Southern Co-operative

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The Southern Co-operative Limited
Type Consumer Co-operative
Industry Retail
Founded 1873
Headquarters Building 1000,
Lakeside North Harbour,
Western Road,
Portsmouth,
Hampshire,
PO6 3FE
Key people David Blowe, Chairman
Mark Smith, Chief executive
Products Grocer, Funeral director, www.co-opxest.com
Revenue £303 million
Employees Over 4,000
Website www.thesouthernco-operative.co.uk

Southern Co-operatives Limited is a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. It is a registered Industrial and Provident Society,[1] a member of the Co-operative Union Ltd., the Co-operative Retail Trading Group and a corporate member of Co-operative Group Ltd. (formerly Co-operative Wholesale Society), the largest consumer co-operative in the world. Head office was previously located at Fareham in Hampshire, but since July 2011, is now located at 1000 Lakeside, a business park in North Harbour, Portsmouth.[2]

The principal activities of the Society are food retailing and funerals. It operates around 170 convenience stores covering the counties of Berkshire, Bristol, Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire.[3]

The Society was, until 1998, known as the Portsea Island Mutual Co-operative Society, founded in 1873.[4] In 2009, it purchased 13 stores from Nearby Stores, that had gone into administration at the end of 2008.[5] Membership is open to all residents of its trading area, with members receiving a share of the profits in the form of dividend.

The Southern Co-operative foodstore, in Cowes, Isle of Wight.

In April 2009, plans were released to staff and members that Southern Co-operatives would adopt The Co-operative brand programme. It would re-brand within the next two years as The Southern Co-operative using the same uniforms and fascias as Co-operative Group stores, to "better reflect [their] status as a completely independent regional society owned, controlled and managed exclusively by local people in the South of England, whilst playing [a] full part in the exciting co-operative developments taking place nationally."

As of 2009, the company revealed its latest online venture Xest which is a site aimed at selling products that aid mobility and help improve the standard of living for the physically impaired.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Registered in England and Wales under the Companies Act 1985, No. 1591R
  2. ↑ "1000 Lakeside is the new home for the Southern Co-operative". Southern Co-operative. 24 March 2011. 
  3. ↑ The Southern Co-operative
  4. ↑ Our History Southern Co-operatives (retrieved 4 September 2009)
  5. ↑ "Nearby sells 13 stores to Southern". The Grocer. 10 January 2009. 
  6. ↑ Products to make everyday life easier
  7. ↑ Annual Review 2008/9 (p.3) Southern Co-operatives, April 2009

External links

Consumer co-operatives in the United Kingdom
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