Current secretary Kathie Higginson and founder member Jenny Slaughter

September 2025 marks the 55th birthday of worker co-op On the Eighth Day. An institution in Manchester, many have memories of visiting the store and café over the years from its first site in the 1970s at the original Arndale Store (next to another Worker Co-op, Grassroots books), to its current site Oxford Road part of the University corridor. An exhibition on the history of the co-op can be seen across the walls of the café telling the story of the co-op and its roots in the radical counter culture movement of the time.

Early Poster for the shop at its former site in Manchester

Earlier this year, two of the team contacted the Co-op Archives as they needed to research the history of the co-op in order to create and exhibition. The records are held at the Co-op Archive and they spent a few days working through their collection to help plan their exhibition. So much was learnt by both sides during this process, and I was interested to hear that 'Mole Express', a magazine for Manchester's Counter Culture, had been based there.

The exhibition can be viewed during the café open hours and more about the café can be found in this article in the Co-op News. Iconic Manchester worker co-op Eighth Day celebrates 55 years - Co-operative News

A lack of Worker Co-op Collections had been identified by an earlier archivist and a National Lottery Heritage Funded project called ‘Working Together’ ran for one year to collect archives and also oral histories to preserve the important stories and histories of Worker Co-operatives. These are now kept at the Co-op Archive in Manchester and work is currently being undertaken to fully catalogue the collections. An earlier blog post about one of the other collections is on our website.

Founder members looking at some photos

What is a Worker co-operative?

On the Eighth Day is a worker co-operative. There is no hierarchical management structure, and important decisions are made at regular meetings and are voted on by all members. They aim to offer a wide range of foods to customers that are ethically produced and promote awareness of other causes such as the environment. Worker co-operatives are businesses owned and controlled by the members who work in them. Most are flat structures where each member has a say in how the business is run.

Co-operative Productive Societies

The first steps within the British co-operative movement towards workers’ control were the co-operative productive societies. Largely set up in the late 19^th century, these were often based in industries where a high element of craft was required, such as printing or footwear. Many of these societies belonged to the Co-operative Productive Federation Limited.

These societies often included in their rules open membership, democratic control, and a distributed dividend to the members.

By the turn of the 20^th century there were 200 societies, however by the mid-20^th century many of these had fallen into decline.

Workers’ co-operatives 1970s-1990s

The 1970s-1990s saw a new wave of workers’ co-operatives developing due to a number of factors. From the 1970s-1990s there was an increased interest in working co-operatively due to factors such as; oppressive economic conditions, high unemployment, and people looking to build a fairer and more equal society.

“It was the time of late 60s’ alternative counter-culture and we decided we’d like to do something completely different to promote more collaboration, rather than competition.”  

Jenny Slaughter, Member, On the 8th Day, Manchester

How Worker Co-operatives Operated

Although spanning different industries, worker co-operatives of the 1970s-1990s often shared common elements in how they operated.

Democratic Decision Making 

Many worker co-operatives were set up in evolving industries that complemented the ideals of the movement. These included sale and distribution of wholefoods, radical bookshops, and printers. Although spanning different industries, worker co-operatives shared common elements in how they operated including democratic decision making, fair pay, and job rotation. This helped develop democratic decision making. It also helped create a more feminist work environment, with women and men sharing roles that in other businesses would often have been gendered. 

In some co-operatives equal pay was not a possibility. This was often the case in co-operatives that required specialist technical skills. However within these wages still remained fair, and pay differentials were minimal.

Workers’ Co-operative Networks

In 1984 there were around 700 worker co-operatives in the UK.  Key to this development were networks created to share ideas and learning. Local networks were often informal, local networks of worker co-operatives were set up. A common practice within these was to swap members for short periods of time in order to develop ideas and skills from other co-operatives.

Alongside these, wider national networks were set up between worker co-operatives. Trade links often provided the ties for these networks, with worker co-operatives from industries such as bookselling and whole foods, banding together to share suppliers and advice.

A National Co-operative Development Agency was set up in 1978. Alongside this around 100 regional Co-operative Development Agencies were set up during this period, mostly by local authorities. These supported the creation and development of new co-operatives.

ICOM

Supported by the Industrial Common Ownership Act, 1976, representation and advice was offered through the Industrial Common Ownership Movement including model rules for worker co-ops to follow.

ICOF

The Industrial Common Ownership Act also provided £250 000 to establish a loan fund for the Industrial Common Ownership Finance. Loans were then provided through this body to worker co-operatives in need.

“In the 1970s, employee ownership, common ownership, worker co-ops… was, becoming a little bit more known, but was still very much on the fringe and, we felt, we needed to support each other, so we needed an organisation…so we started ICOM” 

~ Roger Sawtell, one of ICOM’s founders

Commitment to Social Change

Often worker co-ops were involved in wider movements for social change. This included refusing to trade with unethical companies, and campaigning for movements such as the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND).  The involvement of worker co-ops in these movements occasionally invited attention from extremist right wing groups and national security bodies.

Worker co-ops promoted positive social change locally through tackling labour market problems for those who might face discrimination in other businesses, such as those with disabilities.

Many worker co-operatives also became involved in their local communities. This was often through providing support to local businesses and groups, with this support frequently being returned.

Workers Co-operatives Post 1990s

In the late 1990s and early 2000s there was a decline in the number of worker co-operatives in the UK. Reasons for this included funding - a decrease of support from local authorities who had previously provided support to worker co-ops through local Co-operative Development Agencies and the recession in the early 1990s hit small worker co-ops hard. This was worsened by increased competition from larger firms. There were also changes in attitudes as an increase in focus on the individual replaced ideas about fairness and community.

Worker Co-operatives Today

Despite this, many worker co-operatives were able to adapt and survive and continue to be thriving businesses today.

With an increasing number of people moving from secure employment into precarious work, there is a growing interest in the worker co-operative model again. Worker co-ops are increasingly set up in the digital and creative sectors, with focus on bringing together self-employed and ‘gig economy’ workers into collectives, to share resources and experience.

In 2001, ICOM merged with the Co-operative Union to become Co-operatives UK who continue to support and offer advice to new and existing worker co-operatives.

The Co-operative and Mutual Economy Report 2025, from trade body Co‑operatives UK, shows that there are 372 worker co-ops operating across the UK and Worker co-ops contribute £239.8m in annual income demonstrating strong resilience and adaptability.  

Looking after your records

As an organisation’s corporate memory, a business archive is a contemporary asset as well as a rich source of information for many kinds of history. Business archives also help individuals, including professional academics, students and family historians, to research aspects of business, social, design, family and economic history.   The National Archives

If you are interested in preserving the history of your co-op, then there is some advice on our website including why it is important to keep your records. Contact you local archive who will be able to offer advice about the storage and long term preservation of your records. Initially, find out what you have, if there are any potential threats to the material and what material will tell the story of you or your organisation to potential researchers.

 All images are from the Co-op Archive Collections unless otherwise noted.