Midcounties Co-operative

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Midcounties Co-operative**
Type	Co-operative
Founded	2005
Headquarters	Oxford, Walsall
Key people	Vivian Woodell Bob Burlton Ben Reid
Industry	Retail, Funeral, Travel, Internet, Childcare, Car Dealership
Revenue	£421 million
Operating income	£6.2 million
Net income	£9.9 million¹
Employees	8,500
Website	midcounties.coop
details from 2006 summary annual report [1]PDF (686 KiB) 1. Net profit is after tax and dividend distribution, and includes profit from sale of property, investments and businesses

The Midcounties Co-operative is the fourth-largest co-operative in the United Kingdom. It was formed on 24 September 2005 by the merger of the Oxford, Swindon & Gloucester Co-operative Society (OSG) and the West Midlands Co-operative Society. The Society covers a geographical area which spans seven counties, including most of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire, the area around Swindon in Wiltshire, Worcestershire, Buckinghamshire and additionally the West Midlands county (WMCS).^[1]

It is a consumer co-operative, whose primary business is retailing in many of the central counties of England. A subsidiary, The Midcounties Co-operative Domains Ltd, operates the internet domain name registry for the .coop top level domain. In 2002, the co-operative became the first UK co-op to enter the children's day care market. In 2005, it invested in Westmill Wind Farm Co-operative in Watchfield, Oxfordshire, planned to be the UK's largest community-owned wind farm.^[2]

The founding president is Vivian Woodell (chief executive of The Phone Co-op), who was president of OSG Co-op at the time of the merger.

1 History
2 Businesses
3 Branding of businesses
4 Membership
5 References
6 External links

[edit] History

The co-op is governed by general meetings of its consumer members

Some of the earliest local ancestor co-ops that combined with others to eventually form Midcounties Co-operative are:

Community	Date formed
Swindon	1853
Gloucester	1860
Chipping Norton	1866
Walsall	1866
Oxford	1872
Cinderford	1874

[edit] Businesses

Food Retail (The Co-operative Food)

The Midcounties Co-operative is one of the largest independent food retailers in the country with around 150 stores. The society operates Supermarkets, Village Stores and 'Swift Shops' which are all to be converted to the unified Co-operative Food brand. The society also owns the Stars News and Rusts brands.

Funeral Services (The Co-operative Funeral Services)

The Midcounties Co-operative Funeral Service covers six counties including Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, West Midlands and Staffordshire. They own 70 funeral homes and 3 monumental masons.

Travel (The Co-operative Travel)

The Co-operative Travel, established over 50 years ago, is one of the largest independent agency chains with no link to the major travel operators. The Co-operative Travel operates 41 branches throughout the West Midlands, Worcester, Oxford, Swindon and Gloucester areas.

Pharmacy (The Co-operative Pharmacy)

The Midcounties Co-operative Pharmacy Group has 44 pharmacy branches and one specialist beauty and gift shop. The society runs 11 branches in its Southern trading area (covering Oxfordshire, Swindon and Gloucestershire) - one in Swindon, five in Oxfordshire and five located in Gloucestershire, with the remainder located in the West Midlands. Each year more than two million prescription items are dispensed. In common with many other pharmacies, the group offers a wide range of extended services to customers, such as support to quit smoking, medicines use reviews, a weight management service and asthma reviews.

Car Dealerships (The Co-operative Motors)

Motorworld (also known as The Co-operative Motors) is a co-operative car dealership. Its franchises include Volvo, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Hyundai. The Society intends it to be the most socially responsible car dealership in the UK.

Property

The property group provides a comprehensive management service for the Society's operational and investment portfolio, which encompasses 450 separate units of accommodation including over 100 residential dwellings.

[edit] Branding of businesses

The Midcounties Co-operative is one of few independent co-operatives in the UK to decide to use "The Co-operative" branding in its stores (as shown above). Now, each store the Midcounties Co-operative opens will use the same style and logos as the The Co-operative Group.

[edit] Membership

Like most UK consumer co-operatives, the Midcounties Co-operative allows almost anyone to join, as long as they are over 16. When members join they are asked to invest a minimum of £1. This entitles members to a share in the business in the form of a deposit account. The scheme is run in conjunction with The Co-operative Group's membership scheme, allowing a Midcounties card to be used in co-op businesses outside its core retail area.

The membership card allows one to collect membership points either by spending in stores or attending membership events. Points are converted to vouchers twice a year, usually in May and November. The vouchers can be spent in any of the Society's trading groups, or paid into the member's share account. There is also an option to donate the member's dividend to charity.