The East of England Co-operative Society, the third largest independent consumer co-operative in the UK and the largest independent retailer in East Anglia, has announced an 11.4% increase in Group trading profit, which totalled £9.72 million*.

Group sales for the year to 26th January 2008 at £441 million showed significant growth of 5.3%.   This was driven primarily by the Society’s core food retail business, which showed real volume growth as well as producing a creditable like-for-like sales increase of 3% overall.

The Society continues to be debt-free and is able to utilise retained profits to pursue its vigorous development programme, having invested more than £18 million during the year under review.

Having taken into account the Society’s level of profitability and its extremely sound financial position, the Directors recommended an increased total Dividend to Society Members of £4.28 million, which was approved at the Annual Meetings held this week in Norwich, Ipswich and Colchester. 

Richard Samson, Chief Executive, said:  “This is an excellent result in what was undoubtedly a challenging year.    I am extremely pleased that we will be distributing more than £4 million in Dividend to our Members across the region, equating to 2.5% of qualifying purchases, compared with 2.1% last year.   Once again we anticipate being one of the leading major UK consumer co-operatives in terms of the Dividend level awarded to Members, who are the ultimate owners of the Society.

“The Society is financially sound and we are all working hard to build an even stronger platform for future profitable growth.”

Mr Samson added:  “The support of our customers and Members is much appreciated and I would like to commend the hard work and commitment of my colleagues throughout the Society, which has greatly contributed to the Society’s continuing success.”

The development programme in 2007 included the acquisition and integration of a significant regional chain of convenience food stores, together with an ongoing building, refurbishment and re-branding programme, which included the substantial refurbishment of the Co-op Supermarket on Mersea Island and the completion of the new £5 million Stanway Supermarket and car park.  The Stanway site at Peartree Road, Colchester, is now being carefully planned to accommodate further retail outlets.

There were major extensions to the Society’s Supermarket at the Rosehill Centre Ipswich; and the historic Dedham Food Store was sympathetically improved taking into account its Grade II Star listing.

Pharmacy branches in Ipswich have been refurbished and a new Optical practice in Old Road, Clacton was purchased and has now been re-branded.  The Society’s remaining three motor Dealerships in Norfolk were recently re-launched as East of England Co-operative Motor Group dealerships and a major local shopping centre in Frinton was added to the Society’s investment portfolio. 

In the months ahead, improvements are planned to a number of trading premises, including a £1.2 million investment in upgrading and improving the Society’s trading outlets in Felixstowe town centre and this work will be completed by early summer.  A further £1.4 million is being spent on doubling the size of the food store in the busy Suffolk village of Elmswell and improvements are being carried out to the stores in Kelvedon and Wivenhoe.

After careful consideration, the Society withdrew from milk distribution and production, with the distribution business being sold as a going concern to Dairy Crest in February 2008, enabling more than 300 Society employees to have continuity of employment under TUPE regulations.

With the introduction of new Dividend Cards in 2007, Membership of the Society has continued to grow and now totals in excess of 520,000.  

Business ethics and responsible retailing were at the fore when thousands of Society Members took part in the world’s largest consumer poll on ethics, which highlighted key areas of concern including ethical trading, animal welfare and the environment. 

The Society will continue to play a responsible role in its local communities and in addition an ongoing commitment to Fairtrade our support for local sourcing has been strengthened by the appointment of a dedicated Local Sourcing Manager to enable the Society to further support its regional producers offering additional ranges of locally sourced products in our stores.

Considerable steps have been taken to improve animal welfare standards by only selling free-range eggs in our stores and by introducing higher welfare standards for Co-op own-brand chicken.

Many environmental initiatives have been introduced to reduce packaging and waste and the Society now purchases its electricity from certified green sources, such as wind farms and small scale hydro-electric generators, saving nearly 23,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually.

The appointment of an Energy Manager will also enable the Society to make further strides in reducing carbon emissions and other energy saving initiatives will be considered across the Society’s businesses and properties.

The announcement of a trial in five of the Society’s food stores aimed at reducing the number of plastic carrier bags issued has received some very positive comments.  The outcome will be known later this summer and if successful will be rolled out to other East of England Co-op food stores across the region.

Society Members have the opportunity to participate in the election of the Board of Directors and postal voting was introduced for the first time this year.  It has already attracted significant interest and Members are being encouraged to register their votes so that whenever an election arises a ballot paper can be sent to them automatically.  Members may still attend Annual Meetings in person. 

The result of the most recent election, announced at the Annual Meeting on 14th May, saw Andy Moore elected to the Board of Directors.  Retiring Directors Gillian Bober, Roger Smith and Ann White-Howles were returned to office.   John Booth retires from the Board after 25 years’ service and the President and Board of Directors thanked him greatly for his contribution during that time.

*Excluding any surplus on sale of Society assets.

Note to Editors:

• The East of England Co-operative Society is the largest independent retailer in East Anglia and the third largest independent consumer co-operative in the UK.    It has over 200 trading outlets which are located in 73 towns and villages, plus the three regional centres of Norwich, Ipswich and Colchester, covering more than 2,000 square miles of East Anglian countryside, from Sheringham in Norfolk to Burnham-on-Crouch in Essex.
  
• The Society’s diverse business activities include: food stores and supermarkets, department and home stores, jewellery, travel, pharmacy, optical and funeral branches, petrol forecourts and motor dealerships.
  
• The Co-op is regarded by many as the top ethical retailer in the UK due to its pioneering credentials in areas such as Fairtrade and climate change.  In 2007, the Co-op was declared the UK’s greenest high street retailer by the BBC’s Money Programme and voted the UK’s most ethical brand in a Gfk NOP survey.  

For further information, please contact:    
Miriam Harrup, Communications and Community Manager,
East of England Co-operative Society, 38 Carr Street, Ipswich, IP4 1EW   
E-mail: m.harrup@eastofengland.coop