A word from our President, Joy Burnford
"2024 has been a year to remember for many reasons. I am proud to have been elected as President of our society, heading up the Board with the support of Mandy Errington, our new Vice President. Together we showcase our co-op as an inclusive and forward-thinking society.
"I would like to place on record a sincere thank you to our brilliant colleagues. Their hard work and dedication is vital to ensuring the future success of our society and the continued focus on local communities
"The year ahead of us is an exciting one. Whilst there will be challenges on the horizon, much like every year, I am convinced that we have a leadership team in place to navigate our co-op on its journey to sustainable profit. I believe that the continued pride in serving our members, customers, clients, and communities is fundamental to the success of our co-op. This is a principle I will uphold throughout my term as President.
"I welcome the continued research into our member proposition and what it means for each of us to own a part of our co-op. In this volatile and uncertain world, co-ops can foster a spirit of community where individuals support one another. It is essential we offer a membership that is both exciting and valuable to our customers, and that builds on these co-operative roots. Thank you for your support – we are stronger together."
An overview from our Chief Executive Officer, Andy Rigby
"2024 is the year we celebrate a return to profit and the start of an exciting period of growth at our co-op.
"To help us on our journey back to sustainable profit we’ve been reshaping our store portfolio, making sure we’ve got the right stores in the right places to respond to changing customer demands. We’ve also been reshaping our Funeral business as well as our Property portfolio, to ensure all areas of our business are contributing towards a sustainable and profitable future for generations to come.
"We remain a business in transition. We have an exciting pipeline of new stores and branches and will be continuing our refurbishment programme. However, we’ll also need to absorb the increases in the National Living Wage and National Insurance contributions.
"I’d like to take this opportunity to thank everyone involved with our co-op. By working together, we continue to use our resources to make a positive local impact. A return to profit is a monumental achievement in the current financial landscape and should be celebrated. Being profitable allows us to continue building our co-operative for the next generation.
"Finally, and on behalf of the Senior Leadership team, the biggest thank you must go to our colleagues. Without their hard work and dedication none of this year’s success would have been possible. They continue to be our biggest strength and I’m proud of the work each and every one of them have delivered for our co-op this year."
Download a copy of our Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 25 January 2025, here.
Finance update
Underlying trading profit from continuing operations £1.0m
Despite continuing challenges impacting our trade and operations, we were able to generate a trading profit from continuing operations of £1.0m. This is a significant £4.6m improvement on last year’s results. This is a reflection of the continued hard work and commitment of all colleagues.
Our balance sheet has grown to £229.6m, still underpinned by our Property Portfolio.
Costs continue to rise across the board with increases hitting the cost of goods and a further 9.8% rise in the National Living Wage. Our co-op continues to adopt an approach of achieving sustainable profit and is taking a responsible approach to managing such changes.
Turnover
Sales decreased by £7.6m compared with the prior year. This was an anticipated part of our strategy where we have closed loss making parts of the business which has had the combined effect of reducing turnover but increasing profitability. Food sales reduced by £5.2m, a result of closing stores and a challenging market.
Property income decreased in line with expectations as we continue to deliver on our portfolio plan of optimising our assets.
Our Funeral business continues to operate in a challenging market, with a greater focus from customers on lower cost funerals, specifically direct-to-crematorium offerings. We continually review our own sales offerings and we have broadly retained our market share.
Profitability
Our underlying trading profit from continuing operations improved by £4.6m year-on-year – delivering £1.0m of underlying trading profit from continuing operations. This gives us two years of back-to-back increases on underlying trading profit and demonstrates that we are well on the way to returning to sustainable profitability.
Despite Food sales being down by £5.2m, contribution has grown by £3.0m. A similar story is visible in our Funeral business, where turnover is down by £2.4m, however has increased by £0.7m compared to last year. Property has also seen an increased contribution percentage despite falling turnover.
Post Offices and Forecourts also saw an increase in contribution compared to last year, however Travel has seen a reduction in contribution.
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors is responsible for determining the objectives, strategy and policy of our co-op in conjunction with the Senior Leadership team, who are collectively responsible for the day-to-day management of our co-op.
Advice on governance matters is provided in the first instance by the Society Secretary, with further professional support available from Co-operatives UK and external lawyers as appropriate.
In May 2024, John Cook and John Hawkins left the Board having both completed twelve years service; with Judi Newman and Caroline Ley leaving after seven and three years service respectively.
The Board also sadly lost Emma Howard, who passed away in November 2024.
As a result of the May 2024 election of Directors, the Board welcomed Martin Catchpole, Suzanne Hawkes and Ann Osborn BEM, along with welcoming back Nicola Fox, who had stepped down for one-year following twelve consecutive years service on the Board. James Bardrick was co-opted to the Board in January 2025.
Read more about our Board members here.
The Senior Leadership team
Day-to-day management of our co-op is delegated by the Directors to the Chief Executive Officer, Andy Rigby, who is responsible for implementing our strategy within the framework laid down by the Board.
The Chief Executive Officer is supported in the day-to-day running of the East of England Co-op by five Chief Officers.
You can read more about our Senior Leadership team here.