The Queen’s Funeral, Pakistan Floods Appeal & Society Investments
This article will take approximately 3 minutes to read
Published 16 Sep 2022 in Phil's blog
As we approach the funeral of Her Majesty The Queen on Monday, we have announced plans so that colleagues are able to watch the state funeral and join in this moment of national mourning and reflection of the life of Queen Elizabeth ll. You can view that here, and specific individual operational plans have been cascaded through your respective group channels. Should you have any queries please speak to your line manager who will be able to advise.
Honouring her reign, we will also be taking part in the National Moment of Reflection 1-minute silence on Sunday 18th September at 8pm and encourage all colleagues to take part wherever they may be.
As mentioned in my blog last week, I would like to take this moment to reflect on what a great monarch, Her Majesty The Queen has been. Giving our country 70 years of selfless service, her reign has truly been a remarkable achievement as well as an affirmation of dedication and loyalty.
If you have been affected by the death of Her Majesty the Queen, there is support available from Everymind on understanding and managing collective grief. Click here to find out more.
Two day Strategic and Commercial Development Group meeting
I spent Wednesday and Thursday this week with the Executive team and selected members from across the Society’s senior management on a two-day working session focused on delivering our strategic and commercial development. Putting members first, the team discussed our Member first strategy and how we can enable more members to use more of our products and services. Member trade forms an integral part of this and is something I will cover in more detail in next week’s blog.
The team also looked at a specific project which looks at helping our front-line colleagues better serve our Members & customers by simplifying & improving business support. Plus, the strategic planning & preparation for the Executive conference in November, where we discussed and agreed our strategic plans. Over the next couple of weeks, we will publish and share more of the outputs from the session.
Travel on the up
As we move towards the Autumn, it has been a really successful recovery for our Travel business following the pandemic. They are on track with this year’s target to return a sustainable profit along with a like-for-like intake ahead of 2019, the demand really is there for many to take a trip away. Co-op Holidays have been instrumental in leading the charge, they are currently 38% up versus the same period in 2019, expanding their product ranges for members with their unique ‘Experience more’ offering with an increased focus on long-haul trips.
This success wouldn’t be possible without our fantastic travel colleagues, which has been reflected in the Customer service ‘CSAT’ scores achieving the 90% target. They will all be recognised at the Travel colleague conference in December where they look towards future growth and plans for 2023.
The overall travel member trade is also at 53.2% (an area which I will cover in more detail in my blog next week), with branches such as Ibstock Travel moving from 12% to 46% of members who now trade with us.
Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Pakistan Floods Appeal
With everything going on in the UK, it has been distressing to see the situation abroad in parts of Pakistan with torrential flooding. Many have tragically lost their lives, livelihood and homes all down to the changing climate in our world. To help the communities who have been most affected, this week we joined other co-op’s in supporting the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) Pakistan Floods Appeal.
Like we did with the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, we will inform members making them aware of the appeal and promote it within our trading sites and digital channels to encourage donations to the appeal. The DEC work directly with aid charities to deliver life-saving aid either directly or through local partners. But they urgently need more funds to reach more people.
If you would like to make a donation to the cause, you can in our Food stores or by clicking here.
If colleagues have any specific concerns around the situation in Pakistan, please let your line manager know or contact GroceryAid for help and support, find out more here or call the helpline 08088 021 122.
Society Investments – Abbey Farm Food & Little Pioneers Nursery Warwick Gates
Society investments continued last week with the addition of two brand new sites: Abbey Farm Food in Swindon and Warwick Gates Nursery in Childcare.
At a cost of £525k, the Premium Convenience Food store in Abbey Farm will bring more services to more members and creates 15 new jobs for the local community.
I want to give a warm welcome to Store Manager, Michelle McKee as well as our new colleagues who join the team in expanding our presence in the southern trading areas. A big thank you to the entire property team who did another fantastic job in making this new investment possible. I look forward to visiting the new site very soon and good luck to the new team at Abbey Farm.
That’s not all, our Little Pioneers also welcomed a new addition last week at Warwick Gates, based in the Heathcote area of Warwick. As mentioned in my blog a few weeks ago, the £900k brand new, purpose-built Society investment, builds on our five-year growth plan including the new nurseries created over the last year. I got the chance to join in on the ribbon-cutting ceremony with new colleagues as well as meet Nursery Manager, Leanne Potts. A big welcome to Leanne and all our new colleagues, it really is a fantastic nursery with great facilities. And once again, a thank you to the entire property team for completing this latest addition to the Midcounties family.
Take part in our Ideas Workshops - 28,29 & 30 September
The world continues to change at a vast pace and to meet the challenges and demands of the future, we need to adopt a more dynamic approach to the way we grow and nurture our existing talent and future leaders at Midcounties.
Last week I shared a video inviting ambitious colleagues to put their names forward for one of three Ideas Workshops taking place on the 28,29 & 30 of September.
The purpose of these workshops is for you to share your ideas on how we can fulfil our ambition of creating a succession and continuous learning environment. Whilst our existing career pathways, such as LEAP, equip colleagues with the skills and knowledge for their next role, development is a much broader concept incorporating everyday learning into our existing roles in the form of stretch projects, self and resource-led learning and coaching/mentoring opportunities.
The depth and breadth of experience our trading groups and support functions can offer is unique and we want you to be part of our future and to tell us how we help you realise your potential and grow your career with us over the next 5-10 years (and longer!)
You can watch the video here and find out how to book your place on the workshops here.
If you enjoyed this week's blog, why not give it a 'Heart' above or leave a comment below.