How changes at Down Ampney Village Shop and Café have increased footfall, brought local people together and put the business on a stronger, more sustainable footing. At the start of 2025, the community-owned shop in Down Ampney, Gloucestershire was at risk of closure, with falling footfall and ongoing losses. Fast-forward [...]
In the final edition of our impact series, we focus on how community-owned businesses promote equity, diversity and inclusion by creating welcoming spaces for all. “This pub is the heart of the village, physically and emotionally. This is a special place.” These words from Lou, a volunteer at The Maybush [...]
Plunkett UK is delighted to launch the Community-owned Business Buddy Scheme, a new initiative designed to connect community-owned shops, pubs and cafés with experienced co-operative retailers. Having launched on 16 September 2026, the Buddy Scheme will formally link community businesses with nearby co-operative retail managers, creating opportunities to share expertise, [...]
From recognising the resilience of community businesses to unveiling a new five-year strategy, this year's AGM looked ahead to the future of the movement. On Wednesday 9 September 2026, Plunkett UK held its Annual General Meeting with around 70 members and representatives from across the community business sector attending. As [...]
In the penultimate edition of our Impact Report series, we focus on how community businesses create opportunities for employment, training and volunteering. When a rural business closes, the impact reaches far beyond the loss of a local shop, pub or café. As our Impact Report series has highlighted, community businesses provide [...]
When Kilchoan's only shop, post office and fuel station faced closure, the community has come together to pursue community ownership and secure its future, with support from Plunkett. At Plunkett UK’s 2026 Rural Community Business Awards, the Kilchoan Community Shop and Service Station project was named a finalist in the [...]
In the next post of our impact series, we spotlight how community-owned businesses save and provide vital services to their communities “Woodcroft isn’t a through route anymore; it’s a community and without Plunkett it wouldn’t be here.” This quote, shared by members of The Rising Sun in Woodcroft, at our [...]
Members of Plunkett UK partner, OurCoop, completed the Chilterns Challenge, raising over £3,000 to help communities save and run vital local businesses through community ownership. On Friday 17 July, Becci Britland, Jack Twigg, Craig Price, Maryann Denfhy and Jane Avery took on the Chilterns Challenge. Covering 23 miles, more than [...]
Prior to this year's Rural Community Business Awards, Plunkett hosted the ‘Community Business Exchange’, a dedicated networking session designed to bring community business representatives together in one room. From the Scottish Highlands to the coast of Cornwall, community businesses – with Plunkett’s support - are transforming lives and places across the [...]
Plunkett UK is joining partners in celebrating ten years of the Community Shares Booster Fund, marked by the publication of a new impact report and the announcement of a dedicated successor investment fund. Since its launch in 2015, the Community Shares Booster Fund has provided development grants and matched investment to [...]
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