The Argyll Fencers’ Co-operative Ltd is a not-for-profit co-operative formed by and run by the fencers who make it up. It bids for contracts which its members fulfil. The members determine the bids themselves. No-one is tied into it, all members are free to work in their own right as well. The Co-op provides members with a legal vehicle through which they can join together. It also takes care of the health and safety documentation of the work and writes the tenders. Members can be self-employed, employers or employees depending on how they choose to work but as regards the Co-op they are all simply members.
The Co-op was born in 2011, a product of legislation and the changing face of the fencing industry. It’s no secret that times have been hard recently for fencers, particularly in Scotland. In the last two years the Co-op has provided its members with about half of their work. It has completed every contract on time and successfully. It has helped to make members safer and more productive as well as more profitable. It also ensures that the money paid by clients, public or private sector, reaches the fragile rural economy directly.
The history; the Co-op was originally a product of the Gangmasters’ Licensing Acts. A gangmaster’s licence cost over £2000 and involved a lot of work. In around 2010 the GLA extended its scope and came down hard on forestry contractors and their clients working without a licence. For local fencers in Argyll that meant they could no longer hold contracts in their own right. They had no choice but to sub-contract to gangmasters from outside the area and whether they themselves could be prosecuted for working together in groups was a grey area even when they were all self-employed. They also had to accept whatever rates they were offered and however fair the existing gangmasters were it was hard for the fencers to accept comments from the client to the effect that they were “raking it in” when in fact many had accepted a drop in rate. The GLA had had the opposite effect to the one intended and it was time to adapt and survive.
Months of research led us to Co-operative Development Scotland, a wonderful organisation who helped us and many other co-operatives get themselves set up. They talked us through the process of constitution and registration with unrivalled patience and professionalism, taking the time to understand what it was we wanted to achieve. I remember those months as endless form filling and phone calls, not helped by the reaction of some officialdom who heard the word “gangmaster” and obviously thought of the tragic death of the cockle pickers which originally acted as the spur for the Licensing Acts. I explained numerous times that we were a co-operative and that the nearest we had so far got to migrant labour was one member’s Polish grandfather , occasionally eliciting disappointment, I suppose dealing with a criminal mastermind would have been much more exciting for whoever was at the other end of the phone.
Finally, once we were a limited company with a tax reference number and a PAYE number, despite that fact that the Co-op doesn’t actually employ anyone as such since it is a co-operative, we were able to apply for a gangmaster’s licence. Sending off the cheque was a leap of faith. Studying for the licence was even more of a test. I can still talk about the requirements concerning gas appliances in caravans housing migrant labour and the Agricultural Wages Board feels like an old friend. An inspector was sent out for an entire day to see if I qualified to hold the licence, checking my Health and Safety procedures, questioning my own employees and the members as well as testing my knowledge of the regulations we might have to follow. She was actually extremely helpful, with a background in Health and Safety , and took the time to point out any weaknesses in our procedures. Nevertheless I will always remember when she asked quite seriously if I was in the habit of abusing my workers. I was eight months pregnant and I remain five foot tall. In fairness if I hit one of the fencers they probably wouldn’t stop me, they’d be too busy laughing, and possibly kindly explaining how to do it properly
