Swindon

I had the same thought. But - it's a biggie...

Sadly until there is a breakthrough in co-op captial any big businesses with large capital needs will find it very difficult to compete with other companies where they can throw cash at investments like automation, R&D.

That's the spirit.

can you put a link to whatever this story is, or a brief outline? Last I heard Swindon was a town, and cooperativising it would be a large & visionary task, to be sure, but prob not what you're talking about.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-47287386

TLDR: Honda are closing their car factory for lots of reasons mostly the shift to autonomous /electric cars and its probably cheaper to do this from scratch in a cheaper country without Brexit problems

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/10/occupy-buenos-aires-argentina-workers-cooperative-movement

They are a highly skilled and adaptable workforce - they used to make steam trains, I believe. There is so much potential there, it's not just about their last product. All products become obsolete eventually.

I'm going to struggle with any comparison between Honda/Swindon and Argentina I'm afraid. Totally different set of circumstances. However, getting back to the first point, about the opportunity to build some co-operative businesses out of the mess that will be left behind by Honda seems very real. As you rightly say Simon, all the key ingredients are there.

If the idea was to be pushed forward, then I'd say it would be critical to gain the early support of Honda themselves. I've no doubt that they will be investing substantially in damage limitation work. Establishing a cooperative development facility in the town would swallow a fraction of their budget, and would be worth it to them for the PR win alone.

The question is who's going to lead on this initiative? It would require an approach at the highest level in the company, alongside a similar pitch to the local authority - community wealth building anyone - and someone with good local knowledge on the team.

My point is the Argentina experience, & Greece, & other places around the world, have been a community response, which is precisely what you refer to in your last sentence. The opportunity lies within the notice given, but time is of the essence. What would be fantastic would be a not for profit ethos in car manufacturing, combined with charging points & car sharing schemes. Or maybe a new breed of public bus's. Transport holistically as a public commons if you will. The opportunity exists to capture public imagination & raise awareness of the short comings of traditional for-profit business models that have no loyalty to the communities upon which they depend. Swindon's far from unique in terms of being kicked in the guts like this. I maintain this is a golden opportunity, or people can continue to see it as a disaster whilst trying to identify state subsidies to entice just one more parasistic extractive psychopthic global corporation.

Maybe a good comparison would be with Ceralep Société Nouvelle in France? Unfortunately the only information I have is from Chapter 6 of 'Capital and the Debt Trap: Learning from Cooperatives in the Global Crisis' by Claudia Sanchéz Bajo and Bruno Roelants (now Director-General of the ICA). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUS1qIbSSG0
In terms of a co-operative investing in automation and R&D can we look to Mondragon (Fagor Automización), Basque Country, or Isthmus Engineering in Madison, Wisconsin? But yes, being uncompetitive in terms of obtaining investment is totally a huge problem.