Co-op Wholesale Limited ( ; formerly Nisa Retail Limited, Nisa-Today's and Northern Independent Supermarkets Association) is a groceries

wholesaler Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

(or " symbol group") operating in the United Kingdom. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of

the Co-operative Group The Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op and formerly known as the Co-operative Wholesale Society, is a British consumer cooperative, consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses, including grocery retail and wholesale, leg ...

, though itself not a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

. The company helps people franchise their stores under the Co-op Food and Nisa brands.

History

Nisa was founded as the Northern Independent Supermarkets Association by Peter Garvin and Dudley B. Ramsden in 1977. It was formed as a mutual organisation owned by its members and operating "...like a

co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, 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 democr ...

, using the collective buying power of the large group of members to negotiate deals with suppliers". In 1987, it merged with The Today’s Group to become Nisa-Today’s. In 2006, a merger with

Costcutter Costcutter is a convenience shop symbol group operating as two separate entities with different ownerships in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It previously had stores in Poland. The shops are independently owned and join the gro ...

, another symbol group, was proposed, but ultimately fell through, after concerns about a

cartel A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collaborate with each other as well as agreeing not to compete with each other in order to improve their profits and dominate the market. A cartel is an organization formed by producers ...

forming were reported to the

Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economi ...

by members of Nisa-Today's who opposed the merger. In 2012, Nisa-Today's demerged into Nisa and Today's Group. Today's Group subsequently merged with Landmark Wholesale in 2018 to form Unitas Wholesale. Nick Read was appointed as Nisa CEO in February 2015, and began what ''The Grocer'' described as a "hard-fought turnaround". In November 2017, Nisa's 1,190 members approved the purchase of the business by the

Co-operative Group The Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op and formerly known as the Co-operative Wholesale Society, is a British consumer cooperative, consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses, including grocery retail and wholesale, leg ...

. The acquisition was subject to regulatory approval by the

Competition and Markets Authority The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is the principal competition regulator in the United Kingdom. It is a non-ministerial government department in the United Kingdom, responsible for promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair beh ...

, and was finalized in May 2018. In 2019, Nisa recruited more than 500 stores, representing a 40% increase in the number of outlets being signed. In March 2025, Nisa rebranded to Co-op Wholesale, the Nisa brand itself would continue to be used by Co-op Wholesale.

Operations

Nisa's headquarters and one of its ambient distribution centres are co-located in

Scunthorpe Scunthorpe () is an industrial town in Lincolnshire, England, and the county's third most populous settlement after Lincoln, England, Lincoln and Grimsby, with a population of 81,286 in 2021. It is the administrative centre and largest settleme ...

North Lincolnshire North Lincolnshire is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Lincolnshire, England. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, it had a population of 167,446. T ...

. It also has distribution centres for temperature controlled products at

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England. It has an estimated population of 259,965 as of 2022, making it the largest settlement in Staffordshire ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

;

Harlow Harlow is a town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a Planned community, new town in 1947, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire, and occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

and Livingston,

West Lothian West Lothian (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, bordering (in a clockwise direction) the City of Edinburgh council area, Scottish Borders, South Lanarkshire, North Lanarkshire and Falkirk (council area), Falkirk. The modern counci ...

. Also at the co-op depot in Birtley , Tyne & Wear , some stores are branded under the LoCo fascia. , Nisa Retail Limited supplies over 4,000 convenience shops and small supermarkets, including the

symbol group and CK Foodstores in Wales. According to accounts for year ending on 31 March 2014, Nisa Retail Limited had an estimated net worth of £30.77 million.

References

External links

* * {{Convenience stores in Europe Convenience stores of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1977 Retail companies established in 1977 Retailers' cooperatives Companies based in Scunthorpe 1977 establishments in the United Kingdom