Central England Co-op profits rise by £1m
Central England Co-operative saw its trading profit rise by £1 million in the first six months of this year.
The Lichfield-based society’s sales also grew by 3.6 per cent to £476.9 million despite what it described as a highly competitive and changing trading environment.
Trading profit rose 8.4 per cent to £12.9m for the half year in which the growth strategy of the business was reflected in its investment of £12.4m, which included the opening of six new food stores, one new funeral home and two new funeral booking offices alongside the renovation of 32 other sites.
Further new openings and refurbishments planned for the second half of the year and on into 2019.
The society also distributed £2.3 million to members, staff and the community with 80 groups sharing nearly £90,000 from the society’s Community Dividend Fund
More than £800,000 has been raised in the first 12 months of link up with the society's corporate charity partner Dementia UK
Chief executive Martyn Cheatle said: “We have had an encouraging first half of the year, reflecting the hard work of our colleagues and continued focus across the society in providing great service and products to our members and customers.
“Our performance so far in 2018 has again demonstrated the society’s resilience as a strong and successful independent co-operative business.
“However, our resilience continues to be tested by tough trading conditions which we expect to remain challenging and highly competitive for the foreseeable future.
“We remain confident in our strategy and our co-operative point of difference to deliver sustainable business growth and provide a relevant and attractive proposition to our members, customers and local communities.”
The food retail arm of the business enjoyed a good performance, with like-for-like sales in convenience stores outperforming the market. These figures included exceptional trading during the harsh winter and hot summer. The society’s funeral operations had a strong first half of 2018 and its 20 travel shops have enjoyed success in the niche holiday market. An expansion of the travel business has also been announced, with the society taking on six travel shops previously operated by Thomas Cook.
Central England Co-operative, which has more than 8,000 staff, will report on its full year performance at the end of January 2019.
It has more than 400 trading outlets across 16 counties including the West Midlands, Worcestershire and Staffordshire.
