The Mutual Societies Development Unit (MSDU) supports the sustainable development of the mutual societies model. It provides a dedicated point of contact for support and insight.
What the unit offers
The MSDU will engage with:
- policymakers
- public authorities
- researchers
- academics
- think-tanks
- trade associations
- advisers (including co-operative development bodies) and sponsoring bodies (PDF)
Through this engagement we can share insight from our data, provide technical input, connect those in the wider co-operative and mutual ecosystem. This could include helping you leverage our data for any analysis you are producing, participating in research interviews, or discussing how best to define a policy initiative aimed at societies.
We deliver the MSDU through our role as the registering authority for mutual societies. We offer a range of other support services relating to financial services regulation.
Get in touch with us by emailing [email protected].
Mutuals pre-application support service
Individual societies can benefit from our mutuals pre-application support service (PASS). PASS can provide input where mutuals are developing new models of society.
We can also work on areas of challenge or opportunity, such as capital in co-operatives, or networks and secondary structures. We have, for example, provided input in the development of distributed ledger technology co-operatives, and engaged in discussions exploring a co-operative model for employee ownership.
Publications
In December 2025 we also published the following reports and academic papers:
- The mutuals landscape report, produced jointly with the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA).
- Our mutuals report assessing the landscape of registered societies, in our role as the registering authority for mutual societies.
- An academic paper on co-operatives and their ecosystems (PDF). This was produced by the Centre of Expertise for Cooperative Entrepreneurship at KU Leuven.
- An academic paper on sustainable co-operative networks and ecosystems (PDF). This was produced by the International Centre for Co-operative Management at Saint Mary’s University.
The MSDU is taking forward the work from these reports.
Further support
If you would like someone to speak at your conference or event, you can request a speaker.
You can also arrange research interviews, discussions on areas impacting mutual societies, discussions about our data, or any other engagement by emailing [email protected].
Public authorities, regulators, and policymakers can engage with us at any stage of the policy-development lifecycle.
You can also find more resources for managing existing societies, data on societies through the Mutuals Public Register, and sign-up for occasional updates through our newsletter.
