Update from our CEO – Strengthening the Voice of Inclusive and Democratic Businesses
Posted: 05 August 2025, in News
Dear members,
I wanted to share a quick update following a cross-sector meeting we hosted last week with national partners from the co-op, employee-owned, community development trust and community and social enterprise movements.
As you may know, the Scottish Government has set out an ambition to triple the number of Inclusive and Democratic Business Models (IDBMs) by 2034. It’s a bold goal; and we believe it’s vital that the voices of those already delivering on the ground help shape what comes next.
That’s why we’ve taken the first steps toward forming a new IDBM Alliance Scotland. We have proposed to create a space for collaboration, shared advocacy, and action. The aim is to make sure this agenda stays rooted in the values, diversity and lived reality of our sectors.
At this stage, we’re:
- Drafting a light-touch Terms of Reference;
- Recruiting a Chair to help coordinate our next phase of work;
- Identifying areas where we can jointly influence government; starting with ecosystem mapping and 2026 election priorities
We’ll be sharing more soon, and we’re keen to involve our members throughout this process. We’ll be testing our thinking more widely at the Social Enterprise Summit on 2nd September, so if you’re joining us, expect to hear more there. Thanks for all that you do to lead by example; and for continuing to show what inclusive, democratic business looks like in practice.
More soon!
Best,
Chris