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Community Impact Index – supported by The Midcounties Co-operative
Community
Impact Index
How are retail co-operatives impacting on their communities?
Ten per cent of a retail co-op’s profits are
given back to the community. This is more
than double the amount that competitors
give, which is the equivalent of 4.5% back.
What % of their turnover do co-ops give back to
communities compared with their retail competitors?
Community outreach at Midcounties
Last year, co-ops gave a total £12m to good
causes, which cover areas such as staff/
member fundraising for charities, dividend
grants given to community groups, in-kind
support through donations of equipment
and giving staff time off to volunteer for local
projects.
Our latest analysis brings all of these
figures up to date. The collective predividend/tax
profit for the top nine cooperatives
topped £93m. Before that
amount, £12m is also given to good causes,
which is the equivalent of 10.8% of profit.
When looking at retail competitors, such
as Asda, Tesco and Sainsbury’s, they only
gave 4.5% of profit back to communities.
In the last financial year, they recorded a
collective £3.3bn profit – and they gave
£158m to communities.
So co-operatives give more than double
back to communities. If the competitor
supermarkets were co-operatives, we would
expect to see that £158m investment to turn
into £350m.
But, the Community Impact Index isn’t a
definitive statement on how much work coops
do in communities – and whether one
does more or less. It shows the good work
that co-operatives do for their neighbours.
This is the co-operative difference in action.
As we note throughout the index, many
co-operatives and competitors use different
reporting methods. But they all amount to
similar inputs, such as charity donations.
And no matter what method is used, the
final totals tally up to one figure.
So, what does the future look like for
community investment? Throughout our
interviews with community specialists, all
agree that putting the members first is the
priority and the starting point when being
there for the community.
We may see an increase in financial
contributions next year. The Co-operative
Group’s relaunched membership scheme
is to donate 1% of all sales of own-branded
products to local communities. Plus the
Group and other societies will be taking an
increased amount of donations through the
5p carrier bag surcharge that came into force
in England last year (Wales and Scotland
already had the charge).
The one thing for co-operatives to
remember, though, comes from Business
in the Community’s Andy Melia, who says:
“The sharing of economic and social value
is at the heart of everything a co-operative
does and that in itself sets it apart.”
The Community Impact Index represents the seventh
co-operative principle, concern for the community: “Cooperatives
work for the sustainable development of their
communities through policies approved by their members.”
Written and researched by Co-operative News. The index is supported by Midcounties Co-operative, the largest regional co-operative
in the UK with gross sales more than £1bn. Community owned, community led and community rewarding, Midcounties works together
to create a better, fairer world. Analysis by Anthony Murray. Case studies and interviews by Kate Duggan and Susan Press.
24 Co-operative News 15 November 2016