Creating a New Society Podcast
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Published 2 Dec 2025 in Creating a New Society
In this week's podcast edition, we have a colleague takeover with a colleague from Central and Midcounties! Featuring Holly Sawyers from Early Years at Midcounties and Joel Mattless from Food Operations at Central, they share their views and discuss the merger.
Keep sending your colleague questions to ask@midcounties.coop.
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0:00 - Intro with Holly Sawyers, Head of Commercial Operations – Early Years, Midcounties & Joel Mattless, Senior Operations Manager, Central Co-op
0:36 – Joel’s career so far, which isn’t his first merger…
1:15 – And Holly’s career so far…
2:08 – Holly to Joel - What was most daunting about the merger and how did you overcome that?
4:39 – Joel to Holly – What excites you most about the upcoming potential merger & any developmental opportunities?
5:26 – Holly to Joel – How did you best support colleagues through the transition and change & what worked well for you?
8:25 – Joel to Holly – How are your team feeling about the possibility of a merger?
10:31 – Holly to Joel – What makes you most proud to work for a co-operative?
12:59 – Outro – Keep sending in your colleague questions, read the FAQs and join the Midcounties Special meeting
Week 8 - Podcast Transcript
00:00:09:09 – 00:00:17:10 Holly: Hello, everyone. I'm Holly Sawyers, Head of Commercial Operations for our Early Years trading division at Midcounties Co-operative.
00:00:17:12 – 00:00:25:18 Joel: And hello everyone. I'm Joel Mattless, Senior Operations Manager, Central Co-operative, and I work in East Anglia, for the local food stores.
00:00:25:20 – 00:00:35:06 Holly: You might be wondering why we're here, kicking off this week's podcast episode. We've been asked to take the reins today and share our thoughts with you as colleagues about creating a new society.
00:00:35:08 – 00:00:47:24 Joel: First of all, great to be here. My first time at Midcounties head office and my first time in Warwick, and Holly has been very welcoming and I’ve met some great colleagues today.
00:00:48:01 – 00:00:52:22 Holly: Thanks, Joel. Can you tell me a bit about your career? I hear this isn't your first merger?
00:00:52:24 – 00:01:18:24 Joel: I can, yeah. I started back in 2007 on the produce years ago, and worked my way all the way up to Store Manager. That was Anglia Regional Society, which was a Co-operative predominantly based in Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. And then, in 2013, we merged with Midlands Co-operative to become Central Co-operative. I was still a Store Manager at that point.
00:01:19:01 – 00:01:29:23 Joel: And then from then on, I continued to work as a Store Manager until 2020, when I got into an operations role, which I currently sit in now.
00:01:30:00 – 00:01:32:20 Joel: And then could you tell us a bit about your career?
00:01:32:22 – 00:02:01:07 Holly: Thanks, Joel. So yes, I also started in food retail, back in 2006. We had just created Midcounties. We’d just had the merger between Oxford, Swindon and Gloucester Co-operative and West Midlands Co-operative. Although I wasn't here before the merger, just as I'd started, we were still going through all those kinds of changes. I can remember that our pay dates changed from being on the 28th of every month to four-weekly, and that being just one of the things we had to get used to as part of that merger.
00:02:01:07 – 00:02:20:22 Holly: So I started here in food, and I was lucky enough once I finished my university degree to get a place on the graduate program here, which was a fantastic opportunity for me to experience lots of different trading groups and departments. And then I finally settled on a career in Early Years, and that's where I am today.
00:02:20:24 – 00:02:29:05 Holly: So given that you've been through a merger before, Joel, what was the most daunting aspect of the integration and how did you overcome that?
00:02:29:07 – 00:02:50:14 Joel: I think for me, it was definitely the amount of change and the amount of uncertainty. Change is very different for every individual. Some people welcome it and are definitely up for merging two great societies and everything makes sense to them. Some people have a lot of questions.
00:02:50:16 – 00:03:16:05 Joel: So for me it was probably listening and taking on board any concerns colleagues had, and then equally trying to work through it together. You do need each other when there's a lot of uncertainty out there. When I was at Anglia, my aspirations were very much around becoming a large Store Manager, and I really felt that was my sky. Then when we merged, I've obviously ended up in an operations role, which has slightly eclipsed that, something I’d never thought possible before the merger.
00:03:16:07 – 00:03:45:10 Joel: So I think opportunities are created when societies get bigger and stronger. If I were to give any advice to my younger self—because I think I was 23 when we merged—I’d say to really lean into it more and get involved with the change. The more involved you are, the more you can be a part of the change you’d like to see. There are things we can make better in both societies and things we really enjoy in both.
00:03:45:12 – 00:04:04:04 Joel: It's just creating a nice mix of the best of both worlds. So: lean in, be involved, ask questions, talk to colleagues. And if you're in a good place yourself, support those who might have more questions. There's definitely a role to play for everyone.
00:04:04:04 – 00:04:24:16 Joel: I'm very thankful for the merger and excited about the upcoming one. And more recently, Chelmsford Star down south joined Central Co-operative as well. They’re in a similar situation where they’re looking at integrating systems and processes and trying to match both businesses up at the minute.
00:04:24:18 – 00:05:10:09 Joel: So lots of fun to be had with stuff like that. So, Holly, what excites you about the upcoming potential merger? Would you like to talk about any development opportunities you may see?
