Dean's Lecture Series: Rose Marley, CEO of Co-operatives UK

With innovation and technology transforming the way we live and work, the co-operative movement and co-operative businesses must be ready to lead and adapt to help create a more sustainable and fairer economy.

This guest lecture will explore how co-operative businesses and business models can harness change for the common good, creating opportunities for our communities.

About our speaker

Rose Marley is the CEO of Co-operatives UK, which empowers and supports co-operative enterprise to grow the co-operative economy and create a fairer society.

Joining in 2021, she immediately spearheaded the creation of an ambitious new strategy to grow the co-operative economy, with support from the UK Government and the backing of the United Nations, who declared 2025 the UN year of the co-operative.

Rose is Chair of the International Co-operative Working Group (ICWG) which is a founding member of the Fund for International Co-operative Development and a Director of the International Co-operative Alliance.

In addition, Rose is a member and fellow of RSA, an advisor to Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, Chair of Beyond the Music Co-op and founding Director of award-winning social enterprise SharpFutures.

Rose has most recently been appointed to Chair the Middleton Mayoral Development Corporation alongside Middletonian Steve Coogan, with a view to co-operative and community regeneration in the North of Manchester and birthplace of the co-operative movement Rochdale.

Rose has had an eclectic career. Self-employed from a young age, she cut her teeth in the music business in the era known as ‘Madchester’ before turning her hand to social enterprise, inspired by the lack of social mobility in the creative industries and in search of something more impactful, she has been an ambassador for social enterprise and co-operatives ever since.