SEPTEMBER 2018

MEET...
... Julian Coles,
Chief executive officer at
Tamworth Co-operative
Julian Coles is the eighth chief executive officer in Tamworth Co-operative’s
131-year history. Following a career that saw him work with companies such as
Dictaphone and sewing machine-maker Singer, he works with around 300 staff
in the Staffordshire-based society that operates 12 food stores, eight funeral
sites, a department store and several property investments.
HOW DID YOU FIRST GET INVOLVED IN
CO-OPERATIVES?
I joined the Tamworth Society about 21 years ago.
It ticked all the boxes for me at a time when I was
looking for a new position. My first role was mainly
financial, but I saw it could lead into other areas.
I was impressed with what the society stood for,
including the family business mindset you could
see in a lot of the operating aspects.
COULD YOU DESCRIBE A TYPICAL WORKING DAY?
It tends to be a little bit of everything because
we have quite a stream of different operations.
Involvement in our trading businesses is the main
side – the food business, department store and
funeral side. We don’t have any other individual
that really handles the property side of things other
than an outside agent, so I do spend a bit more
time on that. My role is also to act as the interface
between the board and the trading management.
We have a fairly unusual governance structure
in co-ops with a non-executive board. It’s a very
special relationship and I think the whole thing
works, but everybody has to understand their role
and always be clear on what their remit is.
WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT YOUR ROLE?
The co-operative way of working really works.
A few years ago we weren’t producing such good
trading results; I’m pleased with the current
level, but one of the best things is how that is
almost a stepping stone. We work as a business
to generate the cash for the future, but we also
have to be generating cash to be able to do the
good community initiatives we want. We have
a community dividend fund which links a local
retail branch to a good cause. Most retail societies
have something similar – we possibly do ours in a
slightly different way as customers at each of our
branches nominate good causes. We also use the
money from the carrier bag levy as part of this.
Soon we’re going to be giving out around £26,000
to about 16 organisations. We’re very much looking
forward to that, it’s a great thing to be able to do –
raising money within our community that can then
be given back to the community.
WHAT IS THE HARDEST PART OF YOUR ROLE?
We have had to make some difficult decisions. I
took over as CEO in 2009, and had to take a number
of actions – such as closing branches that weren’t
performing for us and, as many other organisations,
winding down the final salary pension scheme. It is
difficult, but for us to continue as an organisation,
you have to make those kinds of decisions.
WHAT IS TAMWORTH’S CO-OP DIFFERENCE?
One difference is all the different strands we have
as a business. There’s a very large co-op presence
in our area, and we are genuinely different with
our community work from the majority of
organisations. Tamworth has been a fairly
constant size for a few years, but to be an effective
co-op, co-operation has to be within the DNA
... TO BE AN EFFECTIVE CO-OP, CO-OPERATION HAS
TO BE WITHIN THE DNA ALL THE WAY THROUGH
22 | SEPTEMBER 2018