This story starts with someone named Adam, but it’s also a story about making the world a better place through co-operation, collaboration and teamwork.

Three years ago, in a quiet part of Shrewsbury, Adam Pahal had an idea. With organisational changes at Impact Box Limited already afoot, he saw an opportunity to build a workplace that could truly benefit its workers, its clients and society as a whole. Together with the other founding members (Becky, Ant, Desa, Matt and Mungo), they began to dream of forging an organisation that embodied democracy and fairness, and that incorporated the values that he knew were important to them all.

That’s when we learnt about the co-operative movement and how it might offer a new, transformative way forward. But what actually is a co-operative?

We learnt that members enjoy an equal say in how the business is run and share profits fairly; that their focus is on how they make profit, and what they do with it to bring value to their members and community; about the fact that every co-op across the world shares the same overarching co-operative principles and values.

It was apparent to us that co-operation could build not only a pioneering and reflective workplace, but also help to contribute to a stronger, fairer and more sustainable society. Inspired by the idea of co-ops, our trusty team demonstrated a collaborative approach right away, engaging in a series of discussions and votes about how to utilise each member’s skills and experience to pave a robust way forward.

And thus, with a sense of excitement and a fair few nerves, Impact Box Co-operative Limited was born in early 2022, composed of a team of six directors working in a circular management structure (and supported closely, of course, by their dogs, cats and hens). It wasn’t long before Sharmin, realising all the fun she was missing, decided to rejoin the team. We were all too happy to welcome her back into the fold, bringing us back up to a team of seven diverse individuals, each with different expertise and perspectives to offer.

We’re proud to say that, three years on from our formation, and as we mark the International Year of Co-operatives, we’re thoroughly enjoying being part of an international movement that goes against an established way of doing things.

Within that time we’ve trialled management area rotations to ensure continued learning and development. We’ve offered increased flexibility, like allowing members to condense their hours, should it provide a better fit for their working style, and we’ve made it possible for our members to work from anywhere in the world (road trip, here we come!). Currently, we’re exploring Sociocracy and how we can implement this model to improve our decision making. Significantly, the organisation feels more supportive and inclusive than ever before.

We’re continually learning about the power of democracy and member-led decision making, and seeing just how transformative this can be. We’re supporting charities and social purpose organisations across the nation, driving their missions forward while simultaneously living out the values that are important to us.

As a team, this year we’ll be looking at how we can further support the IYC’s core goals:

• Highlighting the contributions of cooperatives to sustainable development

• Promoting growth and development

We hope that this blog is a small but significant contribution to those aims. So, happy International Year of Co-operatives! May it shine a light on the brilliant work of all billion co-operative members worldwide, who are working together to offer hope and solutions.

You can find out more about the IYC, including events being run, at 2025.coop and Co-operatives UK.