The Phone Co-op supports launch of UK`s first student housing co-op

The Phone Co-op
Summer 2014
The Connection
The Phone Co-op supports launch
of UK’s first student housing co-op
In July, Birmingham Student
Housing Co-operative
opened the doors of its
first property. It offers
affordable, democratically-run
accommodation to 9 students
thanks to The Phone Co-op.
The Phone Co-op has purchased the
property to help Birmingham Student
Housing Co-operative start up. The
house has been leased to the student
housing co-op on a long term basis
and the housing co-op is renting the
rooms to its student-members. Vivian
Woodell, CEO of The Phone Co-op,
said: “Birmingham Student Housing
Co-op found it a struggle to raise
the funds to buy its own property,
so we talked about how we could
help. We are pleased to support the
rapidly growing student co-operative
movement in the UK.”
Birmingham Student Housing Co-op
is a member of Students for Cooperation, the national network of
student co-ops, which we supported
this year with a £5k grant from our
Co-operative and Social Economy
Development Fund so they could hold
their first national conference. Vivian
commented: “It is very inspiring to
see a new generation using the co-op
model to solve their problems. I hope
we’ll be able to support them further
in the coming months.” Watch this
space for updates.
Co-ops are helping students to get cheaper
and more efficient accommodation.
Our place in the UK’s co-op movement
For much of the past year you
could not pick up a newspaper or
turn on the TV or radio without
hearing about the co-operative
movement. The media coverage
focused on the problems of
the Co-operative Bank and the
Co-operative Group. This has
naturally prompted some of our
customers and members to ask
about how The Phone Co-op fits
in and whether it’s affected by the
problems at the Group.
The Phone Co-op is one of the co-
Half-Yearly Meeting round up
page 2
A word from our director, David
Legge page 2
Get a Fairphone with your mobile
bundle page 3
Meet our Affinity Partner: Red
Pepper page 4
op movement’s success stories. It
is a fully independent co-operative
with its own membership and
board, and with a strong balance
sheet.
While there has been some damage
to the national Co-operative
brand which we share, we believe
that this is not permanent and
that we should stick together as
a movement and work to make
the brand a success, reflecting our
shared co-operative values and
principles.
Contact us
Customer Services 01608 434000
Residential Sales 01608 434040
Business Services 01608 434070
[email protected]
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The Connection
Our co-operative difference
Half-Yearly Meeting: The Phone
Co-op puts its members to work!
The Phone Co-op held its first
Half-Yearly Meeting on 12th
July. It had a different feel to
any members’ gatherings we
had run before. Our Secretary,
Amanda Beard, summarises the
outcomes of the day...
It was our first half yearly meeting
and I feel it was a great success.
Despite the rather hot and sticky day,
we really appreciated how many of
you turned up and contributed your
ideas and views.
There was no shortage of ideas
for developments, especially to
the products and services we offer,
including new bundles, forums, an
ethical mobile phone that isn’t a
smartphone, prices on the front page
of the website and much more.
as using members’ skills and setting
up member groups.
JOIN US
TODAY...
Regarding the national Co-operative
brand which we adopted in 2012
there were various opinions though
the majority felt there was strength
and solidarity in continuing to use it.
What happens next? All your
thoughts and ideas have been collated
and will be discussed by our Board
and our Management Team, who will
feed them into our planning process
where we can. Of course, we’ll keep
you posted. In the meantime, please,
do carry on sharing your invaluable
ideas. It’s your co-op!
... and you will be eligible for
the dividend on your spend
with us since September
2013!
You also gave us suggestions on how
to increase member engagement, such
Read more about the meeting on
www.thephone.coop/membership/blog
Sign up online by 31st August 2014
thephone.coop/becomeamember
A word from... David Legge
A customer of The Phone Co-op
for seven years, David Legge joined
our Board of Directors in January
2014. We recently interviewed him
and asked him about what he can
contribute to our co-op. This is what
he said:
Want to find out more about
David? Check out his interview
on our Membership Blog:
www.thephone.coop/membership/blog
2
“Firstly, I like to regard myself as a
steady pair of hands. I’m conscious
I’ve been elected by our members to
look after their co-operative for them.
And I’m honoured.
Secondly, I will focus on making
sure we give our customers and
members a fair and transparent deal
including clear communication of any
changes which is where a lot of large
corporations fall down.
Thirdly, I try to improve the workings
of any group I’m a part of and will
bring that experience to the Board.
It’s been eye-opening for me to see
inside the world of co-operatives.
Whilst I have been shopping and
banking (and phoning) with them
all my life I never realised it was an
entire active and lively ‘ecosystem’.
But it’s under some duress at the
moment, so it’s all hands to the
pump.”
Summer 2014
The Connection
New products and services
A Fairphone from
The Phone Co-op
Make your
number work for
your business
Back in June we asked you
whether you’d be interested
in us offering Fairphone with
our Co-operative Mobile
bundles. You then said ‘yes’,
and you know your wish is our
command, so... we’ve done it!
The Co-operative Business
Telecoms’ new numbering platform
allows us to provide a range of
numbers and a wider range of
flexible call handling options
for both outbound and inbound
solutions.
Our extensive range of geographic
(01 & 02) and non-geographic
(08 & 03) numbers means we
can provide a local or national
presence to your organisation in
almost every part of the UK. For
example, are you based in rural
Yorkshire but need a London
number? We can provide it.
