Our Co-op Fortnight Events & European Cooperatives

This Monday marks the start of Co-op Fortnight, the annual celebration of the cooperative movement. We are proud as a Society, to be one of sponsors of Co-op Fortnight which is the most important date in the co-operative calendar.

The Fortnight this year, is from 24 June to 7 July 2019 where we’ll be taking part in two weeks of mass co-operation to spread the word about co-ops and share the values that make our businesses unique. Co-op Fortnight is organised by Co-ops UK, the trade body representing all co-ops.

 

As part of the occasion, Co-ops UK want every co‑op in the UK to carry out an ‘act of co‑operation’ and then film or photograph it for social media, copying in another co-op. The hashtag for all Colleagues to use is #CoopFortnight

 

The idea is for a co‑op to co‑op chain reaction to take place across the UK– from the Highlands of Scotland to the Channel Islands, from Co‑op Energy to the Co-op Credit Union – involving convenience stores, housing associations, technology businesses, creative industries, manufacturers and every member‑owned business in between

 

Together, we want to inspire tens of thousands of people up and down the country – our members, customers, suppliers, friends, family and communities – to work together for Co‑op Fortnight

 

At Midcounties we have the following events that you can get involved in:

Oxford Event - 26th June

On the 26th June from 6.30pm to 8.00pm we are supporting an event at Oxford Town Hall with the City Council’s Co-operatives Champion, Cllr Richard Howlett. It will celebrate Oxford’s democratic businesses, gaining inspiration from exciting developments elsewhere and look ahead to how we can build the movement locally.

To book your place, please click here.

 

Swindon Event - 28th June

On the 28th June from 10.00am to 12.30pm we are running an event about the benefits of co-operative working at Swindon Marriott Hotel, Pipers Way, Swindon, SN3 1SH. A buffet lunch will be provided. This event is for members who are part of a community group or local organisation

 

Richard Daws, a previous co-owner of the award-winning Komedia comedy venues, will be speaking. In 2017 ‘Komedia Bath’ converted into a Community Benefit Society, successfully raising all the money needed through a community share offer. Co-op Futures will host interactive sessions on how to become a co-operative and explain the benefits of becoming a Co-operative. There will also be an opportunity to discuss ways to further promote co-operation in the Swindon area.

To book your place, please click here.

 

Meeting a fellow Co-operative CEO, Don Morris (Radstock Co-operative Society)

 

On Tuesday, I met up with Don Morris who is the CEO of The Radstock Co-operative Society and I suggested he popped in to see the Chipping Norton Food Store to understand our wider strategy for Food Markets. Don did exactly that on Wednesday and this is what he said to me in an email afterwards, “It’s been a while since I visited the store in Chipping Norton and what I saw yesterday was quite brilliant.  It’s got to be the best large co-operative store I’ve ever been in, the store design, standards, availability, local produce and your colleagues were all just excellent.  Many congratulations.” So great praise from a fellow CEO of the Co-operative!

Left to right Steven Humphrey, Lead Team Manager at Chipping Norton Store, Don Morris, CEO, The Radstock Co-operative Society, Alan Jackson, Head of Retail Operations, The Radstock Co-operative Society & Adam Quinton, Operational Support Premium Stores, Midcounties.

 

Co-op Group HQ Visit

On Wednesday evening, I attended a dinner at the Co-operative Group’s Headquarters in Manchester. This was arranged as part of a visit by Co-op Executives from across Europe including Finland, Holland, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Norway.

 

It was a great opportunity to discuss our respective challenges and opportunities. This is one of the great things about being part of a worldwide cooperative movement. I was sat with delegates from Bulgaria and Fred Bosch who I am pictured with, is the CEO of the Dutch Coop. They are a similar sized to us in terms of turnover at around £1.5BN but predominately trade in food when they are quite innovative in how they have developed different formats to meet their customers’ needs.    

The Group enjoyed the rooftop views from the Group’s HQ and were really interested to see all of the new buildings going up and intermingled with the original factory sites originally owned by the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS) many of which are now luxury apartments!

 

Most had heard of Midcounties and we were introduced by the President of the Group’s Member Council, Nick Crofts, as a truly great example of a successful Cooperative business.