Midlands Co-operative Society Limited was the second 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 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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. It was a registered

Industrial and Provident Society An industrial and provident society (IPS) is a body corporate registered for carrying on any industries, businesses, or trades specified in or authorised by its rules. The members of a society benefit from the protection of limited liability ...

, a member of the

Co-operative Union Co-operatives UK is a British co-operative federation described as "the central membership organisation for co-operative enterprise throughout the UK". It was founded in 1870 as the Co-operative Central Board, changing its name to the Co-oper ...

, the Co-operative Retail Trading Group and a corporate member of The Co-operative Group (formerly Co-operative Wholesale Society), the largest consumer co-operative in the world. The Society had over 200 stores, principally trading in the

English Midlands The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...

. Head office was located in

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

. On 19 September 2013, it was announced that the boards of Midlands Co-operative Society and Anglia Regional Co-operative Society had agreed merger terms. Approved by members on 4 and 18 November, legal completion of the merger took place on 1 December, with the Anglia Society transferring engagements to Midlands Co-operative. On 15 January 2014, members of the merged society approved a change of name to

Central England Co-operative Central England Co-operative, trading as Central Co-op, is a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom, based in Lichfield and which trades from over 400 sites across the English Midlands and East Anglia. The business is owned and de ...

effective from 25 January 2014.

History

The Society traced its origins to the

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

Co-operative Provident Society which, in 1854, was one of the first

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 ...

s in the Midlands. In 1969, a number of

Leicestershire Leicestershire ( ; postal abbreviation Leics.) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire t ...

societies merged to form the Leicestershire Co-operative Society. Similar circumstances occurred in 1985 across

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

and

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

forming the Central Midlands Co-operative Society. In 1995, the boards of the Leicestershire and Central Midlands societies, which were financially sound and trading profitably, agreed to merge. Since 1854, 72 separate mergers between different societies were undertaken to form the Midlands Co-operative. More recently, the Chesterfield Co-operative Society was absorbed by the Society in 2001,

Ilkeston Co-operative Society Ilkeston Co-operative Society was a consumer co-operative society based in Ilkeston, Derbyshire, England. By 2006, Ilkeston had created one of the largest independent travel companies in the UK, operating 42 branches throughout the East Midla ...

in 2006,

Raunds Co-operative Society Raunds Co-operative Society Limited was a consumer co-operative society based in Raunds, Northamptonshire, founded in 1891. The society operated a large supermarket and a department store in Raunds, and as of 2007 held of farmland at Northd ...

in 2007,

Moulton Co-operative Society The Moulton Co-operative Society Limited, or simply Moulton Co-op, was a small regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. The society was formed in 1861 and operated a single supermarket in Moulton, Northamptonshire. In January 2009, me ...

in 2009 and Shepley Industrial and Provident Society in 2013. On 1 December 2013, the Midlands Co-operative Society merged with Anglia Regional Co-operative Society. The combined Society began trading as

with effect from 25 January 2014.

Services

Membership was open to all residents of the Society's 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-in ...

. ;Food retailing The Society operated over 200 food stores and forecourts throughout its trading area. All had been rebranded as

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- ...

, mirroring branding from The Co-operative Group. ;Funeral directors Midlands Co-operative Funeral Services operated some 90 funeral homes throughout the region. ;Fashion & Home retailing The Society no longer operates its department stores, having closed these in 2013. ;Motors The Society operated light-commercial vehicle servicing garages and

MoT Mot or MOT may refer to: Media * Ministry of Truth, the propaganda ministry in George Orwell 1949 novel ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' * ''mot'' (magazine), former German car magazine * Mot (Star Trek), a minor character in ''Star Trek: The Next Gene ...

testing stations in Leicester and Loughborough. It also had a single

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

car franchise in

Kettering Kettering is a market and industrial town in North Northamptonshire, England. It is located north of London and north-east of Northampton, west of the River Ise, a tributary of the River Nene. The name means "the place (or territory) of Ket ...

, operating as The Co-operative Motor Group in Lincoln with Mazda, Citroën, Renault, Jeep, Chrysler and Harley Davidson franchises.

References

External links

Midlands Co-operative Society
* – the former Ilkeston Co-op site in 2005 {{UK consumer co-ops Companies based in Lichfield Consumers' co-operatives of the United Kingdom Department stores of the United Kingdom

History

Services

See also

References

External links