Co-op News - February 2020

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9 7 news news news Issue #7312 OCTOBER 2019 Connecting, championing, cha lenging OCTOBER 2019 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT How are co-ops helping to make the SDGs a reality? Plus … ICA Global Conference preview ... Meet Fairtrade Foundation’s Michael Gidney ... positive impacts of the Preston Model ISSN 0009-9821 01 9 770009 982010 www.thenews.coop £4.20 MAY 2019 Connecting, championing, cha lenging www news Issue #7 NOVEMBER 2019 CO-OPS FOR DEVELOPMENT gali 2019: ning how to better world andal affecting ... the erica’s co-op news Issue #7310 AUGUST 2019 Connecting, championing, cha lenging 9 770009 982010 £4.20 AUGUST 2019 CO-OP CULTURE What is it – and why does it matter? Plus … 100 years of the Channel Islands Co-operative ... Coop Exchange: addressing the issue of capital ISSN 0009-9821 01 www.thenews.coop news Issue #7305 MARCH 2019 Connecting, championing, cha lenging MARCH 2019 SO, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? Co-operating for a better Brexit Plus ... A new generation of pioneers ... Meet Heart of England’s Ali Kurji ... and whatever happened to the International Summit? ISSN 0009-9821 01 9 770009 982010 www.thenews.coop £4.20 Issue #7309 JULY 2019 ISSN 0009-9821 9 770009 982010 01 £4.20 JULY 2019 DEVELOPMENT How can we grow the global co-op community? Plus … a manifesto for Northern Ireland … Stephen R McDow II on US development … Co-op Congress report www.thenews.coop Issue #7306 news APRIL 2019 EDUCATION news Issue #7311 SEPTEMBER 2019 Connecting, championing, cha lenging SEPTEMBER 2019 AGRICULTURE Can co-ops reduce the burden down on on the the farm? farm? Plus … Preview of the ICA Global Conference ... Why co-ops should be like pirates ... and proposals for Irish legal reform ISSN 0009-9821 01 9 770009 982010 www.thenews.coop AGRICULTURE: MICRO TO MACRO £4.20 news Issue #7304 FEBRUARY 2019 Connecting, championing, challenging FEBRUARY 2019 MODERN RETAIL REDRAWN Where do co-ops fit in the picture? Plus ... Community finance in Europe ... new Pioneers in Rochdale ... and the lead up to Brexit ISSN 0009-9821 01 9 770009 982010 www.thenews.coop £4.20 JANUARY 2019 Connecting, championing, cha lenging FOR ALL Learning for a co-operative life Plus ... Co-operative Retail Conference u ... Abcul’s annua Q&A with Gill ISSN 0009-9
Questions for retail in the 2020s CONNECTING, CHAMPIONING AND CHALLENGING THE GLOBAL CO-OP MOVEMENT SINCE 1871 Holyoake House, Hanover Street, Manchester M60 0AS (00) 44 161 214 0870 www.thenews.coop editorial@thenews.coop EXECUTIVE EDITOR Rebecca Harvey rebecca@thenews.coop INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Anca Voinea | anca@thenews.coop DIGITAL EDITOR Miles Hadfield | miles@thenews.coop DESIGN Keir Mucklestone-Barnett ART & DESIGN PLACEMENT Owais Qazi INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH OFFICER Elaine Dean DIRECTORS Barbara Rainford (chair), David Paterson (vice-chair), Sofygil Crew, Gavin Ewing, Tim Hartley, Beverley Perkins and Ray Henderson. Secretary: Richard Bickle Established in 1871, Co-operative News is published by Co-operative Press Ltd, a registered society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Society Act 2014. It is printed every month by Buxton Press, Palace Road, Buxton, Derbyshire SK17 6AE. Membership of Co-operative Press is open to individual readers as well as to other co-operatives, corporate bodies and unincorporated organisations. The Co-operative News mission statement is to connect, champion and challenge the global co-operative movement, through fair and objective journalism and open and honest comment and debate. Co-op News is, on occasion, supported by co-operatives, but final editorial control remains with Co-operative News unless specifically labelled ‘advertorial’. The information and views set out in opinion articles and letters do not necessarily reflect the opinion of Co-operative News. @coopnews cooperativenews It’s a new decade, but the issues that have dominated the past few years are still there – for the retailers as much as the rest of us. “Tough trading conditions” and “competitive markets” are phrases repeated in every set of financial results, and since 2016 they’ve been joined by the refrain of “Brexit uncertainty”. This hasn’t