Midlands Co-operative Society
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Consumer Co-operative |
|---|---|
| Founded | |
| Headquarters | Lichfield |
| Key people | John Fitzgerald, CEO |
| Area served | Midlands of England |
| Active members | 897,853 (2007) |
| Revenue | £721, 135,000 (2007) |
| Employees | 7,661 (2007) |
| Website | midlandsco-op.com |
The Midlands Co-operative Society (or Midlands Co-op) is a large consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. Since the merger of United Co-operatives and The Co-operative Group in 2007, it is now the second-largest such Society in the UK.
As its name suggests, the Society operates predominately in the Midlands of England.
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[edit] History
The Society can be traced back to the Derby Co-operative 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 Retail Co-operative Society Limited. Similar circumstances occurred in 1985 across Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Birmingham forming the Central Midlands Society. In 1995 the boards of the Leicestershire Retail and Central Midlands Societies, which were financially sound and trading profitably, agreed to merge. Since 1854, 72 separate mergers between different societies have been undertaken to form today's Midlands Co-op.
More recently, the Chesterfield and Ilkeston Co-ops both merged with the Society in 2006 and Raunds Co-operative Society merged in 2007.
[edit] Trading activities
[edit] Food retailing
The Society operates 189 food stores throughout its trading area. It has superstores, supermarkets as well as convenience stores.
[edit] Travel agency
With the transfer of Ilkeston's travel business the Society now has a large portfolio of over 100 travel agencies. These agencies currently have two formats: the traditional Midlands' 'Co-op Travel' and 'Ilkeston Co-op Travel'.
[edit] Funerals
The Society operates from 80 funeral homes throughout the region.
[edit] Non-food retailing
Unlike many Co-operatives, the Society maintains a number of non-food stores. These consist of six department stores in Chesterfield, Coalville, Derby, Ilkeston, Stafford and Wigston. It has further non-food stores, which do not sell clothes, at Kettering, Tyseley and Eastwood.
[edit] Automotive
The Society operates five car and light-commercial vehicle servicing garages and MoT testing stations in Birmingham, Leicester, Loughborough, Melton Mowbray and Alfreton. It also has a single Suzuki car franchise in Kettering.
