Interview with Roger Sawtell

Interview covers 1960s -2018

[00:00:00] Roger Sawtell talks about the early years of his career working at Spear & Jackson, Sheffield. [00:07:30] RS talks about his work at Trylon, Wollaston. [13:00] Discusses involvement in ICOF (Industrial Common Ownership Finance) and setting up ICOM (Industrial Common Ownership Movement). [16:00] Talks about involvement in setting up National Co-operative Development Agency (CDA). [18:42] Discusses Michael Jones Jewellers, Northampton. [22:12] Talks about the setting up of Daily Bread Co-operative, Northampton. [29:04] Discusses retirement and the papers to be deposited at the National Co-operative Archive. [34.05] Talks in more detail about ICOM and ICOF. [40:57] Talks about the distinction between common-ownership and workers co-operatives. [43:54] Discusses Suma. [47:17] Talks about the structure and working of Daily Bread. [56:53] Talks about the Christian focus of Daily Bread. [01:04:12] Talks about Daily Bread and mental health rehabilitation. [01:10:01] Discusses in more detail the setting up of the National CDA. [01:18:06] Talks about links between Daily Bread Northampton, and Daily Bread Cambridge, and Unicorn. [01:23:40] Talks about the worker co-op movement in the present day and its development in the future.

Roger Sawtell was born in Sheffield and early in his career worked as an engineer at Spear and Jackson, a medium sized steel company in Sheffield. He progressed to become a director and then was offered the role of managing director. Roger then went on to do a commissioned survey for the Industrial Society in 1967, focusing on companies that were working in unusual participative ways. Following this Roger went to work at Trylon, an employee-owned company set up in 1968 by Ernest Bader in Wollaston, Northamptonshire. Trylon focused on the sale of glassfibre materials, plastics and craft materials especially for schools. After 6 years Roger left Trylon and spent the next 6 years self-employed as an advisor/consultant to new companies interested in worker co-operative and employee ownership models.

During this time Roger was also key in setting up, the co-operative support organisations ICOM (Industrial Common Ownership Movement) and ICOF (Industrial Common Ownership Finance). This included writing the ICOM Model Rules, and pushing the 1976 Industrial Common Ownership Act through Parliament. Roger was also involved in persuading the government to set up a National CDA (Co-operative Development Agency), in 1978, and became one of the first board members.

Following this Roger was keen to try out the ICOM Model Rules within a real life context to see if they were fit for purpose, this led him to form Daily Bread Co-operative as a test co-operative from a Christian housegroup he was involved in. This early co-operative allowed for revisions to the model rules to be made and guidebooks to these rules to be formulated. In the late 1970s Daily Bread Co-operative was set up as an active co-operative in Northampton, selling wholefoods. The co-operative was set up as a business that would reflect the founders Christian beliefs. Since then a sister co-operative has been formed, Daily Bread, Cambridge. Roger stayed at Daily Bread, Northampton full time until 1987, from which point he stayed on for a few more years part time and then as a Trustee. In 1997 he fully retired from Daily Bread but has continued to do co-operative development work up and down the country with co-operatives such as Shared Interest, a co-operative finance company in Newcastle.

(Interviewer) Philippa Lewis worked as the Project Archivist for the Working Together project (2017-2018) based at the National Co-operative Archive.

Some parts of interview redacted due to personal data.

In October 2017 the National Co-operative Archive sent out a request for interview participants from the wider workers' co-operative community to take part in Working Together, a Heritage Lottery Funded project seeking to record and preserve the heritage of the workers' co-operative movement. This interview was recorded in response to this request. The interview was conducted at the Quaker Meeting Hall, Northampton.

Length of interview: 01:41:10

Recording Equipment: Zoom H2 Handy recorder

Recording note: original audio file WAV 48kHz/16 bit - copy audio file: Mp3

This interview is licensed under a Creative Commons license (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives)

Transcript and summary of interview.

Roger Sawtell papers referred to in the interview - available for consultation at the National Co-operative Archive. Reference GB 1499 RSP.

Original recording and transcript held at the National Co-operative Archive.