A co-op is an enterprise run and controlled democratically by the members – for the benefit of all the members. We are proud to be a workers’ co-operative, which means it is us, the workers, that are the members and who own and manage the business. As such we have a flat wage structure across all members.
Since mid-2021 we have been transitioning to a new management structure. This consists of
- Contracted employees starting as Probationary Members of the co-op, with an aim of completing membership training and getting ready to co-manage the organisation as a Member, over their first 6 months.
- Contracted employees working in teams such as the Baking or Finance team that meet monthly where everyone within the team has equal say and responsibility.
- A Hub made up of a Rep from each team, forming the directors of the co-operative society, making day-to-day cross-team decisions for the organisation.
- Quarterly Members’ Meetings for the whole membership to make strategic and financial decisions.
- A Strategy & Steering team helping guide the organisation, whose work is mandated by the membership.
That’s the plan anyway! Et voila!
As a co-op, we make our decisions by consensus and are committing to making decisions that all members are in agreement with and that take into account everyone’s ideas and concerns. We also try to support each other and share knowledge such that power and control are shared equally as much as possible!
Leeds Bread Co-op was originally founded by Ian, Phil and Zig in 2012. We are incredibly grateful for the commitment and hard work of our founder members as well as the various co-op members that have joined us along the way since we began, all of whom have played their own part in getting us to where we are today.
Thank you to all previous and current workers!
