founded 1996 headquarters 89 albany rd chorlton manchester m21 0bn england . number of employees 70 website unicorn grocery.coop unicorn grocery is a co operative grocery store located in chorlton cum hardy manchester england . as a workers co op it is controlled democratically by its member owners who run the business with a flat management structure and with an equal rate of pay . ethics form the foundations of the business and unicorn s principles of purpose are the framework within which the business operates . unicorn is closely connected to local sister company glebelands city growers in sale and owns 21 acres 85 000 m2 of peri urban growing land at glazebury cheshire . it sells fresh dried and processed food and drink much of it organic and with a focus on local and fairtrade sourcing as well as household bodycare and general grocery items . keeping prices in line with the supermarkets unicorn is one of the largest independent wholefood groceries in the uk and has an annual turnover of around 7 million . during 2008 it won two national awards named bbc radio s best local food retailer 1 and the observer food monthly s best independent retailer 2 contents 1 business model and structure 2 unicorn today 3 history 4 principles 5 references 6 external links business model and structure edit unicorn is based on a model 3 devised by roger sawtell former chair of the industrial common ownership movement icom a co operative federation that now forms part of co operatives uk . 4 roger has written at length on co operative structure and employee participation and his model was first put into practice at daily bread co operative a workers co op in northampton now with a sister branch in cambridge . the idea to set up a similar company in manchester came about in 1994 based on the experiences of adam york who had worked in the northampton shop . the model revolves around direct often bulk purchasing directly from manufacturers where possible rather than distributors on site processing to add value and competitive margins and pricing matching supermarket prices . 5 unicorn is based on the core principles of co operative organisation 6 in that is that the business is owned and democratically run by its employees the membership of the co op and they are the people who receive profits or other benefits generated by the business . there are no outside shareholders executives or owners . the co op is almost completely fully mutual i.e. all staff are members of the co operative . the exception being that between 5 and 10 % of hours needed can be performed by casual staff . experiments with a third level of non member shop assistants proved unsuitable for the co op . unicorn today edit the business occupies a 10 000 square foot 930 m2 site including large storage and office space has a turnover of around 7 million and employs around 65 co op members plus casual staff . it sells unpackaged organic fruit and vegetables basic dried ingredients prepared foods chilled and delicatessen goods organic bread and alcohol and environmentally friendly body and household products . all are sourced with the shop s principles in mind with a focus on local organic and fair trade . 7 as well as groceries the shop provides a kids play area information about the products and what to do with them and a green roof . 8 in 2007 unicorn members became land owners purchasing 21 acres 85 000 m2 of growing land 14 miles 23 km from the shop in glazebury cheshire once again using loanstock to finance the purchase . 9 designed to improve and secure the shops s regional fresh supply the land will be used to grow vegetables organically for sale in the shop cutting food miles significantly . history edit from an original working group of two people the shop opened on september 21 1996 with a working group of four members plus volunteers . financial support and advice came from sources including the industrial common ownership finance ltd icof 10 co op finance team a triodos bank loan and loanstock a form of fixed term bond raised from supporters and potential customers . turnover began at 4000 per year and reached 4 million by 2007 . 11 this was matched by growth in staff reaching 51 by 2007 . having rented the site for 7 years unicorn faced closure in 2003 when owners town and country decided to sell the site . 12 using 100 000 of loanstock bonds raised in a week 13 a mortgage from triodos bank and additional funding from icof co operative action and triodos bank s inspiring change scheme 14 15 unicorn raised the 1 million needed and bought the building . growth has necessitated organisational changes within the co op the most significant being the creation of a representative structure a departure from all members attending the fortnightly members decision making meetings . 13 after the group swelled beyond 15 people members divided into teams and individual co op members are now represented by team overviews at fortnightly forum meetings . principles edit unicorn operate within a set of guidelines known as its statement of purpose 16 secure employment . the company aims to provide secure employment for its members . equal opportunity . the company aims to reserve some employment for members with a learning disability . wholesome healthy consumption . the company aims to trade in wholesome foodstuffs and household goods of non animal origin . it trades in foodstuffs which have undergone minimal processing . product guidelines include the avoidance of added sugar salt and animal derivatives . fair and sustainable trade . the company aims to trade in a manner which supports a sustainable world environment and economy . in july 2015 the store was selling produce containing non sustainable palm oil which contributes to deforestation of important habitat vital to the survival of the endangered orangutan but the principles are more a set of guidelines than rules . it trades preferentially in products which follow the fair trade ethos . solidarity in co operation . the company aims to support like minded ventures co operatives or otherwise . it seeks to encourage co operation by operating a fund to support projects which share its vision of community and society in the united kingdom . 1 % of the wage costs are contributed to this fund . references edit http www.bbc.co.uk radio4 factual foodawards2008.shtml the best independent shops . the guardian . london . march 30 2008 . retrieved may 26 2010 . sawtell r. blueprint for 50 co ops . available at http www.unicorn grocery.co.uk pdfs blueprint % 20for % 2050 % 20co ops % 20 2006 . pdf industrial common ownership movement icom http www.cooperatives uk.coop live cme2021.htm food prices comparison http www.eggbutnobacon.co.uk 2008 11 food price calculator statement on the co operative identity http www.ica.coop coop principles.html http www.unicorn grocery.co.uk generalgrocery.php how we did it ... grocery roof becomes biodiversity showcase http www.planningresource.co.uk resources howwedidit 772085 grocery roofbecomes biodiversity showcase unicorn s new way to secure affordable local produce in the spotlight http www.cooperatives uk.coop live cme2522.htm icof http www.icof.co.uk unicorn annual accounts 2007 manchester evening news unicorn appeal to customers for support http www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk news business s 47 47599 unicorn appeals to customers for support.html a b social enterprise finance news http www.socialenterprisemag.co.uk sem management detail index.asp id 29 & npage 1 & category 21 tridos bank inspiring change project list 2003 http www.triodos.co.uk uk static pdf uken project list 03.pdf page 11 triodos bank newsletter autumn 2003 http www.triodos.co.uk uk static pdf uken tn16.pdf page 10 principles of purpose http www.unicorn grocery.co.uk principles.php external links edit http www.unicorn grocery.coop http www.glebelandscitygrowers.co.uk coordinates 53 26 44.58 n 2 16 36.22 w 53.4457167 n 2.2767278 w 53.4457167 ; 2.2767278 retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title unicorn grocery & oldid 734138382 categories companies based in manchesterworkers co operatives of the united kingdomfood cooperatives in the united kingdomhidden categories coordinates on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 12 august 2016 at 11 39 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you 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