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.
As John Lewis faces some of the biggest challenges in more than a century of trading, it has called in not a department store executive but a restructuring specialist to take the helm.
The Co-op’s food boss has warned that the coronavirus pandemic has seen an increase in violence against staff and called on the government to urgently introduce legislation to protect shopworkers.
Kantar’s latest grocery figures paint a full picture of a three-month period that has rapidly changed the face of food retailing. Retail Week analyses some of the key lessons from lockdown for the grocery sector.
Just 3% of retail’s leaders are BAME. As the Black Lives Matter movement shines a light on racial inequality, is it time for the industry to take a long, hard look at itself?
The Co-op has expanded its robot delivery service in and around Milton Keynes to meet increased customer demand.
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