The Phone Co-op

Overview

The Phone Co-op

type	Consumer co-operative
foundation	1998
defunct	2018
fate	Merged with Midcounties Co-operative, rebranded to Your Co-op
location city	Chipping Norton and Manchester
area served	United Kingdom
industry	Telecommunications
products	Fixed line telephony, broadband, fibre broadband, mobile telephony, telephone systems, Voice over IP (VoIP), leased line, domain names, web hosting, telephone conferencing
revenue	£12.54 million (2016) 1
operating income	£182,826 (2016) £164,614 (2015)
net income	£326,546 (2016) 2 £280,334 (2015)
parent	Midcounties Co-operative
members	11,734 (2016)
num employees	74 (2016 average)
footnotes	1. Figures rounded from 2015-2016 Annual Report 2. UK cooperative taxation means that after tax surplus is also after distributions

The Phone Co-op was an independent consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. It provided landline, mobile telephone and Internet services, including web hosting and broadband. In April 2018, the Phone Co-op board agreed for its operations to be transferred to the Midcounties Co-operative, with the Phone Co-op legal entity ceasing to exist.[1] The brand continued to be operated until 1 June 2018, when it was rebranded to Your Co-op following the completion of the transfer.[2]

The co-op was a social enterprise and was awarded the title of UK customer-facing social enterprise of the year 2015.[3] The business was a living wage employer and was accredited to hold the Fair Tax Mark.

As of 2015, the business had over 30,000 customers, spanning individuals, businesses, charities, local authorities and other co-operatives including: Amnesty International, The Big Issue, Christian Aid, Central England Co-operative Society, the

Other history

1998: founded as SETCO (Social Economy Telecommunications Co-operative), incorporated as a company limited by guarantee. Initially, membership of the co-operative was reserved exclusively for other co-ops and charities.

1999: rule change opened membership to the general public in August. SETCO renamed itself The Phone Co-op and converted into a co-operative society incorporated under the Industrial & Provident Societies Acts.

2010: acquired the telecoms business of Saga Group, including approximately 8,000 residential customers.

2012: concluded a brand licensing agreement with Co-operative Brands Limited to use The Co-operative brand with three specific sub-brands, The Co-operative Phone & Broadband, The Co-operative Business Telecoms, and The Co-operative Mobile.[21][22]

2013: Partnered with the UK charity Community Network to take over its teleconferencing platform, allowing the charity to focus on serving its clients.[23]

2014: invested £500,000 in public transport social enterprise HCT Group.[24]

2014: became the UK's sole stockist of Fairphone 1 ethical smartphones.[25][26][27][28]

2014: acquired the broadband business of Namesco.[29]

2014: launched a Pay As You Go (PAYG) SIM card in conjunction with The Co-operative Group,[30] to complement the existing postpaid mobile service. Available in approximately 3,800 branches of The Co-operative Food.[31]

2015: partnered with Fairphone to release their second generation modular smartphone, Fairphone 2, in the UK.[32]

2017: brought service sub-brands in line with the name of the organisation since 1999, The Phone Co-op, in place of the names adopted using The Co-operative brand in 2012. The new brand identity incorporates the Global Cooperative Marque promoted by the International Co-operative Alliance.[33]

2017: Founder Vivian Woodell stepped down to head the new Phone Co-op Foundation for Co-operative Innovation[34]

2018: Membership voted to transfer engagements to Midcounties Co-operative Society[35]

2021: Following a reduction in users of their PAYG service, the company announced that they would be closing their Pay as You Go service.[36]

The Phone Co-op

Differentiators

Awards

Accreditations

Strategy

Other history

See also

External links

References