Mutuo conducts research into many types of mutual, publishing documents that expand our understanding of the sector and outline the potential for new mutual organisations in both public and private sectors.

Mutuo’s groundbreaking research and publications have informed and led the debate on mutuality, putting it at the top of the Government’s agenda. Mutuo has been at the forefront of the drive to empower communities in the delivery of public services, including housing, health, childcare and education.

Follow the links on the right to read about our research publications and new mutuals projects.

Oxford University Centre for Mutual and Employee-owned Business

Mutuo is a founding partner in the new Centre for Mutual and Employee-owned Business, based at Kellogg College, Oxford University.

The principal activities of the Centre are research and professional development. Short courses and educational programmes focus on the business needs of the mutual and co-owned business sectors. The Centre offers a gateway for the mutual and co-owned business sectors to seminars, guest lectures, and other activities. Networking and partnering within and beyond Oxford, including international academic exchanges, allow the Centre to draw on the best work globally to inform our research, and to communicate our research to users.

Policy makers, financial institutions, economists and other influencers are showing increasing interest in the mutual and co-owned business sectors’ participatory approach to stakeholder involvement, high standards of corporate ethics and community responsibility, and long-term sustainable strategies towards investment and profit. Sea changes in the UK and global economy have reinforced the importance of the mutual and co-owned business sectors. This new environment offers both sectors an unprecedented opportunity for thought leadership, provided it is grounded in world-class research and analysis. This empirically-based research will inform a new curriculum reflective of the mutual and co-owned business sectors’ needs.

The aims of the Centre for Mutual and Employee-owned Business are to:

1. Compile a growing body of evidence on the performance of the mutual and co-owned business sectors

2. Deliver a curriculum for the mutual and co-owned business sectors that is closely matched to their current and future leaders

3. Advance knowledge about the mutual and co-owned business sectors, encourage debate and new thinking, disseminate research outcomes extensively, and widen interest in and support for the sectors nationally and internationally

4. Secure funding for ongoing research into key issues for the mutual and co-owned business sectors

5. Provide a hub for networking academics and practitioners with interests in the mutual and co-owned business sectors