North East Grains has recently joined the Association of Grain Stores.

The intention has not been to create a cumbersome or bureaucratic structure but to develop something that provides a sense of ownership and organisation. To that end, the collaboration is structured through a Memorandum of Understanding, which each participating store signs. This sets out the rules of engagement, expected commitment, governance, and funding requirements.

Each store appoints an individual to sit on a steering group, which provides the overall governance of the group, with each member/store having an equal voice.

Key to the success of the Association is having as many of the Central Stores as members as possible, so there is the critical mass to deliver benefits. To that end, the Association aims to be inclusive.

The steering group has set out the following priorities for the first year.

1) Building a case as to the benefits of grain cooperatives to lobby the government (both in England and Scotland) for policies beneficial to cooperative grain stores.

2) Development and participation in training and career development, and employee capacity-building programmes.

3) Sharing health and safety best practices, procedures, and incidents to reduce the potential for incidents across the stores.

4) General discussions as to the running and operation of cooperative grain stores.

The Association is also clear about what it won’t do. It won’t discuss grain marketing, grain prices, customers, costs paid for products or services, or the services offered by marketing agents of suppliers. The Association will not benchmark any financial or commercially sensitive information or enter into any discussions about joint purchasing.

Without a doubt, there is a benefit to be had from working together. Essentially, the stores do not compete but face similar challenges and opportunities. The opportunity to share notes and to work together to promote and improve the operation of the stores is one that can be characterised as a no-brainer.