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Tim Mazzarol, Amber van Aurich & Bruce Baskerville
Co-operative Bulk Handling Ltd. - Handling the Future and Growing Together, 1933-2024
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2024)
Established in 1933, CBH is at its core an organisation for the bulk handling of grain. It has been a non-distributing co-operative since 1970, CBH sets fees at a level that allows it to earn enough to cover operating costs and capital requirements on an average sized crop, through the cycle. It does not seek to over recover fees from growers but in larger years when a surplus is made, they can rebate this to members if they wish.. In 2023, CBH turned over $6.23 billion and had assets worth $4.38 billion. Since 2 December 2012 CBH has been registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) where its purpose is stated as, “Promotion of the grain growing industry of Western Australia”.
Bruce Baskerville, Tim Mazzarol & Amber van Aurich
Perth Building Society - By Their Own United Efforts, 1862-1987
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2023)
Founded in 1862, the Perth Benefit Building, Investment and Loan Society, later known as the Perth Building Society (PBS), was the first building society established in Western Australia (WA). The PBS was initially based on the British model of a building society, but subsequently evolved and adapted its operations to suit the local environment. A successful business, PBS operated for the next 124 years until, in 1987, it demutualised into an investor-owned firm (IOF), Challenge Bank.
Tim Mazzarol
HunterNet Co-operative Ltd - The Power of Many
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2023)
Founded in 1992, the HunterNet Co-operative Ltd., is a non-distributing, multi-stakeholder co-operative headquartered in Newcastle, New South Wales (NSW). In 2022, HunterNet had a membership of 130 organisations of various sizes, employed around 12 full-time staff, and reported an annual turnover of just over $2 million. HunterNet is focused on assisting local businesses within the Newcastle and Hunter Region to sustain and grow through collaboration, networking, knowledge exchange, and innovation. Most of its members are small to medium enterprises (SMEs), engaged in manufacturing, engineering, specialist advisory and consulting services. Their focus is within the domestic and international defence, energy, and resources industries, as well as emerging industries in environmental sustainability.
Bruce Baskerville, Tim Mazzarol & Amber van Aurich
Albany Co-operative Society - The Great Cockalorum, 1867-1885
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2022)
Founded in 1867, the Albany Co-operative Society Ltd., was the first co-operative established in Western Australia. It was a response to the high cost of food and other goods within the port town of Albany in the south west of WA, and high cost of store credit offered by local storekeepers. The co-operative's foundation was led by William Carmalt Clifton, the agent of the P&O shipping office in Albany, which at the time was a key coaling station for the shipping company supporting the mail routes from Melbourne to London. The co-operative succeeded in reducing prices in the town and operated successfully until its wind-up in 1885. Its demise was due to changes in the fortunes of the P&O company, and the departure of Clifton, but it left a lasting legacy in the form of its heritage building on the foreshore of Albany, and its role model for subsequent consumer co-operatives in the state.
Tim Mazzarol
UFS Dispensaries - A Friendly Society Solution to Pharmacy
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2022)
Founded in 1880, United Friendly Societies Dispensaries (UFS) Ltd., is a not-for-profit, Australian Public Company, Limited by Guarantee. Headquartered in Ballarat, Victoria, UFS operates a network of nineteen pharmacies in regional Victoria, three metropolitan pharmacies in Melbourne, along with three medical centres, and two COVID clinics (testing and vaccination) in Ballarat (UFS, 2021). In addition to its pharmacies and medical clinics, UFS operates a gift shop, a day spa and wellness centre, and a Pilates and Yoga studio (BSS, 2021). The story of UFS provides insights into the history of Australia's friendly societies, as well as the evolution of the national health services, both pharmacy and medical.
Tim Mazzarol
They didn't have to sell their shares - The rise and demise of SACBH-ABB Grain
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2021)
The South Australian Co-operative Bulk Handling Ltd. (SACBH) was established in 1954 and took the state’s grain industry from the laborious and inefficient use of jute bags for the handling and storage of grain, into the contemporary era of bulk handling and storage. The foundation of the co-operative was itself a battle that local growers were forced to wage against their state government and vested interests throughout the first half of the 20th Century. By the 1980s, after a period of steady growth from its foundation, SACBH was operating bulk storage and handling infrastructure with more than 4 million tonnes capacity and had an active membership of over 17,365 growers throughout the state. However, in the 1990s it moved towards demutualisation, transforming in a farmer owned business AusBulk-UHG Ltd. In 2004 it merged with ABB Grain Ltd., and became Australia's largest agribusiness, listing on the ASX in 2008, only to be acquired by Canadian firm Viterra in 2009, which was then acquired by Anglo-Swiss firm Glencore in 2013.
