The Co-operative Group, trading as the Co-op, is a British consumer co-operative with a diverse family of retail businesses including food retail and wholesale; e-pharmacy; insurance services; legal services and funeralcare, with in excess of 3,700 locations. It is the largest consumer co-operative in the UK and owned by more than 4.6 million active members. Membership is open to everyone, provided they agree to subscribe £1 sterling in the capital of the society and share the values and principles upon which the group was founded. Members are democratically involved in setting business strategy, decide how social goals are achieved, and share in its profits – in 2018, £79m was returned to members and their chosen local community causes via the 5+1 scheme. The Group also owed £792m to its lenders.
The Phone Co-op is a consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom, which provides landline, mobile telephone and Internet services, including web hosting and broadband. Now part of the Midcounties Co-operative, the largest independent co-operative in the UK, it is owned by its customer-members who democratically control the business and who share in its profits. This makes The Phone Co-op the only telephone co-operative in the UK.
The United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 7000 registered co-operatives owned by 17 million individual members and which contribute £34bn a year to the British economy. Modern co-operation started with the Rochdale Pioneers' shop in the northern English town of Rochdale in 1844, though the history of co-operation in Britain can be traced back to before 1800. The British co-operative movement is most commonly associated with The Co-operative brand which has been adopted by several large consumers' co-operative societies; however, there are many thousands of registered co-operative businesses operating in the UK. Alongside these consumers' co-operatives, there exist many prominent agricultural co-operatives (621), co-operative housing providers (619), health and social care cooperatives (111), cooperative schools (834), retail co-operatives, co-operatively run community energy projects, football supporters' trusts, credit unions, and worker-owned businesses.
The Midcounties Co-operative is a consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom with over 700,000 members. Registered in England under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, it is a member of Co-operatives UK and the Co-operative Retail Trading Group.
The East of England Co-operative Society is the fourth largest consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom after The Co-operative Group, The Midcounties Co-operative and Central England Co-operative. It is a registered industrial and provident society with its headquarters in Wherstead, near Ipswich and trading in the eastern counties of Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire. The Society is the area's largest independent retailer.
The National Association of Co-operative Officials (NACO) was a trade union for staff in the co-operative sector in the United Kingdom, principally the Co-operative Group and other retail societies, Co-operatives UK and the Co-operative Party.
Thomas Cook Group plc was a British global travel group. It was formed on 19 June 2007 by the merger of Thomas Cook AG and MyTravel Group. The group operated in two separate segments: a tour operator and an airline. It also operated travel agencies in Europe. On 23 September 2019 Thomas Cook Group and all UK entities went into compulsory liquidation.
Midlands Co-operative Society Limited was the second largest consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. It was a registered Industrial and Provident Society, a member of the Co-operative Union, the Co-operative Retail Trading Group and a corporate member of The Co-operative Group, the largest consumer co-operative in the world. The Society had a wide-ranging and extensive portfolio with over 200 stores, principally trading in the English Midlands. Head office was located in Lichfield, Staffordshire.
The Co-operative Federal Retail and Trading Services is the central buying group for co-operative retail societies in the United Kingdom. It came into its current structure in 2015, though its predecessor was established in 1993, and it supplies almost all food bought for sale by the over 4,000 co-operative foodstores in the UK. The buying group is owned and controlled by each of its member societies but is managed by The Co-operative Group on their behalf. It operates by pooling the collective £8.5bn buying power for 18 co-operative societies in the UK, allowing them to negotiate better prices from suppliers, so as to compete effectively with other UK supermarket chains.
Lothian, Borders & Angus Co-operative Society Limited , founded in 1839 in the Scottish Borders, was the oldest independent consumer co-operative in Scotland until it merged with The Co-operative Group in December 2008. It operated over 50 food stores in the south and east, as well as some other retail businesses, and funeral services. At the time of the merger, Lothian Co-op was owned by 65,000 consumer members on a one member one vote basis.
The Lincolnshire Co-operative is an independent consumer co-operative which operates in Lincolnshire, the Newark and Retford areas of Nottinghamshire and also a single pharmacy in Norfolk, United Kingdom. The society has over 215 outlets with its principal trading activity being its food stores, funeral homes, travel agencies, florists and pharmacies. The Society is owned by over 280,000 members who hold Lincolnshire Co-op dividend cards, equal to approximately one quarter of the population of Greater Lincolnshire. The society also owns the Gadsby's bakery which is based in Southwell, Nottinghamshire.
Co-op Food, previously trading as The Co-operative Food, is a brand devised for the food retail business of the consumer co-operative movement in the United Kingdom. The brand is used by over 15 different co-operative societies which operate over 4,000 shops, and does not represent one single food retail business. The successor to Co-op Welcome and a range of regional formats, the latest version of the brand was introduced in 2016 with a significant advertising campaign. Customers of many of the larger UK co-operative societies can earn an annual share of the profits at any "Co-operative" branded shop in proportion to purchases through The Co-operative Membership scheme.
Anglia Regional Co-operative Society Limited was the fifth largest consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the merger of the Greater Peterborough Regional and Anglia co-operative societies in 1987. The Society had a wide-ranging and extensive portfolio with over 80 stores, principally trading in East Anglia. Head office was located at Westgate House, Peterborough until 2011.
The Moulton Co-operative Society Limited, or simply Moulton Co-op, was a small regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. The society was formed in 1861 and operated a single supermarket in Moulton, Northamptonshire. In January 2009, members voted overwhelmingly to transfer arrangements to Midlands Co-operative Society, which took effect on 8 February 2009.
The Co-operative is a common branding used by a variety of co-operatives based in the United Kingdom.
The Co-operative Travel is a travel agency brand used by some independent retail co-operatives in the United Kingdom, such as Midcounties Co-operative, through their access to The Co-operative brand. Between 2011 and 2016 the brand was also used by TCCT Retail Limited, a travel agency run as a joint venture between the Thomas Cook Group, The Co-operative Group and Central England Co-operative.
Well, formerly known as The Co-operative Pharmacy, is the largest independent pharmacy business and the third largest overall pharmacy chain after Boots UK and Lloyds Pharmacy in the United Kingdom. It is the largest pharmacy chain in Wales.
The Channel Islands' Co-operative Society is a long-established consumer co-operative with stores in the Channel Islands. Its head office is located in Saint Helier in Jersey.
Co-op Energy is a British energy supply company based in Warwick that began trading in 2010. It is an alternative to the Big Six energy suppliers and, given that its parent is Midcounties Co-operative, it is the only co-operative supplier in the market. Since August 2019, energy supply, billing and customer service have been operated by Octopus Energy.
Central England Co-operative is a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom, based in Lichfield and which trades from over 400 sites across the English Midlands and East Anglia. The business is owned and democratically controlled by its members who can stand for election to the board and who also share in the society's profits. A proportion of the profits of the business are also invested in local community groups through its community dividend grants programme and its more than 60 member classes.
