I started my working life in 1965 as a Power Engineer on the fast-track management programme at the nationalised CEGB. After 11 years working in nuclear and coal-fired stations, including operations at Oldbury NPS, and the technical development team at Aberthaw B PS, I rose to the position of Shift Manager at Rogerstone Power Station.
In 1974 I left to co-found a printing co-operative in Cardiff specialising in work for labour movement, trades-union, voluntary, charitable and campaigning organisations, during which time I also founded and edited a Trades Union newspaper (Union Eyes), which became the highest circulation left of centre publication in Wales.
After 17 years in ‘the print’ I took up the position of Community Enterprise Development Officer for Cardiff County Council, which included a secondment to the Prince’s Trust (Business) to manage their Pan-Wales contract to deliver the ‘New Deal for the Self-employed’ where I won a special award for quality from the Employment Service. We were the only part of the UK to have both parts of the programme (Advice and Training) under the same roof, and the Wales region outperformed all the other parts of the New Deal across the UK.
In 2001 I moved to Innovate Trust as CEO of a charity, which provides a range of services to people with disabilities. Whilst there, I founded Social Firms Wales, became a Trustee of Social Firms UK and co-founded ‘Pan‑disability Wales’, a partnership of leading disability charities in Wales. I devised and implemented the Charity’s first 5-year Strategic Business Plan in its 35-year history and increased turnover from £1.7m to over £3.5 m, and payroll to 130 permanent staff.
After 5 years I’d had enough of the infighting on the Board of Trustees and moved on to become a self employed consultant focussing on co-operatives, social enterprises and charities.
I sat on the Members Panel of Glas Cymru, the not-for-profit organisation that supplies Welsh Water for 6 years. I was also a member of the European Worker Co‑op Movement (CICOPA)’s Working Group on business transfer to employees under the co-operative form, the Wales Social Co‑operative Development Forum, the People’s Bank for Wales Action Group, the Bevan Foundation and I was a Fellow of the Institute of Welsh Affairs for 4 years.
Until 2018 I was Chair of the Development Co-operative, a consortium of Co-operative Development Bodies across the UK, and I sat on an advisory committee to the Shadow Chancellor looking to double the size of the Co-op Movement in 2018/19. I was also Chair of the Cardiff YMCA Housing Association, which runs the largest homeless hostel in Wales, where I served for 17 years.
I was the founder and Secretariat of the Welsh Assembly’s Cross Party Group on Co‑operatives from 2009 to 2015. During this time I organised 19 meetings including 2, which brought together the equivalent Groups in the UK’s three devolved Parliaments for the first time.
I have been a Board Member of many other co-op development agencies, including Wales Co-operative Centre (Vice Chair), Cardiff & Vale CDA (Chair), Social Firms UK, Social Firms Wales (Founding Chair), the UK Co‑operative Forum, and the Welsh Government’s Ministerial Advisory Committee on Social Enterprise. Other past appointments include; Trustee of Voluntary Action Cardiff (Chair of their Health & Social Care Forum), founder and Trustee of Cymorth Cymru, and a Member of the Cardiff Health Alliance Board.
I am an experienced public speaker and was Conference Chair of “Reclaiming the Economy”– an international co-operative research conference organised by Cardiff Metropolitan University.
I have co-managed and delivered an Interreg 4A funded social entrepreneur support package in Denbighshire, Anglesey and Ireland, and have managed ESF, ERDF and EQUAL programmes over many years.
I have access to academic expertise and have worked on projects with academics from Cardiff University, Cardiff Metropolitan University, University of Glamorgan, Trinity Saint David’s, University of Cork, Liverpool John Moore’s, Sheffield & Roehampton.
I’m currently chair of union-coops:uk, the campaigning organisation bringing trade unions and worker co-ops together to create decent work, and of banc cambria, which is working to create a co-operative mutual bank for Wales.
Follow me on: BlueSky @coopalex.bsky.social
Follow me on: Research Gate at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alex-Bird-6