Tim Mazzarol
Kudos Services - A Mutual Solution to a Complex Problem
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2021)
Founded in 2018, Kudos Services (Kudos) is the trading name of the Child and Youth Services Mutual Ltd., an Australian Public Company Limited by Guarantee. Located in Adelaide, South Australia, Kudos is a mutual enterprise, and a Public Benevolent Institution and charity registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). Kudos is a mutual enterprise created by the South Australian Government to facilitate the privatisation of its children and youth therapy services. It was created in response to the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Bruce Baskerville
The Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2021)
The Automobile Club of Western Australia (ACWA) was established in 1905 and consciously sought to emulate the British example of the Automobile Club of Great Britain and Ireland, which in 1907 became the Royal Automobile Club, or RAC. ACWA became an incorporated association in 1916 and was honoured by King George V in 1922 with the royal prefix in its name. From this time the Club began to use the abbreviation RAC as its ‘brand’ and maintain strong affiliations with its British counterpart. Over the long history of the RACWA, the organisation has provided leadership in the development of the motoring community in the state, as well as in motor vehicle safety, road safety, environmental sustainability, tourism, and insurance.
Tim Mazzarol
Cobargo Co-operative Society - Community owned for 120 years
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2020)
Founded in 1901, the Cobargo Co-operative Society Ltd. (CCS) is a community-owned enterprise that originated as a dairy (butter) producer co-operative but evolved into a consumer co-operative servicing the needs of the regional community of Cobargo. In 2020, the co-operative had around 1,200 active members, and an annual turnover of around $4.1 million. Over the 120 years since its foundation the co-operative has experienced many challenges, comprising floods, fires, wars, economic recessions and changes to industry structure and government regulations. Despite this it has survived and adapted. This case study is an example of a co-operative that has demonstrated resilience and adaptability.
Tim Mazzarol
Yenda Producers' Co-operative - Farming in the Dry
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2019)
The Yenda Producers’ Co-operative Society Ltd (YPC) one of Australia’s oldest continuously operated co-operatives and one of its largest by annual turnover. In 2018 the co-operative turned over around $83.3 million, employed over 100 full and part-time staff and had about 1,500 members. Operating as a group, the co-operative provides a range of professional services and agricultural supplies such as fertilisers, chemicals, biologicals, seeds, and hardware. It provides a valuable case study of the economic and social benefits that the co-operative and mutual enterprise business model can deliver to regional communities.
Tim Mazzarol
Independent Liquor Group - Providing Choice and Flexibility
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2018)
Operating within this intensely competitive market environment is Australia’s largest liquor co-operative, the Independent Liquor Group (ILG). Established in 1975 by a group of independent hotel and bottle shop owners, the co-operative is now a major business comprising two separate but related co-operatives with more than 1,200 small, licensed liquor stores, hotels, clubs and restaurants across NSW, Queensland and the ACT as members of the ILG Suppliers Co-operative and ILG Distribution Co-operative. ILG Suppliers Co-operative also includes large liquor suppliers in membership.
Tim Mazzarol
Rapid Group Co-operative - The Cleaning Supply Experts
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2018)
Founded in 1985, the Rapid Group Co-operative (RapidClean) commenced operations as a buying group within the Rotobic commercial floor polisher suppliers located in NSW who wished to collaborate to gain greater bargaining power in relation to the sourcing of chemicals, floor polish, floor polishing equipment and consumables. The Rotobic floor polisher was manufactured in Australia and the distributors were independent business owners. Since that time the Rotobic manufacturer has been acquired by the large German manufacturer Hako GmbH, which specialises in commercial cleaning equipment. By 2018 it had over 60 members' stores operating across Australia and New Zealand.
Tim Mazzarol
Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative - The Heart of the Community
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2017)
The Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative Ltd is a community-owned and controlled non-distributing (not-for-profit) enterprise located in Shepparton, Victoria. At time of writing Rumbalara had approximately 600 registered members, which represented about 30% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population living in the Greater Shepparton region. With an annual turnover of around $20 million, Rumbalara employs approximately 200 people and provides an integrated service delivery model for its members. This makes Rumbalara one of the largest service providers to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in Victoria, and one of the largest indigenous owned co-operatives in Australia. The co-operative is also a registered charity under the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).
Elena Mamouni Limnios & Tim Mazzarol
Losing sight of Purpose - The United Farmers' Co-operative Company
CEMI-CERU Case Study Research Report (2017)
A few passionate and determined farmers got together in the early 1990s and created the United Farmers’ Co-operative Company (UFCC) to fight off the oligopolistic fertiliser market in Western Australia. UFCC grew exponentially for a decade but faced several challenges leading to a sharp decline and eventually was acquired by a larger, New Zealand fertiliser co-operative Ravensdown. However, this relationship did not last and by 2013 the co-operative was demutualised through its sale to global agribusiness commodities trader Louis Dreyfus Commodities (LDC).