Global Innovation Co-op Summit: Our winner Sam Webb visits Montreal

Sam’s experience in Montreal

“I’m Sam Webb, store manager at Lydney Petrol station, and I’ve worked for the Society in Food retail for 13 years. I won the competition I saw on Colleagues Connect to nominate a UK Co-op that our Society could start working with and explain how by partnering with them, we’ll be able to build a fairer, more sustainable and ethical future. My prize was to have the opportunity to represent our Society at the Global Innovation Co-op Summit that took place in Montreal, Canada, in late September. You can find out more about my winning entry here and below. 

My journey...

“I flew out to Canada with Michaela Cryar (Director of Younity, our Joint Venture with Octopus Energy) and Pete Westall, Chief Values Officer. Our first 2 days were spent in Ottawa, where we were hosted by Dan Brunette, Executive Director of Co-operatives and Mutuals Canada, the group that represents all co-ops in the country. Dan had organised a brilliant schedule – giving us the chance to have a site visit to many co-ops, from rooftop solar to childcare. A real highlight was visiting Parliament and spending an hour with Senator Lucy Moncion talking about common issues, solutions and opportunities for co-ops in both the UK and Canada. 

“The conference was in Montreal and gave me a real opportunity to see first-hand how highly regarded Midcounties is amongst co-operatives and co-operators across the world. I was really surprised to hear that our Steering Wheel was known about by so many delegates and seen as a really great way of tracking our co-operative performance; that our Childcare business was so well known and so highly regarded, and our work on community energy was described as inspirational. Both Pete and Michaela were speakers at the conference – Pete talking about Midcounties and the circular economy, giving Fairphone as a great example of that – and Michaela on how Younity is helping innovate, inspire and drive community energy in the UK. It was great to see our Society highlighted in this way and being seen as one of the leading co-ops. 

“Other sessions covered the digital future, including artificial intelligence and leading in a co-operative way. I had the opportunity to meet many of the speakers and chat about co-operation – including international co-op board members, CEOs from co-op societies and federal bodies, and co-op experts from so many subject areas including renewable energy, IT, credit unions and childcare. All of them were really interested and pleased about the competition I won and keen to know more about how we are driving energy efficiency and renewable energy. 

Visiting Co-op Embrun Head Office with Michaela Cryar (Director of Younity, our Joint Venture with Octopus Energy) and Pete Westall, Chief Values Officer - like us they are in a range of sectors

“We also got the opportunity to see a lot of both Ottawa and Montreal – with the highlight being a trip to see Montreal take on Toronto at ice hockey. Canada was a great place to visit and I feel both lucky to have been given the chance to go as well as inspired to get more involved in co-ops going forward. I’m really grateful for the opportunity, want to help my idea of working with Big Solar Co-op come to life and am really proud of representing Midcounties – and seeing how we are looked up to as a really great co-op across the world. You can see a short video about our trip below.”