Heart of England Co-operative Society

Not to be confused with Central England Co-operative.
Heart of England Co-operative Society Limited
Consumer Co-operative
Industry Retail (Wholesale)
Founded 1832
Headquarters 22 Abbey Street, Nuneaton, Warwickshire CV11 5BU
Key people
>Ali Kurji, Chief Executive
Products Grocer, Department Store, Funeral Director, Travel Agent, Sub Post Office
Website www.heartofengland.coop

The Heart of England Co-operative Society is an independent consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. Based in Nuneaton, the Society trades in the English counties of West Midlands, Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire.

Registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014,[1] the Society is a member of Co-operatives UK (formerly the Co-operative Union), the Co-operative Group (formerly Co-operative Wholesale Society) and its national buying scheme, the Co-operative Retail Trading Group.

History

The Heart of England Co-operative Society traces its origins to the Lockhurst Lane Industrial Co-operative Society founded by ribbon makers in the parish of Foleshill, Coventry in 1832. In 1968, Lockhurst Lane merged with the Coventry and District Co-operative Society, which had been formed as the Coventry Perseverance Co-operative Society in 1867.

Originally founded in 1844, East Mercia Co-operative Society was the product of a series of mergers, most recently between the Nuneaton and Atherstone District Co-operative Society and the Hinckley and Barwell Co-operative Society in 1980.[2] The two businesses merged in 1992, forming the Coventry and East Mercia Co-operative Society before adopting the Heart of England name in 2000.[3]

Activities

According to the International Co-operative Alliance, "A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically controlled enterprise."[4]

Today, the Society operates The Co-operative Food. The seven Home and Living stores are being phased out and will soon be sold. The Co-operative Funeralcare and two Heart of England Co-operative travel branches. Four of its food stores also contain a Post Office counter. Membership is open to all residents of its trading area, with members receiving a share of the profits in the form of dividend.

Non-Food Closure

In September 2015 it was announced that the society was to close all of its non food division, the first store closure was its Coventry Home and Living store, which closed on the 24 October 2015.

The rest of the non food stores are due to close within the 12 months from September 2015.[5]

See also

References

  1. Registered in England and Wales, No. 2399R
  2. Notice of cancellation pursuant to section 16 of the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 London Gazette, No. 48272 (p. 11166), 6 August 1980
  3. Notice of cancellation pursuant to section 16 of the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 London Gazette, No. 53003 (p. 12700), 28 July 1992
  4. Statement on the Co-operative Identity (Definition) International Co-operative Alliance, Manchester, 1995
  5. News, BBC. "Heart of England Co-op shutting six department stores". BBC News. BBC NEWS. Retrieved 29 October 2015.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, April 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.