Humberside Co-operative Development Agency Limited

(HCDA)

 

Who are we?
Humberside CDA was founded in 1985 by Humberside County Council as an arms length agency, to support and develop Co-operatives and Social Enterprises in the Humberside area. In 1996 Humberside was dissolved into four unitary authorities and the CDA lost most of its regular financial backing and effectively become independent. At the current time the CDA is managed by a board of three Directors from the Co-operative sector.

In the main we provide free support to Co-operatives, Social Enterprises and other Not For Profit organisations and to groups or individuals looking to set-up one of the above kinds of organisations.

Most of our services are funded by people such as Business Link so are free to clients who are thinking of starting or who's business/organisation is under three years old. We may have to charge for other organisations but there may be subsidies or free work available depending on circumstances. Either way, please feel free to contact us and we'll discuss your specific needs and circumstances.

What’s on this site?
We’ve provided a whole range of free resources for you to use. These can all be found on the Useful Information & Free Resources page. Tools include:

The Structure-o-Matic: A tool for working out what legal structure best suits your needs.

Legal Structure Guides: Detailed step by step guides to setting up associations and companies, including copies of all the forms you need, a sample values and principles statement, sample partnership agreements, constitutions and memorandum and articles to customise and use.

Business Planning Online: Not part of the site, but one of our Directors (Jon Clarke) has an online business planner for social enterprises which is open to anyone to use. Please feel free to go to www.businessplanningonline.co.uk, create an account and create your plan.

Other Resources: A variety of other resources including sample employment contracts, general notes and business guides.

Why work with us?
We think that there are many reasons that you should consider working with us, we’ve listed some below and you’ll find a raft of testimonials on the Testimonials page to support these statements.

Experience: Humberside CDA is a social enterprise itself and has been since it's founding in 1985 and it's members now consist wholly of people involved in social enterprise in Humberside.

Hands on: All of the CDA's advisor's and consultants are actively involved in social enterprises of their own, bringing real world experience to the support they can give you.

Quality: We pride ourselves on the quality and manner of our delivery. We treat our clients as we'd want to be treated ourselves.

Networking: The CDA has an active policy of networking it's clients, encouraging them to work together and share experience where possible.

Referall: The CDA strongly believes that clients should receive the best possible service. As part of this we will refer you to other support agencies where appropriate.

Specialist advice: The CDA has access to various people involved in social enterprise who can come in and give you practical advice in specialist areas.

What we can offer you
The CDA offers a wide range of services both in-house and through our network of trusted subcontractors. If you have any needs which don’t appear in the list below please feel free to contact us as we may be able to help you regardless.

General Advice and Guidance: The CDA can provide general advice and guidance when you need it.

Business Planning: The CDA can help you put together a business plan for the organisation using our propriety software, developed in house specifically for social enterprises.

Legal Structures & Governance: The CDA will discuss your ideas and help choose the best legal structure for your new enterprise, then help you set it up.

Financial Planning: The CDA can help you plan budgets for projects and other purposes.

Project Management: The CDA can help you in the planning and delivery of projects.

Management Systems: The CDA can assist you in putting in systems to manage your organization (including PAYE systems).

Identifying and Getting Grants: The CDA can help you identify suitable sources of grant funding (if there are any available to you), then help you put together applications to get at them.

Social Auditing: The CDA can work with you to set up social audit systems for your organisation and act as your external auditor if you wish.

IT services: The CDA can assist you in IT matters ranging from website design and development through to the implementation of complex database systems. We can also maintain existing systems or teach you how to use freely available tools to maintain and update your own sites.


Email: info@humbersidecda.info