Supporting fair and ethical business in partnership with The Co-operative Bank

Business Support – help for your co-op: Application guidance

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Introduction 

Help for your co-op is a business support programme for existing co-ops that have been incorporated and trading for more than 18 months and submitted financial accounts.

If you have not started trading or have been incorporated for less than 18 months, then this programme is not for you. Instead, you should apply for our programme for start-ups.

Before you start your application, we recommend you read this application guidance carefully. It includes information about:

  • The application process and how we assess your application 
  • The documents and information you need to gather before you apply 
  • A preview of all the questions you will be asked in the form

We advise you to prepare as much as possible in advance. You can download a copy of this guidance as a pdf file by clicking on 'download pdf' button on the side menu.

Commitment fee

If you are awarded the support package, you will be asked to contribute a £100 commitment fee (inclusive of VAT) or £75 for Co-operatives UK members. The fee has proven to be the best approach to ensure the support is allocated to teams that are truly committed to participating in the programme. Co-operatives UK reinvests the funds into future support provision. If the fee is a barrier to your participation in the programme, please let us know in your application and we will consider waiving the fee.