Farmcare Trading Limited is the largest

lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of p ...

farming organisation 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 ...

. Farmcare traded as The Co-operative Farms while a subsidiary of

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 ...

until it was sold to the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

in 2014.

History

The Co-operative Farms

The first farm was acquired at

Roden Roden is a name of Germanic origin, originally meaning "red valley" or an anglicization of the Gaelic name "O'Rodain". It may refer to: Places * Roden, Bavaria, a town in the Main-Spessart district of Bavaria, Germany * Roden, Netherlands, a tow ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to ...

in 1896 in order to supply potatoes to local societies' stores. By 1918, the then Co-operative Wholesale Society already farmed a total of 32,648 acres (13,212 ha) across

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Following the merger of CWS and

Co-operative Retail Services Co-operative Retail Services (CRS, originally CWS Retail) was the second-largest consumer co-operative society in the United Kingdom. In 2000, it was dissolved by its members, merging with the larger Co-operative Wholesale Society, to form the ...

in 2001, CWS Agriculture became Farmcare Limited. It was rebranded as The Co-operative Farms in 2007.

Wellcome Trust

On 4 August 2014, the business was sold to the

for £249 million, to reduce The Co-operative Group's debt following its financial crisis in 2013. At the time of the sale, The Co-operative Farms owned of land organised as 15 farms, and more than 100 residential and 27 commercial properties.

References

External links

*{{official, http://farmcareltd.com The Co-operative Group Farms in the United Kingdom

History

The Co-operative Farms

Wellcome Trust

See also

References

External links