The Heart of England Co-operative Society is an independent

consumer co-operative A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a f ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Based in Coventry, the Society trades in the English counties of

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, Leicestershire and

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

. Registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, the Society is a member of Co-operatives UK (formerly the Co-operative Union), the

Co-operative Group Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op, is a British consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses including food retail, wholesale, e-pharmacy, insurance and legal services, and funeral care. The Co-operative Group has over ...

(formerly Co-operative Wholesale Society) and its national buying scheme, the

Co-operative Retail Trading Group The Co-operative Federal Retail and Trading Services is the central buying group for co-operative retail societies in the United Kingdom. It came into its current structure in 2015, though its predecessor was established in 1993, and it supplie ...

. For the financial year ending 19 January 2019, turnover (excluding VAT) was £74.2m (£71.7m 2017/18) and operating profit was £2.9m (£5.5m 2017/18). The Society had no external bank borrowings and a £4.3m pension deficit (£8.4m 2017/18). The Society declared a £342k staff dividend (£376k 2017/18) and did not declare a member dividend or dividend bonus during the year. Heart of England Co-op had 137,500 active members in 2018. Each Heart of England Board Director is subject to re-election every three years by the full membership. The Co-operatives UK 'Code of Best Practice' also recommends a term-limit of six years for the Chair, but the current Board of the Society have waived this, as they 'believe that the individual elected annually (by Board Directors) should be judged on merit and should not be restricted to a pre-set maximum term'.

History

Nuneaton Cooperative Soc Ltd (14831100793)

The Heart of England Co-operative Society originates from the Lockhurst Lane Industrial Co-operative Society founded by ribbon makers in the parish of

Foleshill Foleshill is a suburb in the north of Coventry in the West Midlands of England. Longford, Courthouse Green and Rowley Green are to its north and Keresley is to its west. The population of the Ward at the 2011 census was 19,943. History Fole ...

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed b ...

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. Founded in 1844, East Mercia Co-operative Society was the product of a series of mergers, most recently between the Nuneaton and

Atherstone Atherstone is a market town and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. Located in the far north of the county, Atherstone is on the A5 national route, and is adjacent to the border with Leicestershire w ...

District Co-operative Society and the

Hinckley Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in the administrative county of Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughbo ...

and Barwell Co-operative Society in 1980. The two businesses merged in 1992, forming the Coventry and East Mercia Co-operative Society before adopting the Heart of England name in 2000.

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." Today, the Society operates

The Co-operative Food Co-op Food is a brand used for the food retail business of The Co-operative Group in the United Kingdom. Prior to reintroducing the brand in 2016, the group used " The Co-operative" branding, which is still used by a number of consumers' co- ...

and

The Co-operative Funeralcare Co-op Funeralcare is the trading name of Funeral Services Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Co-operative Group, based in Manchester. It operates over 1,000 funeral homes and is the largest funeral director in the United Kingdom, accounting ...

. Membership is open to all residents of its trading area, with members receiving a share of the profits in the form of

dividend A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, it is able to pay a portion of the profit as a dividend to shareholders. Any amount not distributed is taken to be re-i ...

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 24 October 2015. The rest of the non food stores closed within the 12 months from September 2015.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Heart Of England Co-Operative Society Consumers' co-operatives of the United Kingdom Funeral-related companies of the United Kingdom Retail companies established in 1832 Companies based in Coventry Department stores of the United Kingdom 1832 establishments in England Co-operatives in England

History

Activities

Non-Food Closure

See also

References

External links