Master Thesis

01/10/2021

Essential Trading was one of a handful of businesses chosen for a master thesis on worker co-operatives in the UK.  Written by Andreea Preluca, a student at the Department of Earth Sciences, Uppsala University in Sweden, Doing Business in the Doughnut: The sustainability of worker co-operatives, is a 112 page document that went on to receive a great response from course tutors and the examining board.  Andreea contacted Jimmy Nelson from Essential’s marketing department who further arranged interviews with long-standing member, Tim Blanc.  We’re delighted to announce that Andreea passed with flying colours.  The study summary goes a long way to explain the content:

‘The world of business and corporations is often accused of inflicting harm on our environment and our communities.  Enterprise models that are a better fit to meet human needs and current global challenges already exist in our societies but remain widely unknown in the sea of businesses run by a board of shareholders and/or a suite of executives.  Worker co-operatives represent one such alternative model.  This study investigates ways in which worker co-operatives can contribute to a more sustainable world, using a holistic framework that places enterprises at the intersection between meeting social and environmental needs.  A multiple case study of six worker co-operatives in the UK indicates that this model can contribute to sustainability by embodying a core purpose of fulfilling the needs of workers and their communities, rather than aiming for financial gains.  The research suggests that worker co-operatives distribute the wealth they generate internally and with their communities, and they are to some degree regenerative of the natural environment they inhabit.  Where they encounter sustainability challenges, they appear willing and interested to work on improving themselves by learning from their peers, experimenting and welcoming change.’