The Scottish Midland Co-operative Society (trading as Scotmid), is an independent retail
consumers' 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 ...
based in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, Scotland.
Originally founded as
St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society in 1859, it merged with Dalziel Co-operative Society of
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na MÃ thar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
in 1981 to form Scotmid.
With over 3,900 staff, the co-operative has 177 Scotmid
supermarket
A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...
s and
convenience stores
A convenience store, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail business that stocks a range of everyday items such as coffee, groceries, snack foods, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery ticket ...
, nine Lakes & Dales convenience stores, 17 funeral offices, and 89 Semichem health and beauty shops throughout Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.
Governance
Like most other retail
consumers' 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 ...
s in the United Kingdom, Scotmid is incorporated as a registered society.
Scotmid has a committee style governance structure, similar to
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 ...
prior to its own major governance reforms. Scotmid Board Directors are nominated by Regional Committee members
and elected by members from the Regions they represent (if these positions are contested).
History
![Old Leith Provident building, Great Junction Street (geograph 2643796)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Old_Leith_Provident_building%2C_Great_Junction_Street_%28geograph_2643796%29.jpg)
In 1968, Leith Provident's 1911 department store on Great Junction Street was still operating a then unusual overhead wire system that transported a customer's payment and
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 ...
number from the sales assistant to the cashier, returning change and receipt.
![Semichem, Stranraer (geograph 6417053)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Semichem%2C_Stranraer_%28geograph_6417053%29.jpg)
In 1995, Scotmid acquired the Scottish health and beauty retail chain Semi-Chem (since rebranded Semichem), followed in 1999 by the similar Northern Ireland business, Options. Also in 1999, Scotmid merged with Prestonpans Co-operative Society.
In 2000, Scotmid closed all 20 of its non-food
department store
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 app ...
s, which had made losses for five successive years.
In 2003, Scotmid acquired
Wakefield
Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...
-based national distribution business, M & S Toiletries, which it sold in 2008 to
Sert UK.
In the early 21st century, Scotmid acquired several competing convenience shops in Scotland: Alldays, 64
SPAR
SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...
shops and Morning, Noon & Night.
Scotmid added Dundas Fyfe funeral directors to its funeral operation in a reported £1 million buy-out deal. The head office moved from
Fountainbridge
Fountainbridge ( gd, Drochaid an Fhuarain) is an area of Edinburgh, Scotland, a short distance west of the city centre, adjoining Tollcross with East Fountainbridge and West Port to the east, Polwarth to the west and south, Dalry and Haymar ...
,
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
, where it had been since 1859, to a new purpose-built office near
Newbridge.
The Fragrance House was founded by Scotmid in 2009. It specializes in perfume and by 2011 had five shops in Scotland with plans to expand to England and Northern Ireland.
On 31 March 2021, it was announced that "up to 22" Semichem stores would close.
Morning, Noon & Night
Morning Noon & Night was a Scottish convenience shop chain set up in
Dundee
Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...
in 1991, by retailing executive
Eddie Thompson (who became chairman of
Dundee United
Dundee United Football Club is a Scottish professional football club based in the city of Dundee. The club name is usually abbreviated to Dundee United. Formed in 1909, originally as Dundee Hibernian, the club changed to the present name in 1 ...
in 2002.)
In 2004, Thompson sold the company to Scotmid for £30 million.
This allowed Scotmid to add the 50 Morning, Noon & Night shops to its portfolio letting it expand into areas of Scotland, such as the Highlands, where it didn't previously have any shops.
Botterills Convenience Stores
Botterills Convenience Stores was a Scottish convenience shop founded in
Blantyre, South Lanarkshire
Blantyre ( or ; gd, Baile an t-Saoir) is a town and civil parish in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, with a population of 16,900. It is bounded by the River Clyde to the north, the Rotten Calder to the west, the Park Burn to the east (denoting the bo ...
in the 1950s by the Botterill family. Trading under the name of "Botterills of Blantyre" and latterly under the
SPAR
SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...
banner, it ranked 19th in ''
The Grocer
''The Grocer'' is a British magazine devoted to grocery sales, published by William Reed Business Media. It has been published since 1862.
The Grocer 33
A feature of the magazine is 'The Grocer 33'. This is a survey of each of the 5 leading s ...
s'' Top 50 independent grocery retailers. Owner Jim Botterill sold his 51 shops to Scotmid in November 2010 for an undisclosed sum, enabling Scotmid to extend its territory south and west.
Lakes & Dales Co-operative
![Cooperative Supermarket, Seaton Delaval (geograph 5655585)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Cooperative_Supermarket%2C_Seaton_Delaval_%28geograph_5655585%29.jpg)
In 2013 Scotmid merged with the
Penrith Co-operative Society
The Penrith Co-operative Society Limited, known locally as Penrith Co-op, was a small regional consumers' cooperative, consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. The society was formed in 1890 and at the time of its merger with Scotmid it op ...
which had at the time of merger operated a department store and attached supermarket in
Penrith, Cumbria
Penrith (, , ) is a market town and civil parish in the county of Cumbria, England, about south of Carlisle. It is less than outside the Lake District, Lake District National Park, in between the Rivers River Petteril, Petteril and River Ea ...
and 7 small food shops in
Cumbria
Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...
and
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly â€About North East E ...
the Penrith shops are to be rebranded as the Lakes & Dales Co-operative. The first shop to be rebranded was the
Lazonby
Lazonby is a village and civil parish in the Lower Eden Valley of Cumbria; it is located about north north-east of Penrith and 24 miles (38 km) south of the Scottish Borders.
The total population of the ward of Lazonby, which also includ ...
branch. In early 2015 the non food departments of the Penrith shop were closed and in February 2016 the rest of the shop closed.
In 2015 Scotmid merged with the
Northumbrian Seaton Valley
Seaton Valley is a civil parish at the south eastern corner of Northumberland, consisting of four villages lying between Cramlington, Blyth and Whitley Bay. The largest village is Seaton Delaval, while Seaton Sluice is on the coast; the other t ...
Co-operative Society adding its shops to the Lakes & Dales chain.
See also
*
British co-operative movement
The United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 7000 registered co-operatives owned by 17 million individual members and which contribute £34bn a year to the British economy. Modern co-operation started wit ...
*
Credit unions in the United Kingdom
Credit unions in the United Kingdom were first established in the 1960s. Credit unions are member-owned financial cooperatives operated for the purpose of promoting thrift, providing credit and other financial services to their members.
Credit un ...
References
External links
* – main website
* – Scotmid Food
* – Scotmid Funerals
* – health and beauty shops
{{Authority control
Consumers' co-operatives of the United Kingdom
Business services companies established in 1859
Retail companies established in 1859
Business services companies established in 1981
Retail companies established in 1981
Companies based in Edinburgh
Supermarkets of the United Kingdom
Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom
1981 establishments in Scotland
Organizations established in 1859
1859 establishments in Scotland
Co-operatives in Scotland
Convenience stores