Is it legal to have an all-female workers' co-op?

[chaoticgood]

Obviously there are laws about employment, but what if we are all self-employed? If we create an entity that is the co-op, and trade as the co-op, would we be breaking any discrimination laws if we are explicitly only accepting females as members? Presumably it is permissable to have all-female collectives of other sorts but does that change when it is a trading entity? I'm thinking of this kind of thing case.coop/2010/09/07/what-is-a-co-operative-consortium/

I have no idea but I'm looking for work and would love this!

You could claim exemption using The Equality Act in certain situations, for example if you are offering employment in a field that women are under represented, or if you are providing a service for women.

watching with interest, can I join?

yes it's a field where women are underrepresented definitely!

Don't know if its legal or not but imagine there a plenty of all male boardrooms.