Store Openings & Colleague Pulse Survey

Our food retail business has performed strongly throughout the pandemic and we’re confident will continue to grow.  Most importantly, we’ll continue to be led by our members and support our local communities as they recover from the effects of the pandemic.

July will be an important month for the growth of our successful Food Market group as we continue to invest in our store estate. The former Budgens store in Moreton-in-Marsh opened as a Co-op yesterday and next week on 9 July will see the opening our brand new build store at Botley in Oxford. Then at the end of the month on 23 July, the former Budgens at Bidford-on-Avon will also reopen as a Co-op.

All three stores are in our Food Market format which focuses particularly on providing locally sourced produce and includes in-house food and wine experts to help customers plan the perfect menu.

Moreton-in-Marsh opens as a Co-op Food Market

 

The Moreton-in-Marsh store, which is 12,000sq ft, had a fresh new look after a £250,000 makeover and is also home to a Post Office and the SOHO Coffee Co, selling fresh food and organic Fairtrade coffee.

There is a remarkable 897 food and drink products from 139 producers from Gloucestershire and neighbouring counties in-store and the store is run by a team of 56, including store manager, Mick Toth who on the opening of the new look store said:

 “Our new look store is now open for business and my colleagues and I are so pleased to be here to serve the local community. We’re especially proud of the products we’ve been able to source from some amazing local producers for our The Best of Our Counties range. Sourcing from Gloucestershire and its neighbouring counties means we can cut food miles while supporting our local communities. It also means our customers know exactly where their food comes from and how it has been produced, providing peace of mind that it is of the highest quality and sustainably sourced.”

 

New Botley store opens its doors next week

 

With an investment of £1.6 million, Botley will be a new build Food Market store.

The store is 10,000sq ft and will have 710 products from 130 local suppliers, including

• Criminally Good Beers – produced by Tap Social Brewery, a social enterprise for people who have been through the criminal justice system.  The beer is named Criminally Good

• Oxford Whole Foods – a supplier we have worked with for 25 years

• Aldens Butchers – based a short distance from the store.  This premium meat supplier also supplies the House of Commons.  They have been established since 1793

• Oxford Cheese – a celebrated local artisan cheese supplier

The store will be run by a team of 40, including 10 new colleagues and store manager, Donna Hunter.

I would like to thank all those involved and particularly the store development team for working incredibly hard to open these stores.

 

Welcoming Lizzie Hieron - Chief Operating Officer, Utilities

 

This week we welcomed Lizzie Hieron, who joined the business as Chief Operating Officer, Utilities.  Lizzie’s appointment enables us to integrate our Energy offer with our Phone Co-op services to create a new Utilities Group.

Lizzie will lead the utilities operations with a clear objective to develop the various propositions through the provision of unique co-op products & services, supported by excellent customer service in tandem with our key utilities’ partners. She will take on the leading role in propelling the Co-op brand presence in essential home services.  It’s great to have Lizzie on board and I’m sure you will all give her a warm welcome to team Midcounties.

 

Colleague Pulse Survey

As I have previously mentioned, we are looking to gain feedback on a more regular basis through pulse surveys.  Therefore, today we have opened a new survey, which is only 6 questions, so quick and easy to complete.  

These regular surveys help to inform the business and shape future decisions and so it’s important that we hear from as many colleagues as possible to give us a broad range of views, so please do take the opportunity to have your say.

All the surveys are completely confidential and so please complete the questions as honestly and openly as you can and by the deadline of Friday 10th July. I look forward to hearing your feedback.

If you are not signed into Colleagues Connect already, this link will ask you to do so first.

Click here to sign in and take the survey