Co-operative Group Ltd is ranked as one of the largest consumer co-operatives not only in England but the whole world. The company operates under the trading name of The Co-Operative Group. Founded in the year 1863, the headquarters of the Co-operative Group is in Manchester, England. Originally the group was called Co-operative Wholesale Society Limited and later it was change to Co-operative Retail Services. On July 29, 2007 the group merged with United Co-operatives, making it one of the largest consumer co-operative groups in the world.
The journey of success of The Co-operative Group began with the merging of many retail societies. The group changed its business from wholesale operation to a major retailer. 300 individual co-operatives joined hands to form the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS) in 1872. Subsequently it began expanding as smaller societies like Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society (SWCS) and the London based South Suburban Co-operative Society merged with it.
During the 1990s the co-operative business faced a slump resulting in the reduction of its share in the grocery market. This questioned the relevance and viability of the co-operative business model. It sold most of its properties to Andrew Regan in 1994. He was then the chief executive of Corvus Capital Inc, an international investment company. In the following years he faced many allegations and after
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investigation, was cleared of all the charges. This marked the beginning of a new successful episode.
Today, the Co-operative Group of Manchester earns a revenue of around 9.45 billion pounds (2007) and maintains a huge complex on the north side of the Manchester city center. Among many other buildings the tower blocks of New Century and the CIS Tower wrapped up by solar panels are notable ones. This complex serves as the headquarter of the Co-operative Group.
Since its inception, The Co-operative Group at Manchester has been in a mode of expansion. At present, this group controls co-operative retail business in England and has acquired major chunk of shares in ancillary markets including pharmacies and travel. Though, its core business till today remains food retail especially grocery, the group has diversified into insurance, banking, motoring, travel farming and also funeral services.
With more the 87,500 employees, the Co-operative Group has been a proud recipient of various awards like Shell Worldaware Business Award for sustainable development in the year 2002 and the prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise in the Sustainable Development in the year 2007. Peter Marks is currently holding the post of Chief Executive of this group.
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