Residents in a south Manchester suburb have raised over £32,000, enabling the community to set up a co-operative to buy out a much-loved local toyshop.
When the previous owner decided to retire from running Busy Bee Toyshop after 25 years, there was a real question about its future. In uncertain economic times would anyone be willing to take on an independent toyshop?

It didn't take long for the answer - a group of residents in the south Manchester suburb of Chorlton quickly came forward, suggesting the community could buy and run the business.

Things happened quickly after that. Rachel Muter and James Hillon organised a meeting to gauge support for a co-operative to take over ownership of Busy Bee Toyshop. Around 20 people attended, and subsequent meetings established that there was an appetite for the venture.

'I think there's been such support for the idea because, with so much negative news about the economy, people want something positive,' says Rachel.

The group decided that the co-operative ought to be owned and controlled by the community and so registered as a community co-operative through Co-operativesUK. It very quickly issued shares, setting a target of raising 30,000 pounds in just over a month, which would enable the co-operative to buy the name and stock of Busy Bee, take on the lease for the premises, and secure further loans.

Within five weeks the co-operative raised 32,250 pounds from 103 investors, meaning that the community buy-out could go ahead. The members invested anywhere between 250 pounds and 2,000 pounds. Each member has one vote regardless of the level of money they put in, and after the first two years member investors will receive a return on their investment.

A committee was quickly elected to see the co-operative through the first six months and provide overall strategic direction for the business, and the co-operative has now recruited a shop manager.

Helen Seymour, Head of Projects and Development at Co-operativesUK, says: 'Busy Bee is a shining example of a growing trend we're seeing across the UK -communities coming together to save shops or services and bring them into community ownership. What makes Busy Bee very special, however, is that it's one of a small but hopefully growing number of community share issues in an urban area. It shows that a sense of community can thrive even in large cities like Manchester.'

For Rachel, it's the co-operative model that made it happen. Not only has it brought in much needed capital, but 'it's enabled us to draw on the skills of a range of different people. We've got people on the committee with business experience, a couple who specialise in marketing and another with a great financial brain.

'Busy Bee already has loyal customers, so we want to keep the existing range of stock but expand in certain areas. We plan to have a much larger, permanent range of craft items. And the previous owners did not sell TV characters, so we plan on changing that, within reason anyway.'

Busy Bee reopened on 11 July 2009. For more information about Busy Bee Toy Shop please visit their website.