The Grimond Society dove emblem

THE

Grimond Society

Ownership for all.

We campaign to put co-operatives, mutuals, social enterprises, and employee ownership back at the heart of Liberal Democrat policy.

Join the Society Read the case
Founded July 20263 nationsnext stop: York

The case

This economy already exists. The law holds it back.

Businesses owned by the people who use them and work in them are not a fringe experiment. They are a pillar of the British economy hiding in plain sight.

£179bn
earned every year by the UK's co-operative and mutual economy
10,000+
co-operative businesses trading across the UK
82% vs 39%
five-year survival rate of co-ops against ordinary firms
16.6m
people in the UK are members of a co-operative

We keep our claims honest. Every figure we use is checked against the sector's own published data, and where a fact is contested, we say so.

What we want

Parity, not privilege

We are not asking for handouts. We are asking for a level field, so businesses owned by their workers and customers compete on the same terms as everyone else. Three things would start to fix it:

Finish the job Parliament started

Two Acts supporting the sector were passed in 2015 and 2023, and both are still waiting on their Treasury regulations. Make the regulations and switch the laws on.

Replace the lost investment relief

Social Investment Tax Relief expired in April 2023 and was never replaced, cutting community businesses off from a source of patient capital. Bring forward a successor.

Treat employee ownership fairly

The November 2025 budget halved the flagship relief for selling a business to its employees, while enlarging the reliefs conventional firms use. Restore a fair balance.

The Liberal inheritance

We are not inventing anything. We are picking up a torch.

The association of the labourers themselves on terms of equality, collectively owning the capital, and working under managers elected and removable by themselves.
JOHN STUART MILL, 1848

The great liberal economist believed worker-owned firms would, in the end, win out.

A book all Liberals should read.
JO GRIMOND ON WORKERS' CO-OPS

Inspired by Spain's Mondragon co-operatives, Grimond chaired Job Ownership Limited from its founding in 1979. It became today's Employee Ownership Association.

From Rochdale's 28 pioneers in 1844, to the Liberal Yellow Book of 1928, to Jo Grimond himself, spreading ownership has always been a liberal cause. We exist to carry it forward.

The road to York

A campaign with a destination and a date

2 July 2026

The Society is founded

Members join from across England, Wales, and Scotland in the first days.

Summer 2026

The briefing: Parity, not privilege

Our first policy briefing sets out the case and the asks, shared with members and the wider co-operative movement.

Autumn 2026

The motion takes shape

We draft with our members, consult the sector's experts, and refine the wording that will go to conference.

Early 2027

Submission

The motion is submitted for Spring Conference with the signatures to back it.

19 to 21 March 2027

York

The party votes. Ownership goes back on the agenda.

Myth and reality

The objections, answered

“Co-ops are nice, but they can't scale.” +
Actually: Mondragon in Spain employs around 70,000 people. Arup shapes skylines on every continent. Welsh Water serves three million. The ceiling people imagine is not there.
“Isn't this just charity by another name?” +
Actually: these are competitive businesses that make profits; they simply share them more widely. Co-ops survive at roughly twice the rate of ordinary firms over five years.
“Workers don't actually want to run a business.” +
Actually: they don't have to. In employee-owned firms, professional managers still manage. Ownership is about who benefits, not about everyone becoming the boss.
“This is socialism through the back door.” +
Actually: it is the opposite. Everything we argue for rests on private property, real markets, and businesses competing on merit. John Stuart Mill and Jo Grimond championed it. It is a liberal idea, and always has been.

Join us

Be a founding member

Our promise is simple: you will only hear from us when there is something real, a motion to back, an event, a specific ask, and never any noise in between.

Supporter

Count me in for specific asks: backing motions, attending events, and spreading the word. Perfect if your time is limited but your support is real.

Active core

I want to take on named tasks and help run the Society: drafting, organising, communications, and the work that gets us to York.

Join The Grimond Society

Open to Liberal Democrat members. It takes two minutes.