Industry Retail Number of employees 4,000 Type of business Consumer Co-operative | Revenue 367 million GBP (2016) Founded 1873 | |
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Key people Michael Hastilow, Chairman
Mark Smith, Chief Executive Products Grocer, Funeral director, Independent living Website www.thesouthernco-operative.co.uk Headquarters Portsmouth, United Kingdom | ||
The southern co operative freshwater
The Southern Co-operative is a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. The principal activities of the Society are food retailing and funerals. It operates 200 convenience stores and 50 funeral homes, covering the southern English counties of Berkshire, Bristol, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire. The society is owned by over 160,000 members who share in the business's profits and who democratically control its operations. It is a registered Industrial and Provident Society, a member of Co-operatives UK, the Co-operative Retail Trading Group and a corporate member of The Co-operative Group.
Contents
- The southern co operative freshwater
- Shaw trust and the southern co operative hd
- History
- Current operations
- References
Head office was previously located at Fareham in Hampshire, but since July 2011, is now located at 1000 Lakeside, a business park in North Harbour, Portsmouth.
Shaw trust and the southern co operative hd
History
Founded in 1873, the Society was known as the Portsea Island Mutual Co-operative Society until 1998, when it became Southern Co-operatives. In 2009, it purchased 13 stores from Nearby Stores, that had gone into administration at the end of 2008. Membership is open to all residents of its trading area, with members receiving a share of the profits in the form of dividend.
In April 2009, plans were released to staff and members that Southern Co-operatives would adopt The Co-operative brand programme. It would re-brand within the next two years as The Southern Co-operative using the same uniforms and fascias as Co-operative Group stores, to "better reflect [their] status as a completely independent regional society owned, controlled and managed exclusively by local people in the South of England, whilst playing [a] full part in the exciting co-operative developments taking place nationally." The legal change of name was registered in 2013.
Current operations
As of 2009, the company revealed its latest online venture Co-operative Independent Living (formally Co-operative Xest) which is a site aimed at selling products that aid mobility and help improve the standard of living for the physically impaired.
From 2010 to 2013, The Southern Co-operative increased its revenue by 26% to £327m, and profits by 28%.
Membership of The Southern Co-operative has a direct structure, with members entitled to attend AGMs.