The East of England Co-operative Society Limited is the third largest consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It is a registered Industrial and Provident Society

Industrial and Provident Society

An industrial and provident society is a legal entity for a trading business or voluntary organisation in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and New Zealand...

, a member of the Co-operative Union Ltd., the Co-operative Retail Trading Group

Co-operative Retail Trading Group

The Co-operative Retail Trading Group is the central buying group for co-operative retail societies in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1993, and says that it supplies 100% of food bought for sale by co-operatives in the UK, after being joined by the last two independent societies in 2002...

, the Co-operative Travel Trading Group

Co-operative Travel Trading Group

The Co-operative Travel Trading Group is the central buying group for co-operative travel agents in the United Kingdom. It is organised by the Co-operative Group on behalf of the regional societies, which are themselves corporate members of Co-operative Group Ltd.The CTTG was established along the...

 and a corporate member of Co-operative Group Ltd. (formerly Co-operative Wholesale Society), the largest consumer co-operative in the world. Headquartered in Ipswich

Ipswich

Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

 and trading in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 counties of Essex

Essex

Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...

, east Suffolk

Suffolk

Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

 and east Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

, the Society is the area's largest independent retail

Retail

Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...

er.

History

The East of England Co-operative Society is an amalgamation of smaller societies from across East Anglia

East Anglia

East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...

 which have joined together over the years. Most recently, the Colchester and East Essex Co-operative Society merged with the Ipswich and Norwich Co-operative Society in 2005.

The consumer co-operative movement has its roots in the early part of the nineteenth century and the principles of self-help and social equity that developed during the Victorian era. The first successful retail co-operative was established in 1844 by the Rochdale Pioneers

Rochdale Pioneers

The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, founded in 1844, was an early consumer co-operative, and the first to pay a patronage dividend, forming the basis for the modern co-operative movement....

. The Ipswich and Norwich Society was an amalgamation of the Ipswich

Ipswich

Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

 Industrial Co-operative Society (founded 1868) and the Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

 Co-operative Society (founded 1858). The Colchester and East Essex Society was founded as Colchester

Colchester

Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...

 Co-operative Society in 1861, expanding through merger with the Tiptree

Tiptree

Tiptree is a village in the English county of Essex, situated south-east of Colchester and around north-east of London. Surrounding villages include Messing, Tolleshunt Knights, Layer Marney, Inworth, Birch, Great Braxted, Great Totham and Little Totham....

 Self Help (1921), Clacton (1931), Coggeshall

Coggeshall

Coggeshall is a small market town of 3,919 residents in Essex, England, situated between Colchester and Braintree on the Roman road of Stane Street , and intersected by the River Blackwater. It is known for its almost 300 listed buildings and formerly extensive antique trade...

 Heart in Hand (1945), Harwich

Harwich

Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...

, Dovercourt

Dovercourt

For the neighbourhood in Toronto see Dovercourt-Wallace Emerson-JunctionDovercourt is a small seaside town in Essex, England. It is older than its smaller but better-known neighbour, the port of Harwich, and appears in the Domesday Book of 1086...

 and Parkeston (March 1967), Maldon

Maldon, Essex

Maldon is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon district and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation.Maldon is twinned with the Dutch town of Cuijk...

 (Nov. 1967), Witham

Witham

Witham is a town in the county of Essex, in the south east of England with a population of 22,500. It is part of the District of Braintree and is twinned with the town of Waldbröl, Germany. Witham stands between the larger towns of Chelmsford and Colchester...

 (June 1970) and Earls Colne

Earls Colne

Earls Colne is a village in Essex, England named after the River Colne, on which it stands, and the Earls of Oxford who held the manor of Earls Colne from before 1086 to 1703.-Manor of Earls Colne:...

 (Aug. 1970) co-operative societies.

Services

The Society operates convenience store

Convenience store

A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and...

s, pharmacies

Pharmacy

Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...

, optician

Optician

An optician is a person who is trained to fill prescriptions for eye correction in the field of medicine, also known as a dispensing optician or optician, dispensing...

s, funeral director

Funeral director

A funeral director , also known as a mortician or undertaker, is a professional involved in the business of funeral rites. These tasks often entail the embalming and burial or cremation of the dead, as well as the planning and arrangement of the actual funeral ceremony...

s and travel agents (as The Co-operative Travel

The Co-operative Travel

The Co-operative Travel is the trading name of Co-op Group Travel 1 Ltd., a subsidiary of the Co-operative Group. The largest independent travel agent in the United Kingdom; it is a member of the Co-operative Travel Trading Group and is both ABTA and ATOL bonded...

). It previously ran a dairy

Dairy

A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned...

 with doorstep deliveries, but this was sold to Dairy Crest

Dairy Crest

Dairy Crest Group plc is a major dairy products company in the United Kingdom. Its brands include Cathedral City Cheddar cheese, Utterly Butterly, Vitalite, Clover, St Ivel and Frijj. The company delivers milk to around 1.1 million households via their milkmen...

 in early 2008 and their department stores and a jewellery

Jewellery

Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...

 store were sold to Vergo Retail

Vergo Retail

Vergo Retail Ltd was a department store business based in Liverpool, England, founded in 2007 and currently in administration. Vergo Retail ran 20 shops, consisting of nine department stores, including Lewis's of Liverpool, Robbs of Hexham, Joplings of Sunderland and Derrys of Plymouth and four...

 in 2009. In 2010 their car dealerships were sold to various owners. It is a corporate member of the Co-operative Group, sourcing its food through the national buying programme, the Co-operative Retail Trading Group.

The Society has declared its founding traditions to be self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. It supports the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility, and caring for others. The Society puts its values into practice through voluntary and open membership, democratic member control, member economic partnership, autonomy and independence, education, co-operations, and concern for the community.

Membership

Customers and employees pay £1 to join and receive a Dividend card, which effectively acts as a loyalty card, and must be presented at any transaction to receive points. These points are then allocated a monetary value, decided by a board, and based on the Society's profits that year.

Membership is open to all those living or working in the Society's trading area. Members receive a share in the profits and in 2008 more than £4 million was paid out in dividend

Dividend

Dividends are payments made by a corporation to its shareholder members. It is the portion of corporate profits paid out to stockholders. When a corporation earns a profit or surplus, that money can be put to two uses: it can either be re-invested in the business , or it can be distributed to...

s.

External links

• East of England Co-operative Society