Strong Christmas for Central England Co-op
Central England Co-op says that strong sales in its convenience stores saw it achieve a positive performance during the important Christmas and new year period.
The LIchfield-based society saw like-for-like sales growth of 4.1 per cent for the three key festive trading weeks ending January 5 across its convenience estate.
This resulted in overall like-for-like sales rising by 1.5 per cent across the whole society.
The retailer also saw Christmas Eve generate its highest ever turnover day of 2018 and the highest ever recorded on a Monday, with a figure of £3.8 million.
The Christmas period saw particularly strong performance across a range of products including confectionery, mince pies and Prosecco, as well a spike in everyday items ranging from cling film and lemons to milk and teabags being recording on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day.
The Christmas period also saw kind-hearted shoppers donate more than 75,000 items as part of its annual Food Bank Appeal, allowing for over 30,000 meals to be created for people in need during the festive period.
Martyn Cheatle, chief executive at Central England Co-operative, said: “The whole team at Central England Co-operative are proud of these strong sales figures.
“Despite the tough environment we trade in, our expert planning, great products and the dedication and hard work of our colleagues have helped deliver these results.
“We would also like to say a massive thank you to anyone who supported our Christmas Food Bank Appeal as this helped make a major difference to people in need across our trading area.
“I would like to thank all colleagues, customers and members for their support during this very busy period.”
The society also said ‘thank you’ to its customers and members by giving away 20,000 prizes, including a £3,000 holiday, as part of a Because of You Christmas campaign.
Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK, employing more than 8,000 staff, with itss principal areas of activity being food, funeral services, travel shops, and property investment.
It has more than 400 trading outlets across 16 counties including the West Midlands, Worcestershire and Staffordshire.
