co‑operative spirit.
- Publicise what you want to do in the local media, on the internet and wherever you can. This can help you access advice, finance and new members.
More Information
Download the full case study [PDF,154kb]
Contact Details
For more information please visit http://www.busybeetoyshop.co.uk