Co-op Group held its 2016 Annual General Meeting over the weekend with over 700 members attending the event at Manchester Central.
The group announced the launch of a new range of benefits for members and their communities that will be launched this autumn and a return to its iconic clover-leaf logo, which will be rolled-out across its businesses in the next 3 to 5 years and the election of Margaret Casely-Hayford and Hazel Blears were elected as Member Nominated Directors
Margret was Director of Legal Services for the John Lewis Partnership for nine years. She is has been on the Board of NHS England since 2012, and was one of the directors who promoted and pioneered ‘NHS Citizen’, the new listening structure for the NHS that enables proper consultation and collaboration.
Hazel was a Labour Member of Parliament from 1997 – 2015, representing Salford and Eccles. She has held a number of senior positions in government including Public Health Minister, Home Office Minister and Communities Secretary. She also served on the National Intelligence and Security Committee.
Hazel has been a Co-op member for over 20 years, she has shopped and banked with the Co-op throughout that time and co-operative values have shaped her personal and working life. Hazel’s other roles include being a Member of the Advisory Board of Big Society Capital and Chairing the Institute for Dementia at Salford University.
70,000 Co-op colleagues across the UK are also taking part in a ‘Back to being Co-op’ programme, helping to educate staff about the benefits of membership and reconnect them with our heritage. The ambitious plans, which involve 5,000 colleague events will enable the mutual to tell the new “Being Co-op” story to its entire workforce, present in every post code area across Britain.
Richard Pennycook, CEO of the Co-op, said:
“This is what the Co-op is all about. Big business is often accused of taking money out of communities – we are putting it back in as we champion a better way of doing business for our members and their communities.
“Our intention is to return to paying a dividend again, but we also want to make the rewards for members who trade with the Co-op more meaningful and community focused. We’re already seeing good momentum across our businesses and this will drive further growth which our members and their communities will benefit from. It clearly demonstrates the Co-op difference being delivered every day.”
