Consultancy
Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency’s team of experienced advisers are available for consultancy work. We have a participative approach that emphasises solutions which are equitable and sustainable. We liaise closely with clients and ensure that our services are cost effective and efficient.
1. Co-operative Directions
Co-operative Directions is the consultancy arm of GCDA. It draws on the knowledge and expertise from within GCDA and associates from the Public Sector, and social enterprise experts from all over the country. Our team of consultants and extensive networks of Associates have considerable hands on experience of creating commercially viable social enterprises both large and small. We advise on the steps required to ensure success and the appropriate social ownership models to meet differing circumstances. We have extensive proven abilities of successfully applying the theory of social enterprise to the public sector, across many institutions and service areas.
We provide the following:
- Initial briefings on options and opportunities for social enterprises aimed at Senior Management, drawing on examples of successful social enterprises relevant to the service area, advising on different social enterprise models and identifying critical success factors
- Scoping potential service areas that could be considered for social enterprise and undertaking feasibility work
- Advising on legal, HR and financial matters including creating the legal entity, establishing management structures and advising on Board membership
- Developing and assessing the strength of the business model
- Supporting management and staff from building support through to implementation
- Secondment of senior managers to support or oversee the transfer of staff and assets to the new enterprise
- Providing on-going support and health checks to newly created social enterprise
C-operative Directions can provide differing levels of support to organisations looking at social enterprise. We are committed to the creation of commercially viable, successful social enterprises which can deliver effective services with a committed and supportive workforce with the added benefit of retaining wealth in the local area.
We are highly flexible and will adapt our approach to meet specific requirements – whether this means a simple assessment and briefing of options or highly intensive support through to the creation of the new enterprise, including the placement of interim staff within the organisation.
2. Community Needs Assessments/Community Consultations
GCDA has over 8 years commissioned experience in completing community needs assessments on behalf of the NHS, local authorities and social housing providers, architects and developers.
Community Needs Assessments are used to evaluate community interest in programmes that our commissioning partners are interested in facilitating.
These programmes include the following:
- Community owned social enterprises
- Models of community representation
- Participation and representation including volunteering, establishing community trusts
- Representation on local groups and governance of local projects
- Community cafes
- Food co-ops and street markets
- Community Cookery Clubs
- Community catering projects; cafes, lunch clubs, recipe books
- Community centre programmes
- Health programmes
- Chair based exercise and community walks
- Food growing projects and horticultural training
- Smoking Cessation Services
- Health Training for Community Health Promoters (a Department of Health pilot)
The consultation process will follow the route below:
- Community audits; physical, demographic and social
- Consultation with existing community groups, those involved with local delivery and community leaders
- Community questionnaires; including door to door
- Establishing new community owned bodies
- Delivering mentoring & training
- Establishing projects
- Volunteering; including training local residents to carry out the audits and questionnaires, opportunities to volunteer in the delivery of chosen projects, becoming members of the management body of newly formed groups
3. Feasibility Studies
A feasibility study is an evaluation of a proposed project/ business/ or business expansion to determine the best options for delivery, levels of demand, success parameters. Generally, a feasibility study precedes the development of a business plan or project implementation.
Example feasibility for a community café:
- Develop idea
- Assess demand of both internal and external customers through questionnaires
- Internal user assessments through visiting each group, individual interviews and questionnaires with service users
- Competition analysis. To establish other businesses and organisations that serve the local and wider community and are likely to compete for custom.
- Community needs assessment; demographics, physical environment, local activity
- Industry trends, economic trends, structural development e.g. increased demand for healthier food
- Advise on embedding principles of healthy, sustainable, affordable catering
- Street based research to measure footfall
- Stakeholder Interviews
- Physical environment required and capital investment
- Simple profit and loss summary
Our Clients
Our clients have included social enterprises, local authorities, primary care trusts, charities and other third sector organisations.