Abbas Shapuri’s journey into the worker co-operative movement is not a typical one. Many worker co-operators arrive from the “alternative” or activist scenes. Abbas, however, came from the heart of capitalism: corporate accountancy.
In this episode of Punchcard, Abbas and I talk about what led to him betraying his politics and values to work at big corporate firms, like KPMG & IHG, and how he eventually managed to escape.
Listen to the full interview on workers.coop/podcast, Overcast, PocketCasts, RSS, Spotify, Apple Podcasts & Youtube or wherever you get your podcasts
⚖️ From the Corporate World to The Co-op One
Talking to Abbas made me realise how many people are stuck in corporate jobs that clash with their values, unable to see an alternative or too afraid to make a change. His turning point came through his friend Aqueel, who joined a Radical Routes housing co-op, discovered Third Sector, and pulled Abbas into the world of co-ops he didn’t know existed.
But that also reveals the problem: without someone already inside the movement, many people will never find their way to co-ops at all. Our sector is small, and if we want it to grow, we need to reach beyond our current circles. That’s why I started Punchcard—to make those introductions at scale and share stories that help people realise: if Abbas could make the leap, maybe I can too.
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💼 Learning from the Enemy
Abbas is the second Punchcard guest to highlight the benefits of not working exclusively within the co-op world. While our self-taught, DIY ethos is powerful, the reality is that KPMG gave Abbas access to skills and experiences that simply don’t exist in most worker co-ops.
The same message came from the episode with Ai Van, who, while at the Bread Co-op read traditional business management books and brought us the £1 model. She has since left the Bread Co-op to see what she can learn from being in a traditional business and may return with more insights and tools that could strengthen co-ops.
Building on the popularity of Ai Van’s episode, season 2 of Punchcard is featuring more innovators and practical solutions for worker co-ops. Upcoming guests include Paul from Navigate, sharing tools to manage conflict, and Steffi, Novara Media’s fundraiser, discussing the importance of newsletters and campaign strategy.
📈 Growing the Co-op Accountancy Sector
A common concern for Abbas, and many other cooperators, is the risk of diluting or losing the values and ethos of their co-op. So how do we build and maintain cooperative culture?
In a previous episode of Punchcard, Beau explained how Suma Wholefoods strengthens its values through a secondary set of principles, a framework that goes deeper than the standard seven international cooperative principles and the members have more ownership over.
Unicorn Grocery takes this a step further, embedding their values into the rhythm of daily life with fortnightly training sessions where members can present everything from sectoral trends to how to better include neurodivergent members.
Help connect more workers like Abbas with the worker co-ops movement
Worker co-operatives are still a fringe model, known by few and understood by even fewer. Punchcard exists to change that, bringing co-operative ideas and real-world stories into public consciousness.
By building a dedicated worker co-op podcast, we’re reaching new audiences and showing that another way of working is not only possible – it’s already happening.
We’re aiming for 50 listeners donating £5/month to take Punchcard to the next level – better audio, better video, and greater reach.
[→ Support Punchcard on Open Collective ▷]
Thank you to everyone who has supported Punchcard and helped us get to this point,
– Caleb Elliott & Punchcard