CAN and fellow worker co-operative Ealing Business Services have brought together their skills and experience to launch a new collaborative initiative to address the needs of the Voluntary and Community Sector.
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Trading Up addresses the needs of voluntary organisations developing trading functions, launching trading subsidiaries or operating a "mixed economy" of commercial and charitable activity. "Development of trading activity can provide opportunities for innovation in provision, independent income, expansion, lower unit costs and a stronger bottom line" says Trading Up Team Leader Chris Funnell. Chris continues: "But it also creates a need to enhance management systems, financial awareness and market knowledge and to demonstrate 'contract readiness' and 'investment readiness'. These are areas where Trading Up can help." Trading Up is a joint initiative by Co-operative Assistance Network Limited (CAN) and Ealing Business Services Limited (EBS). Both are asset-locked companies limited by guarantee with social objectives that have been trading for nearly twenty years. They have joined forces to create a service to help VSOs maximise opportunities and address barriers to progress. |
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CAN has provided training and consultancy services to Social Enterprises directly and through contracts with Business Link Service Providers and Voluntary Sector Infrastructure Organisations since 1989. Increasingly over recent years this has encompassed working with Voluntary Sector Organisations developing social enterprise activities. See more at www.can.coop.
EBS has provided financial management services and financial management systems development to voluntary sector organisations, also since 1989. In recent years this has increasingly focused on enabling them to run multiple projects under different funding and trading regimes within robust and auditable management systems. See www.ebs.coop for more.
"Through the Trading Up Initiative we can provide a much more comprehensive
service than either of us could provide on our own" says Steve Belsey,
Chair of the Project Steering Group "...and provide an excellent package
of services for the Voluntary and Community Sector.
Trading Up is a joint initiative by Co-operative Assistance Network Limited (Registered Office: 1 Brunswick Place, Southampton SO15 2AN, Co. Reg. No.: 2454057, VAT Reg. No.: 550 0276 78) and Ealing Business Services Ltd. (Registered Office: 7 Drayton Avenue, London W13 0LE, Co. Reg. No.: 2359500)
The Trading Up Initiative website can be viewed at www.can.coop/tradingup
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CAN's Press Officer is Chris Funnell: chris@can.cooptelephone: 0845 3733616
If you are interested in engaging CAN to carry out a piece of work please refer to the contacts page for details of your nearest CAN Regional Manager.
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