Thank you for your Support — Next steps in Creating our New Society

Dear Colleague,

Earlier, we held the first of two Special Members’ Meetings to consider the proposed merger between Midcounties Co-operative and Central Co-op.

During the meeting, I joined our Society’s President Irene Kirkman to outline the background to the proposal and why our Board has recommended this merger as the best route to delivering greater value for our members, colleagues and communities.

It was also great to welcome Elaine Dean, President of Central Co-op, and Debbie Robinson, Central Co-op CEO, to our meeting. Together we reiterated our combined vision for how we can come together to create a new Society that is stronger, more resilient and has an even greater ability to support the development of the co-operative movement.

I am pleased to say that 96.6% of members voted to support the merger. Under our Society’s rules, a two-thirds majority was required for the resolution to pass, so that threshold was met.

The next step will be for Central Co-op to hold its Special Members’ Meeting on Wednesday this week (19 November), where its members will be asked to vote on the proposals. If this vote is passed, we will host a second Special Members’ Meeting on Tuesday, 2 December 2025, where a simple majority vote will be needed to officially confirm the merger.

Click here for details of this meeting.

This is an important milestone for our Society, and we thank you for your continued support and engagement. If you have any questions, please continue to contact us at ask@midcounties.coop and we will endeavour to answer them.

With thanks and best regards,

Phil Ponsonby, Midcounties CEO