00:05:10:11 – 00:05:11:08 Joel: (transition)
00:05:11:10 – 00:05:34:11 Holly: When I think back 20 years to when I first started here at Midcounties, my current job role—and in fact my entire department—didn't even exist. Although we did have early years nurseries, we only had six of them. Today we have 46. We have a whole central team built around supporting those nurseries, developing our curriculum, and supporting young co-operators in their early stages of life.
00:05:34:11 – 00:05:54:18 Holly: So what I'm really excited to see is what this new merge will bring for us in terms of future evolving changes. What new job roles will there be? What opportunities for colleagues to grow and develop? That's what excites me most. Speaking about colleagues, how did you best support colleagues through the transition and change? What’s worked well, and what do you think will work well moving forward?
00:05:54:18 – 00:06:01:06 Holly: What’s worked well for you?
00:06:01:08 – 00:06:26:10 Joel: The listening piece is definitely key—understanding how colleagues are feeling and where they are on the change journey. From a support point of view, it’s about accepting that you don't have all the answers and working through them together to look for new solutions. And equally accepting there will be mistakes along the way.
00:06:26:12 – 00:06:55:03 Joel: But keeping that end goal in mind—creating a new society. Accepting things won’t always be perfect, but recognising things can be new and better. Listening is key. And making sure there’s no such thing as a silly question. If someone is asking it, they're asking for a reason.
00:06:55:05 – 00:07:16:15 Joel: From a leadership sense, you have a duty of care to your team. It’s making sure they’ve got communication available and feel supported throughout the process. A combination of listening, supporting, and driving that direction forward.
00:07:16:15 – 00:07:42:07 Joel: When two different businesses come together, you can learn from each other. More recently with Chelmsford Star, I spent a few days with their area managers. They had different ideas about what they do well. A quick example: creating commercial income on marketing TV screens used for branding. They suggested opening these up to local businesses—like a window cleaner advertising—supporting the community and bringing in income.
00:07:42:09 – 00:08:14:15 Joel: And I remember lots of things from Anglia Co-op that we brought over to Midlands to create Central Co-operative—picking apart the best bits of both worlds. That’s been my experience: Anglia, Chelmsford, and now potentially Midcounties.
00:08:14:17 – 00:08:34:18 Joel: How are your team feeling about the possibility of a merger?
00:08:34:20 – 00:08:55:21 Holly: Our team in early years is perhaps in a different position to others because we don't have an equivalent trading group at Central. So we’re still facing quite a bit of change. People want to know how it will affect them—questions like which office we’ll work in, which benefits we’ll keep. But ultimately, we can see the great things on both sides.
00:08:55:23 – 00:09:17:19 Holly: Everyone’s excited about seeing the best of both societies coming together. Particularly in early years, we’ve got ambitious growth plans. We mentioned earlier going from six nurseries to 46 today, and we see the merger as a real opportunity to push on with growth and investment.
00:09:17:21 – 00:09:35:20 Holly: We’ve had great success with joint ventures with food stores—particularly with new-build housing developments where planning is easier with a food store and nursery together. Having the opportunity to work with a wider area and more food stores is really exciting.
00:09:35:22 – 00:09:53:22 Holly: So yes, lots of questions, some we can’t answer yet. But lots of excitement as well. Our recent pulse survey—which measures colleague engagement—was really positive, with great feedback about the potential merger. Lots of excitement and positivity from colleagues, which is great to see.
00:09:53:24 – 00:10:13:13 Joel: That's great. We similarly have an engagement survey twice a year, and that came out quite positive too. And the percentage of votes is encouraging—showing we want to work together and become a bigger and better co-operative, serve more communities, and create sustainability.
00:10:13:19 – 00:10:31:08 Holly: Absolutely. And our type of business is unique with communities at the heart. So what makes you most proud to work for a co-operative?
00:10:31:08 – 00:11:05:12 Joel: I remember early in my career it was just a job. Then I fell in love with the retail side—learning new things, busy environments, meeting teams and customers. Getting into communities, litter picking, painting fences. It’s encouraged as part of the co-operative.
00:11:05:12 – 00:11:33:07 Joel: As my career grew, that made me fall in love with the co-operative part too. I’m proud that I have a stake in the job I do. I think it's cool that you can spend a pound and own part of a business. It’s a good way of doing business. Co-ops have always raised standards in communities, especially in tough times.
00:11:33:07 – 00:11:56:11 Joel: I’m proud of the democracy and that colleagues get a say. A good example is campaigning for colleague safety—retail abuse is a big issue. Co-ops have pushed for legislation to protect colleagues, and it's nice to be in a company that cares.
00:11:56:13 – 00:12:20:11 Joel: I’m at 18 years of service now—that wouldn’t have happened if it wasn’t a movement I was proud to be part of. I’m thankful for the opportunities. I gained a degree through the co-operative. I’ve worked with nearly 100 teams through different roles, opening stores, managing regions.
00:12:20:13 – 00:12:44:10 Joel: Lots to be thankful for.
00:12:44:10 – 00:13:03:10 Holly: Thanks, Joel. That's it for this week's update. We hope you found it useful.
00:13:03:11 – 00:13:26:15 Joel: And if you've missed any of the previous episodes, do check them out on our usual platforms. Please keep sending in your questions and check the FAQs regularly.
00:13:26:15 – 00:13:45:01 Holly: And a final reminder for our Midcounties colleagues: We have our second vote tonight. There's still time to book on and join us online. Thanks again for watching, and thanks for everything you do every day to support our members, customers, and communities.