SEPTEMBER 2018

CASE STUDY:
HOW DOES MIDCOUNTIES MAINTAIN
ITS CO-OP VALUES AS IT GROWS?
u MIDCOUNTIES
COLLEAGUES AT THE
SOCIETY’S AGM
The Midcounties Co-operative was recently
voted Leading Co-op of the Year 2018. This
award, given to the society for the third time, is
presented by Co-operatives UK for co-ops with
a turnover above £30m, and is voted for by the
UK public.
“This honour reflects the society’s ongoing
commitment to its members, colleagues and
the communities it serves,” says Mike Pickering,
Midcounties’ community and sustainability
manager. “The society has strong and consistent
core values – known to colleagues as the ‘DOES’
values. DOES stands for Democracy, Openness,
Equality and Social Responsibility, and reflects
the ICA Co-operative values in an easy-toremember
format.”
These values are introduced to all new
colleagues on their first day, as part of the
induction process – and have been a vital part
of ensuring co-operation stays at the heart of
the organisation as it has grown to become the
largest independent co-op in the UK.
Midcounties’ roots go back to 1853 when the
Swindon Society was founded. By the end of
the 19th century, it was neighboured by dozens
of other co-op societies, which merged over
the years until there were just two – Oxford,
Swindon and Gloucester Co-op (OSG) and West
Midlands Co-op. These came together to form
Midcounties in 2005.
Today, the society has over 667,000 members,
539 sites, and 8,500 colleagues working for a
wide range of businesses including Food, Travel,
Healthcare, Funeral, Childcare, Post Offices
and Energy. It has recently broadened its utility
offering following the recent merger with the
Phone Co-op. Its gross sales for 2017-18 were
£1.48bn.
“The Society has stayed true to its roots as
it has grown by having strong and consistent
‘THE SOCIETY HAS STAYED
TRUE TO ITS ROOTS AS IT HAS
GROWN BY HAVING STRONG
AND CONSISTENT VALUES’
values, encompassed by our ‘Blueprint for the
Future’,” says Mr Pickering. “The Blueprint
consolidates our core DOES values and includes
an ‘Imagined Future’ to inspire activity and guide
everything we do.”
Midcounties’ management ensures that
the Blueprint for the Future is reflected in all
aspects of business planning, and present back
to the board on an annual basis on how all its
businesses are doing against co-op values.
Mr Pickering adds that the consistency of
language used among colleagues to talk about
the values “is key”, as is the reinforcement of
these values with the regular reporting of both
financial and non-financial measures.
The Society has created a ‘steering wheel’
model, to enable consistent monitoring across
the key areas of co-operation, people, customers
and delivery. “Each section has a number of
objectives, monitored on a monthly basis; they
are coloured red, amber or green to indicate
whether they are below target, nearly on target,
on or above target,” says Mr Pickering.
“All our sites have their own steering wheel
targets which ensures the Society is addressing
its co-operative aims as a business on a
continuous basis.”
He believes that having the core DOES values,
a Blueprint for the Future and its steering
wheel in place has helped Midcounties grow
significantly while staying true to its roots. As
well as the Leading Co-op of the Year award, the
society also received recognition in 2018 with a
5 star rating in the Business in the Community
Corporate Responsibility Index, while in 2015 it
was awarded the Queens Award for Enterprise in
Sustainable Development.
42 | SEPTEMBER 2018