The East of England Co-operative Society is the fourth largest

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 fo ...

in the United Kingdom after The Co-operative Group, The Midcounties Co-operative and Central England Co-operative. It is a registered society with its headquarters in

Wherstead Wherstead is a village and a civil parish located in county Suffolk, England. Wherstead village lies south of Ipswich on the Shotley peninsula. It is in the Belstead Brook electoral division of Suffolk County Council. It is an ancient settl ...

, near

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

and trading in the eastern counties of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

and

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

. The Society is the area's largest independent retailer.

History

The East of England Co-operative Society is an amalgamation of smaller societies from across

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

which have joined together over the years. Most recently, the Colchester and East Essex Co-operative Society merged with the Ipswich and Norwich Co-operative Society in 2005. The consumer

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) 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-control ...

movement has its roots in the early part of the nineteenth century and the principles of self-help and social equity that developed during the Victorian era. The first successful retail co-operative was established in 1844 by the

Rochdale Pioneers The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844, was an early consumers' co-operative, and one of the first to pay a patronage dividend, forming the basis for the modern co-operative movement. Although other co-operatives preceded it, ...

. The Ipswich and Norwich Society was the product of an amalgamation, in 1993, of the

Co-operative Society (known as the

Ipswich Industrial Co-operative Society The Ipswich Industrial Co-operative Society (IICS) was a co-operative society established in Ipswich, Suffolk on 3 March 1868. Although it merged with the Norwich Co-operative Society, formed in 1858, the ongoing organisation retained the regist ...

from 1868 to 1968 and incorporating, since 1991, the engagements of the former Stowmarket Society, established 1889) and the

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

Co-operative Society (formed in 1858). The Colchester and East Essex Society was founded as

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

Co-operative Society in 1861, expanding through merger with the following co-operative societies:

Activities

West Mersea East of England Co-operative - 15399785299

The East of England Co-op’s principal business activities are

food retailing Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is ingest ...

funeral services A funeral director, also known as an undertaker (British English) or mortician (American English), is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as w ...

and management of its investment property portfolio. They also have interests in petrol forecourts, travel, events and conferencing, security, and stonemasonry. It previously ran a

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

with doorstep deliveries, but this was sold to

Dairy Crest Saputo Dairy UK Limited is a holding company for Dairy Crest Limited, a British dairy products company. It was created in 2019 when the Canadian company Saputo Inc bought Dairy Crest. Dairy Crest itself was created in 1981 as a spin-off of the Mi ...

in early 2008 and their

department stores A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic appea ...

and a

jewellery Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry (U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a wester ...

store were sold to

Vergo Retail Vergo Retail Ltd was a department store business based in Liverpool, England, founded in 2007. Vergo Retail ran 20 shops, consisting of nine department stores, including Lewis's of Liverpool, Robbs of Hexham, Joplings of Sunderland and Derrys ...

in 2009. In 2010 their car dealerships were also sold to various owners. In early 2019 the Society sold its pharmacy and optical businesses. The Society is a corporate member of the

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

, sourcing its food through the national buying programme, the

Co-operative Federal Trading Services 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 suppli ...

Membership

Customers and employees who join the co-op as members receive a dividend card, which when presented at transaction enables them to receive points. These points are then allocated a monetary value, decided by the board and based on the organisation's profits that year. Membership is open to all customers, colleagues and communities in the East of England Co-op's trading area. Members receive a share in the profits and in 2021 more than £1.8 million was issued as

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-in ...

References

External links

East of England Co-operative Society
{{Authority control Consumers' co-operatives of the United Kingdom Colchester Co-op Ipswich Co-op Retail companies established in 2005 Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom Co-operatives in England 2005 establishments in England Companies based in Ipswich

History

Activities

Membership

See also

References

External links