Freelancers urged to take a co-operative approach

The number of freelancers in UK creative industries is continuing to rise and Co-operatives UK, the national trade body that campaigns for co-operation, has today launched a new guide and website - www.uk.coop/creative - to help freelancers set up their own creative co-operatives.

Paul Robinson runs his own software company and is a founder member of FlyThe.Coop, a co-working space for IT and digital creative workers based in Manchester's Northern Quarter. He believes working with other like minded individuals can offer the best of both worlds for a freelancing creative.

“Freelancers tend not to want to build a huge business,” he said. “The advantage of co-operation and collaboration is that it allows freelancers to be entrepreneurial and go beyond being a micro-enterprise. It can also leverage co-operative support from others as well as advice from Co-operatives UK. Essentially you are no longer on your own.”

Liz Taylor is a marketing specialist at The Very People, a co-operative of experienced editorial, PR and marketing consultants offering the combined strengths of senior specialists based across Scotland’s central belt.

“The days of being guaranteed a job for life are pretty well gone,” Liz said. “The freelance community continues to grow and often this means working as a sole trader or in a very small company.

“Joining or starting a co-operative means that people can create larger groups and win contracts on that basis. Freelancers may not have joined a co-operative but many will already be collaborating informally. The time has certainly come for co-operation, as it has many benefits.”

The new guide and website , ‘Creative co-operatives – A guide to starting a co-operative in the creative industries’ sets out advice for freelancers, newly self-employed people and recent graduates on setting up creative co-operatives.

Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operatives UK, said: “Co-operation, collaboration and co-working, whether within formal co-operatives or informal networks and ad hoc structures, have much to offer workers in the creative industries.”

With a turnover of almost £34 billion and 12.9 million members, co-operatives are the largest membership movement in the country and this new guide and website is part of Co-operatives UK first-ever Co-operatives Fortnight (19 June – 3 July 2010) which celebrates that There is an alternative….

If you are interested in finding out more about how to set up a creative co-operative, please download a copy of ‘Creative Co-operatives – A guide to starting a co-operative in the creative industries’.