Why Fairphone?
We encourage you not to get a new
handset unless you really need one;
however, if that’s the case, why
not choose a mobile phone that is
produced with the Conflict-Free Tin
Initiative and Solutions for Hope to
source conflict-free tin and tantalum
in Africa, and which is working
to improve fair factory working
conditions?
Fairphone is produced by a social
enterprise, an organisation that puts
people and the environment first - just
like we do. It’s committed to reducing
electronic waste and the negative
impact it has on the planet: by selling
spare parts; providing self-repair
guides and safe recycling programmes.
We’re glad to announce The Phone
Co-op has just entered an exciting
new partnership with the Dutch
social enterprise that produces
Fairphone. The Phone Co-op will be
the UK’s only stockist of Fairphone
and will offer the ethical smartphone
with our Co-operative Mobile
contracts and with our Pay As You
Go services.
Getting a Fairphone with one of
our mobile contracts can help those
who prefer to spread the cost of the
handset (£250 approx.).
The Fairphone can take two SIM
cards (e.g. a work and a personal
one), offering greater flexibility.
For now, we have ordered only
a limited number of Fairphones
and we’ll be offering them to our
customers on a first-come, first-served
basis. So if you want one, make sure
you pre-book yours.
Summer 2014
Pre-order your
Fairphone bundle!
Monthly contracts available from £22
per month (24-month contract)
Call 01608 434040 or visit
thephone.coop/fairphone
;_
You can take your number with
you when you relocate, even if
you’re moving overseas, so that
people can keep in touch with
you easily without the high cost
of international calls.
Our numbers can be used with
our VoIP services or simply
to route calls to your existing
landline or mobile.
From £5.00 per month, take your
number anywhere you want and
put your organisation on the map
with our numbering services. Call
01608 434070 for further details.
Have you tried Pay As You Go yet?
Competitive rates, honest pricing,
great coverage and, what really
matters, provided by your own
co-operative. What else could
you ask for from a prepaid
mobile service?
Order your SIM today on
payg.thephone.coop and start
using it straightaway.
Oh, and tell your family and
friends. You’ll share in the profits!
3
The Connection
Meet our Affinity Partner
Red Pepper: for those interested in social justice
As a non-profit magazine,
Red Pepper has operated on
a shoestring since it was first
set up in 1994. Our Affinity
Partnership has offered them
financial support over the years:
Red Pepper gets a percentage
of the spend of every new
customer they bring to us.
Red Pepper is a bi-monthly magazine
and website of left politics and
culture drawing on feminist, green
and libertarian thinking. It is
completely independent and aims to
be a forum for the left to debate ideas
and action, a resource for movements
for social justice, and a voice for
grassroots campaigns.
It’s not easy for independent media
today, but after twenty years of
publication Red Pepper is still going
strong. Kitty Webster, Coordinator at
Red Pepper, says: “Being an affinity
partner of The Phone Co-op helps
provide us with much needed regular
income, safe in the knowledge that
we’re working with an organisation
that holds similar values to Red
Pepper and will always put people
before profit.”
Red Pepper has been an Affinity
Partner for 13 years.
As well as their supporters’ financial
help, Red Pepper over the years has
been sustained by the dedication of
its many volunteers and its few parttime staff. It has a voluntary editorial
collective who meet regularly to
plan and put the magazine together,
and a pool of writers and activists
in countries all around the world
who contribute to Red Pepper. The
magazine has a circulation of 7,000
readers, and 40,000 visitors to their
website every month.
Red Pepper is also so much more
than just a source of news and
information. It has a network of
supporters called ‘Friends of Red
Pepper’ who give the magazine a
monthly donation, which enables
them to put on events, host meetings
and produce campaigning resources.
Kitty adds: “We’ve had a partnership
with The Phone Co-op for nearly 13
years now – long may it continue!”
For more information about Red
Pepper, visit www.redpepper.org.uk
If you are involved in, or know of,
an organisation that needs to raise
funds, why not suggest they become
one of our Affinity Partners? Our
partners endorse our services to their
supporters and we share the revenue
with them. To find out more, contact
Pat Moral on 01608 647745 or
[email protected]
Back and forward
One year of teleconferencing
services...
How time flies! It’s a year now
since Community Network’s
teleconferencing services transferred
to The Phone Co-op and it’s been a
great addition to The Co-operative
Business Telecoms family of services.
Telephone conferencing has added
£118,000 to our sales for the first 6
months of the year. Thank you to all
of you that have turned to The Phone
Co-op for your conference calls.
... and a warm welcome to
our new customers
We are delighted to announce that
4
Namesco’s broadband services
transferred to The Phone Co-op on
31st May. 2,400 new individual and
business customers joined us.
You can now receive technical
support and advice from our UKbased Customer Services team, as
any other Phone Co-op’s customers.
Our colleagues can advice on new
packages and a wider range of
services to suit your communications
needs. We’re happy to help. Contact
us on 01608 434000 or enquiries@
thephone.coop
Remember that you can also become
a member, co-own our business and
share the profits.
Share your thoughts
Send your ideas for our newsletter
to [email protected]
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www.facebook.com/ThePhoneCoop
Refer a friend for a
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Have you spotted the two little
flyers with your bill? Pass them on
to your relatives and friends. You
both win when they switch to us.
Summer 2014