The challenge

It’s a disquieting prospect for any print MD. The idea that every so often, just a few rooms away, one of their workers probably comes up with the beginnings of a bright idea, but then, perhaps not through any glaring fault of the company’s, this never makes it anywhere.

Some would argue that this is a fault with the business in question, and that traditional top-down businesses can still empower staff to chip in. Others would say this is tricky within a conventional set-up and that a more radical approach is needed.

This is very much the ethos of Calverts, a workers’ co-operative in Bethnal Green, London. Still going from strength to strength since it was established 37 years ago, the printer provides a positive counterpoint to the Co-op Group’s recent farm and pharmacy sell-off woes.

Calverts was established in 1977 when seven former workers of IRAT Services, the design and publishing wing of the Institute for Research in Art and Technology, decided they were sick of feeling like cogs in the wheel. They decided that all having more input in the running of a company would be a double boon. They would feel much more motivated and this would have a positive knock-on effect for the business’s health.

In fact, IRAT had billed itself to the workers as a co-operative. But the group became dissatisfied that this was not in fact the case when, following a dispute over a sacked colleague, they found themselves issued with redundancy notices. So the workers decided to forge out on their own, establishing a common ownership, ICOM (Industrial and Common Ownership Movement) worker co-operative.

They incorporated as an industrial and provident society in November 1977, and the first formal meeting was held at the North Star pub, Finchley Road. The group named themselves after Giles and Elizabeth Calvert, radical printers of seditious books during the 17th century English revolution. 

The co-operative, still located in Bethnal Green, is true to its original ethos of one member, one vote, and all workers on equal pay.

The method

Today the co-operative consists of 12 members. Sales and marketing director Arthur Stitt says that on walking into the Bethnal Green print and graphic design facilities, you wouldn’t necessarily notice anything different compared with a traditional printing company. 

Ringing up the company, you might notice that there is only one line in and everyone shares responsibility for liaising with customers and knowing where a job is at any time.

“We’re not just an anonymous web portal. We have one number that comes into the company; we don’t have receptionists,” says Stitt, who has worked at Calverts for 19 years after having his eyes opened to co-ops living in a housing co-operative in New Cross. “When you call, everyone will have some idea of what’s happening with your job, and if they don’t know they’ll be just one person away from someone who does,” he adds.

But it’s on meeting days that a visitor would really notice the difference. The team, from the most senior to junior members, all get together once a week to discuss “day-to-day stuff.” Then there is a monthly meeting lasting about two hours, where overall business strategy and financial performance is thrashed out. Everyone is present and is expected to contribute.

It is at these meetings that individuals might pitch new ideas. “If anyone has a strategic business idea, it’s very self-motivated,” says Stitt. “It’s up to individuals to bring those ideas to the meeting. If there’s a particular idea that grabs us, they do the research and bring it back to the group.”

The fact everyone is on exactly the same wage, no matter their seniority or years of service, is key to encouraging this, explains Stitt: “Equal pay is a great leveller when it comes to making business decisions,” he says. “The fact everyone is paid the same means everyone’s opinion is equally valid. It allows people’s voices to be heard and for them to grow in confidence.”

The way Calverts recruits is also key. “Having that initiative and business sense is always a key part of the criteria for new staff as well as showing they can do their core job,” says Stitt. “After that, it’s having some experience of a co-op.”

“Some people don’t want to take responsibility. Some are quite willing to give up a degree of self determinism to have an easy life, which is fair enough,” adds Stitt, to explain why Calverts won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

Of course, as with any business, getting people who fit with the organisation’s ethos is not an exact science. The co-op has to have well-thought out grievance procedures, same as any other business, for when things aren’t quite working.

The result

Stitt feels the open nature of the business, with everyone involved in every decision, makes dealing with any grievances much more straightforward.

“In any business you will have grievances and people who don’t fit in. With traditional businesses when people don’t fit or don’t feel they fit in, often it’s not spoken about and it becomes a Chinese whispers thing. But with this structure, if you have got a grievance you can get it off your chest; opening up clears the air quicker.”

The chief benefit of the set-up is that staff creativity and day-to-day experiences are fully utilised in driving the business forward. Stitt cites Calverts’ move into digital and computer to plate processing as examples of where staff input was invaluable in investing in the right technology at the right time.

Perhaps the best specific example of the co-op setup’s success is its environmental credentials. Calverts has always been way ahead of the curve on this side of things, says Stitt, because decisions are made in a more discursive, holistic way.

“When we first started on the presses, we were using a lot of heavy solvent-based chemicals to clean the press. But we led the way in banning those,” says Stitt. “That’s when we started developing environmental policies. We use biodegradable inks. For example, when we invested in digital kit we looked at the greenest possible process we could go for.”

