Our round-up of 2024

We’ve got lots of achievements to shout about this year, none of which would be possible without the support of our Members, customers and colleagues! Take a look below at just a few of the key highlights of 2024...

Membership Matters

Share of the Profits 

One of the key benefits of being a co-operative is that we share our profits with our Members. In 2024, we distributed a total of £444,400 to our Members. 

Member savings 

Members save more with over 300 offers in our shops. This year alone, these offers have saved our Members £11m! Keep an eye out for these prices next time you’re in store. 

Membership App 

Our Membership App is the perfect way to stay up to date with the latest offers, discover what's happening in your community, and easily access your digital Membership card for quick scanning during every shop. With over 200,000 downloads this year, don’t miss out, download the app today from your preferred app store! 

Member Voice 

Earlier in the year, we introduced Member Voice, our new annual survey that gives our Members the opportunity to share their feedback and ideas. We're thrilled to have received input from 15,000 Members – thank you for having your say! We've been reviewing the results, and we're excited to now share them with you. Stay tuned in 2025 as we continue to make your Membership even more meaningful. 

See the full report here.

Extra rewards for Central Co-op Members 

For 2024, we’ve introduced more benefits to being a Member. We’ve teamed up with Your Co-op Energy to bring you a Member reward when you make the switch to their gas and electricity. Your Co-op Energy, powered by Octopus Energy, comes from renewable projects invested in by local people who are making our future fairer and brighter. Power your home with renewable sources harnessed by communities across the UK, find out more here. 

Funeral Member benefit

This year also saw the introduction of a Member benefit within our funeral business, because our Membership is for all the moments that matter, including helping you say goodbye. As a Member, you can receive £125 onto your Membership card when you arrange a funeral with us. This also includes an additional Member-exclusive benefit, to help make the funeral right for you. Learn more here.

Supporting our communities

180 years of Co-operation 

On the 21st December 2024, we celebrated 180 years of Co-operation! This date marks the opening of the very first Co-op on Toad Lane, Rochdale, in 1844 and the beginning of the modern co-operative movement. To commemorate this milestone, we’re working in collaboration with other UK Co-ops to launch an innovative new Fund for International Co-operative Development (FICD). This fund will provide financial support and expertise to co-operatives globally, helping communities rebuild after crises, foster peace, and create sustainable economies. 

Learn more by reading our recent blog post.

Our work with Dementia UK 

2024 marks the end of our 7-year partnership with Dementia UK. During this time, over £2.7 million was raised, which has contributed to the expansion of dementia care services across the country! With thanks to our Members, customers and colleagues, this impressive total has been achieved through fundraising events, and the micro-donations charity, Pennies.  

Our partnership with Pennies

In the last 12 months, by saying yes to donating 10p when paying by card, you've helped to raise £410,000 via Pennies. These donations have been shared across Dementia UK, Shelter, Samaritans and the DEC Middle East Humanitarian Appeal.

Our new charity partner 

You, our Members, told us you wanted us to place more focus on mental health – we listened, and we focused our charity search on it. We had over 100 charity nominations and we whittled them down to a shortlist for you to vote on. Nearly 17,000 of you had your say, and you chose Samaritans as our new charity partner. Samaritans' volunteers are on hand, day or night, for anyone who’s struggling to cope, who needs someone to listen without judgement or pressure. 

New shop openings 

In 2024, we've opened 2 new food shops: Scunthorpe and Hethersett. Both showcase our new brand signage and a range of sustainability-driven innovations, including solar installations, EV chargers, and electronic shelf-edge labels! 

Shop regenerations 

We’ve also reinvested in 25 food shops across 2024, including our Wildwood store in Stafford and Ibstock store in Leicestershire, to bring an even better offering to our Members and customers.  

Funeral home regenerations 

We’ve reinvested in 10 funeral homes over the course of this year. We’ll continue with the regeneration programme into 2025, giving our families a warm, comfortable and modern space to visit us in.  

Ways to remember 

This December we launched our new memorialisation gifting website, making us the first funeral business to offer a fully transactional online platform for such products. In collaboration with The Lovely Gift Group, this initiative brings an extensive collection of thoughtful and personal keepsakes, helping families to cherish the memories of their loved ones in meaningful ways. 

Take a look at our website, here.

Our Malawi Partnership 

This year, we celebrated 30 years of Fairtrade in the UK, and to commemorate this milestone, we introduced the UK's first 100% Fairtrade-certified macadamia nut products to our stores. This exciting achievement is the result of our ongoing collaboration with the Malawi Federation of Co-operatives (MAFECO) and local co-operative farmers, made possible through Our Malawi Partnership. Look out for Nutcellar’s salt-roasted and cinnamon caramelised macadamia nut share-boxes next time you pop into one of our shops! 

Green energy self-sufficiency and sustainability 

Our planting promise  

This year, our funeral business extended its commitment to sustainability through Our Malawi Partnership. For every funeral we do, we’ll plant a tree in Malawi. Over their lifetime, these trees will remove around 6,000 tonnes of CO2 from the atmosphere. This initiative also helps to prevent flooding, protect wildlife and improve food scarcity. 

Olio in our shops 

At the end of each day, Olio’s Food Waste Heroes collect unsold food from our shops and upload it onto the Olio app for the local community to request and collect. Through our partnership with Olio, 1,555,279 surplus items have been saved from becoming food waste, feeding 14,788 households and off-setting 1,482,357kg of CO2 emissions.

Energy savings 

Our partnership with Sol PV has continued to develop across 2024, with 115 stores being fitted with solar panels. These panels are saving 30% of energy on average, per installation. 

Net-Zero ambitions 

As a co-op, we have a purpose beyond profit that benefits our local communities. This begins by creating a sustainable Society for all. Having been awarded a Net-Zero Energy Performance Certificate for 4 of our stores, we’re pleased to be working with the Science Based Target initiative to set ambitious plans to be Net-Zero by 2040. We’re committed to creating more Net-Zero stores and are actively working to be 100% green energy self-sufficient. 

Co-op Generation

Toy appeal 

With an impressive 50 stops on our toy van’s journey, we loved seeing Members, customers and colleagues get involved in these festive events. Approximately 3,500 toys were donated and distributed to charities and food banks, to ensure local children could open a gift on Christmas day!

School workshops

Our Member & Community Relations Officers host a range of workshops to inspire and educate the younger generation. In 2024, over 2,000 young people attended events hosted by our MCCs, which included guidance on healthy eating, career opportunities, employability skills and cooking classes.

Supporting early careers 

We know it can be tough to get into a rewarding career, so this year we pledged to offer 300 work experience placements and provide employability support to 1,500 students through workshops as part of our “adopt a school” programme. Find out more about our early career opportunities across our food stores, funeral homes and Support Centre here.

With 2025 on the horizon, we’re excited about the opportunities ahead and look forward to continuing this journey of growth and success together.