The Co-operative Group is the UK’s biggest mutual retailer. As well as running food retail and wholesale operations, is the country’s largest funeral business and probate provider.
The Co-op was created in 1844 by the social entrepreneurs the ‘Rochdale Pioneers’, and the group was established 20 years later through the merger of various cooperative societies.
The business was engulfed in turmoil in 2013 as scandal and losses at the bank it then owned threatened to destroy it.
In the years since, the Co-operative Group was restored to success. The bank was sold, and, from a retail perspective, the business focused on building its convenience store arm and made the most of its strong community roots and campaigning heritage to distinguish itself from competitors.
Community initiatives include support for academy schools and the donation of 1% of members’ spend on own-brand products to local good causes.
The Tech List, Retail Week’s definitive index of the 50 most influential leaders in global digital commerce, was published last month. We brought together two of the leaders celebrated, Starship Technologies and True, alongside industry experts Braze and Okta, to dig deeper into the latest thinking on online innovation and digital trends
Co-op chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq, who is participating in COP27 Water Day today, warns that we must recognise the link between water scarcity, how our food is produced and the lack of safe sanitation in poorer nations
Asda has formally completed a deal to acquire 132 petrol forecourt sites from the Co-op, subject to regulatory approval.
With inflation still on the rise, the UK economy in freefall and customer confidence at an all-time low, the Co-op has unveiled a new strategy. Will it be enough to stop the rot at the c-store specialist?
The Co-op has suffered a decline in profitability as it battles to cut costs and shore up its balance sheet.
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