He adds: “We made these decisions in the 80s when lots of people thought of us as just sandal-wearing hippies – if you were environmentally responsible you were seen as an anomaly. We were ahead of the crowd because those decisions were made on the shop floor. The printers knew that this wasn’t good stuff – anything with a skull on it doesn’t tend to be. But in a traditional company, that decision would have been based back then on cost and tradition.”

Not that this more discursive decision-making process is without its challenges. “It can sometimes take a little longer to come to decisions,’” says Stitt.

Some of the technicalities of being a co-op limited set-up rather than a traditional limited company can be slightly tricky. “We are ltd, just under a slightly different name, which just means we’re not registered under Companies House,” explains Stitt. “That can be tricky if we’re bidding for EU tenders, as on those forms there’s often not the option to put co-op. Also, we have a co-op domain name so often emails end up in people’s spam folders.”

These challenges are more than compensated for by the benefits bought by being a co-operative, says Stitt. Not only does a democratic approach keep the business healthy, but more customers are now looking for companies with strong ethical credentials, he reports.   

“Companies these days are very aware of what companies think of them,” he says. “The key sectors we work with are social enterprises, others in the co-op movement and charities. Individuals value the fact we’re a co-op as well. We’re based just beyond Shoreditch, there’s a lot of artists, galleries, illustrators and photographers; it’s a very big creative industry and I think they’re more used to working collaboratively.”

So strong is Calverts’ ethical stance, it is working to develop the world’s first Co-op Mark, to be used in much the same way as the Fairtrade stamp. 

The overall result of being a co-op is the business staying comfortably at the £1m turnover mark for the past few years. In years of trading through three recessions, no employee has ever lost their job by reason of forced redundancy, says Stitt, and real wages have increased almost without interruption for 30 years.

Stitt would very much recommend the experience of being part of a healthy, happy and in-demand co-op. 

“We spend so much time at work that I think work should have some meaning for everyone involved. This business model allows that to happen.” 

DO IT YOURSELF

Following suit

Companies can find information and advice on becoming a co-op at Co-ops UK (www.uk.coop) or at the International Co-operative Alliance: http://ica.coop/en.

Stitt says that this model tends to work better for smaller firms, as all voices can be heard. “The size of the business helps - if you grew to too many people, it would take too long to make the decisions. But 12 people is manageable,” he says.

Potential pitfalls

One issue the co-op is grappling with is how to bring in interns and apprentices without breaking its equal pay rule. “We wouldn’t want to bring in an intern or apprentice on a lower wage. We’re constantly debating that, because none of us are getting any younger and we do need some fresh blood,” says Stitt. 

“Bringing in a small web design outfit might be an idea. That business would be inside Calverts but not completely part of it, so those people wouldn’t have to be on the same wage initially.”

Stitt adds that, though the organisation does do some work for free for third-sector organisations, it has to be careful to remain profitable enough to keep everyone in a well-paid job. “We do work for free but you have to be careful because it can devalue what you do. We’re a commercial business, we can’t be a co-op unless we make a profit; we’re not grant-maintained or funded so we have to turn a profit.”

Top tips

• Consider carefully whether new recruits will fit in with the ethos of the company. “If you’ve worked in print, which is a very traditional industry, where there’s maybe a shop floor and management situation, it’s been very heavily unionised in the past. To make a break with that can be quite difficult,” says Stitt.
• But don’t forget that it may take new starters a while to adjust to this different way of working. “You’ve got to get the right people but having said that, people can change within this kind of environment,” says Stitt. “Initially there may be a degree of scepticism but that’s natural when you consider how different we are.”
• Be patient. Decision-making necessarily has to be a longer process when there are more people to pass a majority vote.

Stitt’s top tip

“It’s about being as open and transparent as you possibly can be. Nothing is insurmountable if you can talk about it collectively in an open way.” 

Calverts

Vital statistics 

Location Bethnal Green, London

Inspection host Arthur Stitt, sales and marketing director

Size Just over £1m turnover, 12 staff 

Established Formed as a workers’ cooperative in 1977 by seven former workers of IRAT services, the design and publishing wing of the Institute for Research in Art and Technology, after an industrial dispute

Products The company produces a range of commercial and high-end print, from Fairtrade teaching tools and low-carbon travel guides to art and science comics and high-end books. Key sectors include others in the co-op movement, charities, artists, galleries, illustrators and photographers

Kit Heidelberg Speedmaster B2 74, Konica Minolta Bizhib 8000 and Bizhub 6000 

Inspection focus Being a workers’ co-operative