“What if one of us can be the limb when another of us needs a hand?”
media co-op was commissioned by the West Midlands Ownership Hub to make an energetic and striking campaign film that showcased the brilliance of employee-ownership.
Be Part of It mixes imagery, dance and a specially commissioned poem from Jasmine Gardosi, former Birmingham Poet Laureate. We travelled to Birmingham to capture the region’s co-ops, including:
Dance Co-operative Birmingham: a co‑op of professional dancers who joined forces to reap the benefits of their collective power. Three of their members perform a specially devised dance in the film to accompany the poem.
The Developer Society: a Digbeth‑based creative agency that converted to a co‑operative business model to align more closely with their values and nurture creativity by giving their workers ownership, agency, and control.
Glue Collective: a worker co‑op based in Birmingham comprising artists and community workers who are addressing social, health and economic challenges in local communities by developing unused plots of land for artistic and nature‑based activities.
Hockley Mint: Birmingham‑based manufacturers and suppliers of jewellery and precious metals who now operate as an employee ownership trust (EOT). Family owned for more than 70 years, it became an EOT in 2023 to secure the long‑term future of the business and provide continuity for its loyal employees.
Director and editor Vilte Vaitkute told Co-ops UK that: “The film is about all of us coming together and showing that there is a better, more democratic way to do business. And to make places, to play, to create and inspire.
“As Jasmine’s poem says, ‘be part of it – so we don’t stand alone, so we keep on improving’. I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve accomplished together!”
The film was commissioned by the West Midlands Ownership Hub (WMHO), a partnership between the West Midlands Combined Authority, Co‑operatives UK and the Employee Ownership Association, and funded by Power to Change.
What they say
What we had here was a brilliant poet, brilliant dancers, and a brilliant production company – a brilliant director, a brilliant editor and a brilliant sound designer.
Sometimes it happens that every one of the component parts is great, but you don’t create an outstanding product because the people don’t know how to work together. But with us it was different. We really did know how to collaborate. Right from the start with the conversation with Jasmine, with the way we worked with the dancers, with the way media co-op led the creative process, we knew how to listen, how to make way, how to offer. The result is that we have got the brilliant video that we all deserve.
Jo Ind, West Midlands Ownership Hub
