Co-operation’s what you need

The philosopher and radical thinker Bertrand Russell once wrote: “The only thing that will redeem mankind is co-operation.”

I believe those words are particularly relevant today and possibly even more pertinent than when they were written nearly 60 years ago.

You don’t need me to tell you that retailing, and food retailing especially, is the most competitive business going. So why would I want to write about co-operation between businesses when retailers spend so much time and money extolling the virtues of their brands over their competitors? Not a natural arena for the c-word to be bandied around you might think.

However, over the past few weeks we have seen some remarkable examples of cross-sector co-operation, resulting in some extraordinary outcomes. The first was the launch of The Prince’s Countryside Fund last month when a host of companies - many of them competitors in the normal run of things - came together to help create a real future for hard-pressed rural communities and those who eke a living farming some of the most marginal land in the country, such as our uplands.

The list of businesses that worked together at the request of HRH The Prince of Wales is a who’s who of food and I list them here, along with the brands they have put forward to support this cause, to give you an idea of the scale we are talking about: Asda (milk), Birds Eye (frozen peas), Country Life (butter and milk), Duchy Originals, Booths (Herdwick and Saltmarsh lamb), Ginsters (Original Cornish Pasty), Hovis (all bread), Jordans (muesli, porridge, granola), Marks & Spencer (fresh British beef), McDonald’s (communications materials), Morrisons (fresh lamb), Müller Dairy (multipacks), PepsiCo (Red Sky crisps), United Biscuits (McVities Digestives, Chocolate Digestives and Rich Tea biscuits) and Waitrose (milk). And we’re growing the ranks of supporters all the time.

Another collaborative initiative, also the brainchild of the Prince of Wales, is Start, which kicks off next month with a 12-day festival in the gardens of Clarence House, Lancaster House and Marlborough House.

Start will encourage customers to make small, positive steps towards sustainable living instead of simply telling them what not to do. Again, this is a partnership between companies that usually compete in the same marketplace including Waitrose, M&S, Asda, B&Q, BT and a host of other great businesses.

The common denominator with these projects has been the sheer importance of the issues to be faced. With the Prince’s Countryside Fund it is ensuring a sustainable future for Britain’s farmers and wider rural communities at a time when we need a diversity of agricultural supply more than ever before. And with Start we are helping customers achieve a healthier, more efficient and greener future.

Both initiatives demonstrate the great things business can achieve when asked to step up to the plate. And such community thinking can have enormous benefits within individual businesses too, as the ‘silo mentality’ is replaced by a broader and braver way of looking at the world inside and outside our organisations.

For more information visit www.princescountrysidefund.org.uk and www.startuk.org.

Mark Price is managing director of Waitrose