Food group ranked as top co-operative

THE UK’s co-operative sector is seeing a surge in membership and robust performances from it’s main players, of which Leeds-based Arla Foods UK is one. Co-operatives UK has said that 17.5m people are now members of UK co-operatives, which provide around 223,000 jobs for the country.

Member numbers have increased by 2.3m over the past five years, which the organisation puts down to increasing numbers joining credit unions and high street retailers, as well as the rise in community-owned organisations.

It said that the sector’s 7,000 independent co-operative businesses are now worth £34bn a year, a slight dip on last year.

The sector has been boosted by The Co-operative’s plans to bring 1m new members to the sector.

Farmer-owned co-op Arla Foods is worth £985m, the turnover of the two co-operatives who are corporate members of Arla amba. Arla’s total turnover was £1.9bn, and it is the fourth biggest organisation in the UK.

Ed Mayo, Secretary General of Co-operatives UK, said: “As the UK economy picks up, we need to ensure what develops is an economy that works for everyone. The co-operative sector, which is giving people a say over their work, shops and local areas is looking strong for the future and points the way.”

“The last five years have been tough for the economy as a whole, yet we have seen strong performance from the co-operative sector. Despite deeply competitive markets the sector as a whole has remained stable and co-operatives trading in retail and agriculture have grown by 10% over the last five years.

“Alongside this solid commercial performance, there has been a surge in the number of people who own and control the UK’s co-operatives. With 17.5 million members owning everything from high street retailers to credit unions, the co-operative sector is the largest open membership organisation in the UK.”