Company type | Consumer Co-operative |
---|---|
Industry | Retail (Wholesale) |
Founded | 1995 (1854) |
Defunct | 2014 |
Fate | Merged with Anglia Regional Co-operative Society |
Successor | Central England Co-operative |
Headquarters | Midlands House, Hermes Road, Lichfield, Staffs. WS13 6RH , United Kingdom |
Area served | English Midlands |
Key people | John Maltby, President Martyn Cheatle, Chief Executive |
Products | Grocer, Travel Agent, Funeral Director, Car Dealership |
Revenue | £670m (2013) |
Members | 999,184 (2013) |
Number of employees | 7,500 (2013) |
Website | midlands.coop |
Midlands Co-operative Society Limited was the second largest consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. [1] It was a registered Industrial and Provident Society, [2] a member of the Co-operative Union, the Co-operative Retail Trading Group and a corporate member of The Co-operative Group (formerly Co-operative Wholesale Society), 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.
On 19 September 2013, it was announced that the boards of Midlands Co-operative Society and Anglia Regional Co-operative Society had agreed merger terms. Approved by members on 4 and 18 November, legal completion of the merger took place on 1 December, with the Anglia Society transferring engagements to Midlands Co-operative. [3] On 15 January 2014, members of the merged society approved a change of name to Central England Co-operative effective from 25 January 2014. [4]
The Society traced its origins to the Derby Co-operative Provident Society which, in 1854, was one of the first co-operatives in the Midlands. In 1969, a number of Leicestershire societies merged to form the Leicestershire Co-operative Society. Similar circumstances occurred in 1985 across Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Birmingham forming the Central Midlands Co-operative Society. In 1995, the boards of the Leicestershire and Central Midlands societies, which were financially sound and trading profitably, agreed to merge. Since 1854, 72 separate mergers between different societies were undertaken to form the Midlands Co-operative.
More recently, the Chesterfield Co-operative Society was absorbed by the Society in 2001, Ilkeston Co-operative Society in 2006, Raunds Co-operative Society in 2007, Moulton Co-operative Society in 2009 and Shepley Industrial and Provident Society in 2013. [5]
On 1 December 2013, the Midlands Co-operative Society merged with Anglia Regional Co-operative Society. [6] The combined Society began trading as Central England Co-operative with effect from 25 January 2014.
Membership was open to all residents of the Society's trading area, with members receiving a share of the profits in the form of dividend.
The Society operated over 200 food stores and forecourts throughout its trading area. All had been rebranded as The Co-operative Food, mirroring branding from The Co-operative Group.
Midlands Co-operative Funeral Services operated some 90 funeral homes throughout the region.
The Society no longer operates its department stores, having closed these in 2013.
The Society operated light-commercial vehicle servicing garages and MoT testing stations in Leicester and Loughborough. It also had a single Suzuki car franchise in Kettering, operating as The Co-operative Motor Group in Lincoln with Mazda, Citroën, Renault, Jeep, Chrysler and Harley Davidson franchises.
The Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op and formerly known as the Co-operative Wholesale Society, is a British consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses, including grocery retail and wholesale, legal services, funerals and insurance, and social enterprise.
The Scottish Midland Co-operative Society, is an independent retail consumers' co-operative based in Edinburgh, Scotland.
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The Midcounties Co-operative Limited, trading as Your Co-op, 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 Federal Retail Trading Services.
United Co-operatives Limited, or simply United Co-op, was a 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.
Southern Co-op is a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. The principal activities of the Society are food retailing, funeral homes, and cafes. It operates more than 300 convenience stores, funeral homes, and Starbucks coffee shops across the southern English counties of Berkshire, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, London, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex, and Wiltshire. Southern Co-op Society is owned by over 170,000 members who share in the business's profits and democratically control its operations. It was previously registered as an Industrial and Provident Society, but its status is now as a mutual society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014.
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Ilkeston Co-operative Society was a consumer co-operative society based in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England.
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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.
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 Co-operative Travel Trading Group was the central buying group for co-operative travel agents in the United Kingdom. It was established along the same lines as the Co-operative Retail Trading Group when the Co-operative Group merged its own five travel operations in 2003.
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Funeral Services Limited, trading as Co-op Funeralcare, is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Co-operative Group, based in Manchester, which operates over 1,000 funeral homes and is the largest funeral director in the United Kingdom, accounting for 16.5% of the "at need" funeral market during 2016. Co-op Funeralcare is a member of the National Association of Funeral Directors and is also Funeral Planning Authority registered.
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.
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Tamworth Co-operative Society Limited is a small independent consumer co-operative in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England. The co-operative operates a department store, supermarket, 11 convenience stores, and eight funeral care locations, with over 20,000 members and an annual turnover in excess of £23m.
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(help)[ dead link ] – the former Ilkeston Co-op site in 2005