changed, and retail analyst Kantar painted a gloomy picture of the recent Christmas trading figures. But there’s a notable exception to those Christmas stats: the UK’s retail co-ops bucked the market to grow their sales (p6-7). It’s a testament to the member-led, community retail model which has played smart with the trend for frequent convenience shopping – and also to the sector’s capacity for innovation. Issues affecting the sector will be discussed at the Co-operative Retail Conference at the end of this month (preview, p28-29), and this edition we’re taking a close look at some of these. Chief among them is the rapid pace of digital innovation, which is transforming the retail landscape, and we look at some of the exciting developments taking place in Italy and Sweden (p42-43). In the UK, the growing ethical concerns of shoppers has sent them towards co-ops, which have been working to improve worker conditions in supply chains, reduce plastic and food waste and tackle the root causes of crime in communities – which affects retailers and their staff directly (news, p10). There’s also a renewed emphasis on local community, as shown Midcounties Co-op’s work on Regional Communities (p44-45). And we catch up with Chris Matthews, a store manager and director at East of England Co-op, for his perspective on the retail world. The need to innovate and deliver for the bottom line doesn’t always meet with universal approval in the co-op movement, as with the Co-op Group’s recent link-up with Deliveroo. But the Group is doing commendable work on issues like modern slavery, and its work in communities has prompted supermarket rivals to attempt similar initiatives. These corporate entries to the ethical consumer market pose fresh challenges. With vegan and wholefood diets becoming mainstream, can pioneers like Suma and Unicorn keep their competitive advantage? The co-op difference is a selling point here, and also points to new fields for co-operation, like Town Cooperation, a network of food co-ops being created for people affected by austerity – an initiative that recalls the work of the Rochdale Pioneers (p38-41). This month, we also report from a conference on the digital trends affecting credit unions (p30-31), and look back on 150 years of Co-operatives UK (p46-47). And we look at the co-op response to inequality, from those suffering from poverty in the UK (p34-35) to trans women fighting workplace discrimination in the USA (p36-37). Finally, as he gets ready to celebrate his 80th birthday, we have an interview with Erskine Holmes, a powerhouse of co-operation in Northern Ireland and a good friend to Co-op News (p25-27). Happy birthday, Erskine! MILES HADFIELD - DIGITAL EDITOR Co-operative News is printed using vegetable oil-based inks on 80% recycled paper (with 60% from post-consumer waste) with the remaining 20% produced from FSC or PEFC certified sources. It is made in a totally chlorine free process. FEBRUARY 2020 | 3
Page 1: FEBRUARY 2020 CO-OPERATIVE RETAIL E
Page 5 and 6: NEWS GROUP Co-op Group announces ho
Page 7 and 8: excellent, with 90% sell through. O
Page 9 and 10: SOCIAL ENTERPRISE Belfast worker co
Page 11 and 12: Southern Co-op to stock specialist
Page 13 and 14: AGRICULTURE Co-operatives UK calls
Page 15 and 16: USA Co-op development funding incre
Page 17 and 18: Bowral Co-operative Ltd & Saddlewor
Page 19 and 20: USA Ohio newspaper issues shares to
Page 21 and 22: Nominations open for NCBA CLUSA boa
Page 23 and 24: in part because they are separate;
Page 25 and 26: ERSKINE HOLMES Born into co-operati
Page 27 and 28: “We don’t have the right to sta
Page 29 and 30: FEBRUARY 2020 | 29
Page 31 and 32: Top: Marloes Nicholls, head of prog
Page 33 and 34: a gap in the housing market and ena
Page 35 and 36: economic issues that local people f
Page 37 and 38: would also be used for renovations,
Page 39 and 40: A DELIVEROO RIDER partner with them
Page 41 and 42: MEMBERS OF COOPERATION TOWN, WHICH
Page 43 and 44: furniture business focuses more on
Page 45 and 46: to build up networks of support to
Page 47 and 48: The weekend will also see the launc
Page 49 and 50: Together we will reach new heights
Page 52:
Holmes Chapel, Cheshire 28 Feb to 1
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Co-op News - February 2020

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