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Move set to boost co-ops

New legislation will be introduced by 2015 that will help to make it as easy to set up a co-operative as any other form of business, the Prime Minister has announced.

David Cameron said on 19 January that more than a dozen outdated pieces of legislation would be streamlined into the Co-operatives Bill, adding that the move was designed to remove barriers to “encouraging choice (and) opening up new forms of enterprise.”

Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operatives UK, said: “The new act is intended to make it as easy and natural to form a co-operative as any other form of business.

“We are delighted to see the coalition taking action to put co-operative businesses on an equal footing and create a diverse economy.

“Co-operatives, as well as being widely recognised for their ethical business practices, are a vital part of the British economy, employing more than 235,000 people, turning over more than £33 billion each year and generating a significant amount of wealth for the country.”

Link: Co-operatives UK