New co-operative aims to make Central Scotland UK’s top family-friendly mountain biking destination

Co-operative Development Scotland (CDS) has unveiled the three winners of its £30,000 Collaboration Prize.

One of the winners – the Scottish Mountain Bike Consortium – is a group of private sector companies from Tayside, Fife and Stirlingshire.

The new consortium co-operative brings together small businesses with an interest in Mountain Biking in a unique collaboration which aims to make Central Scotland the UK’s top family-friendly mountain biking destination.

It aims to capture a slice of the cycling tourism market in Scotland, estimated to be worth £240m*.

The Collaboration Prize was first launched by First Minister Alex Salmond at Edinburgh Castle in 2012 to mark the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives.

Set up by CDS, the competition aims to encourage businesses in Scotland to consider collaborating and pitch their idea for a new consortium co-operative. The three winning concepts each receive a cash prize of £5,000 and up to £5,000 of support. The prize is supported by the Scottish Tourism Alliance, Creative Scotland and Scotland Food and Drink.

Minister for Energy, Enterprise and Tourism, Fergus Ewing said: “Our nation has a rich heritage of innovating in business to drive growth; today we see this further evidenced by way of this collaboration.

“The Scottish Mountain Bike Consortium is a worthy winner of this award and show just what heights can be reached when our small business leaders work together for their common good. Co-operative Development Scotland plays an important role in delivering the Scottish Government’s commitment to ensuring all of our people can better reap the benefits of enterprise. They are worthy of praise for the none-too-easy task they undertook in selecting the three winners for these collaboration awards.”

Tom Durham, chairman of the Scottish Mountain Bike Consortium, said: “Winning the Collaboration Prize will be instrumental in our ability to get the wheels in motion for our consortium. We want to make mountain biking the ultimate family-friendly adventure activity.

“Since our journey began we have built up a high level of trust between members through the process of working together. We joined the group as individual companies but we were soon working towards a common goal that will benefit us all.”

Sarah Deas, chief executive of Co-operative Development Scotland, said: “We’re now into the second year of the Collaboration Prize and we were delighted to see so many high quality entries. There is a growing appetite from businesses to pool their expertise and work together.

“Collaboration brings tangible benefits. It enables firms to become more competitive and grow their markets, which in turn delivers a boost for the Scottish economy.”

Consortium co-operatives are established when businesses come together for a shared purpose; to buy or sell in scale, market more effectively, share facilities or jointly bid for contracts. By collaborating businesses can reduce costs, share risks and create new platforms for growth.

The 2013 winners of the Collaboration Prize are:

The Scottish Mountain Bike Consortium (SMBC): formed following Scottish Enterprise’s Planning to Succeed initiative, which helped the group of businesses, landowners, and individuals from the mountain biking sector across Tayside, Fife and Stirlingshire come together to be more than the sum of their parts. The SMBC comprises Collective Training & Trax (mountain bike coaching, & trail design and construction), Muckmedden Events (mountain bike races), Parkhill Farm (farm diversification project), Comrie Croft Bikes (bike shop, trails and accommodation), Progression Bikes (bike shop, coaching, and uplift), Morrocco Media (filming and editing), and AMX Creative (graphic design and print). For further information see www.thesmbc.co.uk

Through cooperative working and links to public sector agencies, SMBC can offer complete packages and consultation for businesses, agencies and groups looking to get involved for the first time or expand their mountain bike offering.

SMBC is committed to developing and running family friendly events to encourage economic growth, participation and tourism and, in doing so, helping to establish best practice models for the mountain bike sector.

The Wee Agency: a new creative and digital marketing agency in Inverness and Edinburgh. Its members are leading design specialists 2bcreative, IT specialists Alchemy+ and PR and digital marketing consultancy Muckle Media. The Wee Agency’s vision is to deliver highly creative, award-winning campaigns that support client organisations in reaching their goals, by bringing together the smartest creative minds in communications in Scotland and sharing best practice.

Complete Trade Solutions Ltd: a co-operative consortium comprising six Edinburgh-based businesses: Aquarius UK (contact centre), Fresh Interior Solutions (interior design and decoration), Harkins Electrical (electrical contractor), Moral Contracts (plumbing and heating), Orocco Joinery (joinery and project management) and Taurus Gardening Ltd (landscaping, maintenance, lawn care). Combining five established trade companies with a professional contact centre, Complete Trade Solutions Ltd offers a unique one stop multi-trade solution for private and commercial clients.

There are 578 co-operative businesses in Scotland with a combined turnover of more than £4bn and employing 28,600 people.

*www.transformscotland.org.uk/value-of-cycle-tourism-report.aspx