Scotland’s business support for Inclusive and Democratic Business Models is patchwork and must become a system, new report finds.
Posted: 31 August 2026, in News
IDBM Alliance Scotland calls for national leadership, better finance and stronger support pathways to help Scotland meet its ambition to triple Inclusive and Democratic Business Models by 2034.
Inclusive and Democratic Business Models (IDBMs), including community and social enterprises, co-operatives, employee-owned businesses and development trusts, can play a much bigger role in Scotland’s economy. But new research warns that Scotland will struggle to meet its ambition to triple their number by 2034 unless a fragmented landscape of support is turned into a coherent national system.
New mapping by the IDBM Alliance Scotland finds that Scotland already has considerable expertise and well-established support for some business models, but not others, leaving cooperatives and employee-owned firms underserved. And most crucially the pieces do not yet operate as a connected system, with significant gaps in finance, specialist advice, routes between providers and support for businesses seeking to grow or change ownership.
Inclusive and democratic businesses differ in their structures, but share an approach in which ownership, governance and the distribution of profit to serve a wider purpose, rather than primarily maximising returns to external shareholders.
The report, A Patchwork not an Ecosystem, argues that these businesses should not be treated as a niche segment of the economy. IDBMs are central to Scotland’s Community Wealth Building agenda and to the new Act of Parliament. Yet the current patchiness and inconsistency of support mean that, without reform, they cannot realise their full contribution to Scotland’s ambition for a more productive, resilient, locally rooted and inclusive economy.
The Scottish Government has an ambition to increase the number of IDBMs and the report argues that achieving that ambition will require a shift from a collection of individual programmes and organisations towards a more coordinated national system.
Neil McInroy, chair of the IDBM Alliance Scotland, said “As a pan‑Scottish Alliance spanning social enterprises, development trusts, co‑operatives and employee‑owned firms, we speak with one voice. For too long, Scotland has talked of a ‘social economy’. This implies something separate or partial — worthy, but somehow outside the real economy. Inclusive and democratic business models are mainstream economic actors: they anchor community wealth, drive productivity, build resilience and strengthen democracy. That’s why we must take forward our recommendations and build a coherent national ecosystem rather than today’s patchwork. Unless we do, we will keep holding back the very businesses that can help deliver Scotland’s positive future.