The Midcounties Co-operative operated a range of businesses: food stores, travel agencies, funeral homes, nurseries, flexible benefits, mobile, energy and internet service businesses.
The Midcounties Co-operative was one of the largest independent food retailers in the country with 294 stores, branded as Your Coop Food.
The Midcounties Co-operative operated 71 travel branches across Midcounties' trading area and controlled the Cooptravel.co.uk and Co-operativeski.co.uk websites. It also has its own tour operator – Co-op Holidays. The Midcounties Co-operative travel business was branded Your Coop Travel).
It was distinct from the former business The Co-operative Travel which was owned and operated as a joint venture by Thomas Cook, The Co-operative Group and Central England Co-operative. That business was rebranded to the Thomas Cook name during 2017–18, its branches subsequently being acquired by Hays Travel upon the liquidation of Thomas Cook.
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In 2020, the Midcounties travel business acquired 16 travel branches and employees from the Central England Co-operative.
Early years
In 2002, the society became the first UK co-operative to open a children's day care facility. Your Coop Childcare, which had many sites branded as Little Pioneers, operated 45 nurseries across the UK. The acquisition of the Buffer Bear nursery chain in 2010 saw its Childcare business begin to trade nationally, with nurseries spanning from Newcastle to Southampton.
Co-operative Flexible Benefits
Co-operative Flexible Benefits provided reward and recognition benefits to employers to promote high performance, motivation and engagement. The childcare voucher scheme which it operated was closed to new entrants in October 2018. As a result, the childcare voucher part of the business was wound down.
Post Office
The Society ran 74 post offices across its trading area and the majority were located within Your Co-op food stores, offering an essential service for customers.
Utilities
On 28 April 2018 members of The Phone Co-op, previously an independent society, voted to transfer its engagements to and merge memberships with Midcounties. A confirmatory vote held after the Midcounties AGM on 12 May 2018 was passed, allowing Midcounties to broaden its utilities offer. The merger took place on 1 June 2018, with members of The Phone Co-op joining Midcounties membership.
Midcounties Co-operative also had an agreement with Octopus Group to market and distribute energy products under the Co-op Energy brand, following the sale of its interest in the Co-op Energy supply business to Octopus Energy in 2019. A joint venture, Younity, also provided investment in new community energy projects, offered practical support to community groups and aimed to increase the volume of energy purchased from community schemes; thereby encouraging more small-scale generation across the UK.
Former businesses
Motorworld
Motorworld (also known as The Co-operative Motors) was a co-operative car dealership. Its franchises included Volkswagen, Audi, Volvo, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Hyundai. The Midcounties Co-operative intended it to be the most socially responsible car dealership in the UK, but sold it off in January 2010 at a loss of £2.4 million.
Energy supply
The Midcounties Co-operative's energy business, The Co-operative Energy, supplied gas and electricity to UK homes. The business was established in 2010, launching as a lately internet based provider but was largely unknown. Criticised by customers in 2015 after a failed IT upgrade to its online customer service and billing system caused numerous problems and a large backlog in dealing with issues. In the first quarter of 2015 it was the fourth most complained about utility company, measured in complaints per thousand customers. In subsequent quarters it became the second worst and then the worst for the period July–September according to the official Energy Ombudsman. By the end of 2016 these issues had been resolved and the company was paying out £1.8 million in compensation to customers.
The Midcounties Co-operative announced the sale of its energy supply business, including Flow Energy, GB Energy and Co-op Energy, to Octopus Group for an undisclosed sum in August 2019. Customers were transferred to Octopus Energy, while Midcounties continues to market and distribute energy products under the Co-op Energy brand.
Newspaper delivery to homes
The society briefly ran a service offering newspaper delivery. It's grocery stores continue to sell newspapers but the traditional newsagent home delivery business was exited.
Pharmacy
In 2021, the Midcounties Co-operative completed a review of its health care business selling 29 of its 30 pharmacies branches to focus on its digital healthcare offering. The pharmacy group controlled the cooppharmacy.coop website and in 2013 launched an online doctor service providing online medical care and prescriptions direct to customers' homes. The online pharmacy business ceased trading in January 2023.
Health Food Store
The society operated a single store, with a small, dedicated team, for approximately 20 years.
Funeralcare
The Midcounties Co-operative, which operated as The Co-operative Funeralcare, provided 85 funeral homes and three masonry sites. The group had over 150 years' experience in providing funeral care to its local communities. After a business review in 2021, the majority of funeral homes were transferred to Central England Co-operative.
Member Share Account Kiosks
Traditional staffed counters inside co-op premises for members to conduct withdrawals and subscriptions into their share accounts (common when few people had bank accounts) have been withdrawn. The service was accessible via post at the head office, where a team administers account books and certificates. Subscriptions were by application only and at the member's risk.
