Co-operative Group Limited, trading as 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 funeral care.
The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844, was an early consumer co-operative, and one of the first to pay a patronage dividend, forming the basis for the modern co-operative movement. Although other co-operatives preceded them, the Rochdale Pioneers' co-operative became the prototype for societies in Great Britain. The Rochdale Pioneers are most famous for designing the Rochdale Principles, a set of principles of co-operation that provide the foundation for the principles on which co-ops around the world operate to this day. The model the Rochdale Pioneers used is a focus of study within co-operative economics.
Co-operative Retail Services was the second-largest consumer co-operative society in the United Kingdom. In 2000, it was dissolved by its members, merging with the larger Co-operative Wholesale Society, to form the Co-operative Group (CWS) Ltd.
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.
A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically which aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of their members. They operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit. Consumers' cooperatives often take the form of retail outlets owned and operated by their consumers, such as food co-ops. However, there are many types of consumers' cooperatives, operating in areas such as health care, insurance, housing, utilities and personal finance.
Wooldale Co-operative Society was a small consumer co-operative based in the West Yorkshire village of Wooldale. The Society operated three convenience stores in the Holme Valley villages of New Mill, Thongsbridge and Wooldale. It was founded as the Wooldale Industrial and Equitable Co-operative Society in 1886, changing its name in 1989.
United Co-operatives Limited, or simply United Co-op, is a now defunct regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom, until its merger with the Co-operative Group in 2007. The society operated across Yorkshire, the North West and North Midlands of United Kingdom. In September 2002, it came about from the merger of United NorWest and Yorkshire Co-operative Society.
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 society with its headquarters in Wherstead, near Ipswich and trading in the eastern counties of Essex, Suffolk and Norfolk. The Society is the area's largest independent retailer.
The Penrith Co-operative Society Limited, known locally as Penrith Co-op, was a small regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. The society was formed in 1890 and at the time of its merger with Scotmid it operated one department store with supermarket attached and eight small supermarkets or convenience stores in Cumbria and County Durham.
The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement began with the application of cooperative principles to business organization.
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 over 200 stores, principally trading in the English Midlands. Head office was located in Lichfield, Staffordshire.
Ilkeston Co-operative Society was a consumer co-operative society based in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England.
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 Sheffield Co-operative Society was a local consumer co-operative trading in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England.
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 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 Heart of England Co-operative Society is an independent consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. Based in Coventry, the Society trades in the English counties of West Midlands, Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.
John Holmes (1815–1894) was a radical campaigner in the city of Leeds in the mid 19th Century. A prosperous draper by profession, he was nevertheless very active in campaigning for workers' rights and was instrumental in founding the Leeds Co-operative Society and its precursor, the People's Flour Mill. His writing on the value of cooperatives attracted attention from major figures such as Edwin Chadwick, who cited his work, and John Stuart Mill, with whom he corresponded.
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.
Hyde Park Store
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