Council launches Cooperative and Inclusive Economy Charter

Stevenage Borough Council has today (19 November) launched a Cooperative and Inclusive Economy Charter, to encourage residents and businesses to work together to help protect Stevenage’s economy.

The charter aims to prevent money leaving the area. Ways of doing this includes making contracts more accessible to small and medium sized local companies, and connecting local people to good jobs.

The council identified two main benefits when developing the charter – bringing about a fairer society, as people become more connected to their economy, and a more resilient economy as people and businesses cooperate to create sustainable growth.

Councillor Sharon Taylor, Leader of Stevenage Borough Council, said: “We’re asking people to pledge their support to hold and reinvest more money locally. There are lots of ways we can all help with this, such as shopping locally, in the case of employers, by offering work placements and apprenticeships to local people and for public sector organisations, ensuring their contracts are supporting local companies and workers.

“As the country tries to recover from the pandemic, it is important that we work together to rebuild our local economy, so please sign the pledge today.”

Individuals, businesses and organisations can show their support by signing an online pledge on or Community Wealth Building page.