Marks says co-op unification was biggest achievement

PETER Marks believes, out of many deals he has led in his dramatic five year stint as chief executive of the Co-operative Group, his first, was the most important.

Mr Marks, 62, says the 2007 merger of Stoke-based United Co-operatives with the long-established Co-operative Group revitalised the the co-operative movement and provided the foundations for the other major investments and transactions which have been made since then.

The Bradford-born executive began his career in 1967 when he joined what became Yorkshire Co-operatives as a management trainee in the food retail business. He then rose trough the ranks at United before taking the top job with the combined society.

In the wake of the announcement of his planned retirement, he told TheBusinessDesk.com: “When I look back, I think the first deal – the unification of the movement gives me most pride and satisfaction. I have always been very passionate about the movement and what it stands for and I think bringing the two societies together halted its decline.

“For me it has to be the most important as it was the catalyst for the other things we have achieved. The unification gave us size, scale and we benefited from additional confidence and led to further investment in our shops.”

Asked about the timing of the deal – coming so soon after the Co-op announced it had agreed terms to buy 632 branches from Lloyds Banking Group – Mr Marks said he understood why some eyebrows were being raised.

“I have had it in my mind that I wanted to retire at 63 for some time. I shared my thoughts on this with my chairman last year and we agreed, that in order not to destabilise the Verde (Lloyds branches) deal we would not make it public.

“The timing just feels right to do it now – there will be a three to five year job to integrate the branches and I can’t commit to that at my time of life – it’s not fair on my long-suffering wife and family,

“It just feels like the right time to pass the baton on to someone else.”

He said he would take some non-executive roles and spend more time playing golf and with his band, Last Orders.

“I’ll try and keep involved with business- but nothing on the scale of this job – I tend to leave at 6.30am and don’t get home until 7- 7.30pm, and sometimes not at all.”

When he does stand down next May, he said he would miss “some fantastic, talented people”, if not commuting over the Pennines.

Although a self-confessed technological philistine – refusing to join Twitter, Facebook or Linked-In – he concedes technology has transformed business over the life-time of his career.

“It has changed the way we shop, live and work – no one had even heard of the Internet when I started my career.

“Our new group head office which opens later this year – will give people the capacity to work remotely like never before.”