Annual Report 2026
A word from our President
2025 has been another pivotal year for us. It’s the year that has moved us from a business in transformation to a business in growth and I’m excited about what the future holds for us.
Over the 45 years I’ve been in the retail business, last year was one of the most challenging I’ve experienced in the food retail space. We’ve been faced with national and global economic challenges, as well as the impact of the cyber incident on Co-op Group, affecting deliveries to our stores. However, our incredible local suppliers and colleagues once again came together brilliantly to minimise the impact to our customers. This is one of many times where our colleagues have lived and breathed our closely held values that are so important to who we are and why we do what we do.
Together we have delivered an underlying trading profit of £2.0m, a 100% improvement on last year – this is an outstanding achievement, something we should all be proud of. We have more than 3,000 dedicated colleagues, working in over 220 sites who are focused on being of service to our members and customers.
Through making a sustainable profit we’re able to make an even bigger difference in the communities we are part of. In October, we were awarded ‘Community Retailer of the Year - Multiple’ at the Retail Industry Awards. Doing the right thing for our communities has always been the driving force for us so this recognition means a great deal. We were also recognised for our innovative partnership with Trust Retail, winning Technology Innovation of the Year at the Retail Technology Innovation Hub awards.
We partnered with Trust Retail to introduce self-checkout machines at our first fully cashless store at Ipswich Train Station – an excellent example of collaboration making us stronger together. Opening Ipswich Train Station was one of many highlights for me personally and for us as a business. This innovative store, right in our heartland, has had overwhelmingly positive feedback from our customers and has been recognised internationally by the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) for being a ‘Store of the Future’, one of only 25 stores worldwide to be selected.
Mandy Errington, President
Andy Rigby, Chief Executive Officer
Chief Executive overview
2025 has been another pivotal year for us. It’s the year that has moved us from a business in transformation to a business in growth and I’m excited about what the future holds for us.
Over the 45 years I’ve been in the retail business, last year was one of the most challenging I’ve experienced in the food retail space. We’ve been faced with national and global economic challenges, as well as the impact of the cyber incident on Co-op Group, affecting deliveries to our stores, however our incredible local suppliers and colleagues once again came together brilliantly to minimise the impact to our customers. This is one of many times where our colleagues have lived and breathed our closely held values that are so important to who we are and why we do what we do.
Together we have delivered year-on-year sales growth and an underlying trading profit of £2m, an 100% improvement on last year - this is an outstanding achievement, something we should all be proud of. We have over 3,000 dedicated colleagues, working in over 220 sites in our wonderful part of the country focussed on being of service to our members and customers.
Through making a sustainable profit, it enables us to make an even bigger difference in the communities we are part of. In October, we were awarded ‘Community Retailer of the Year – Multiple’ at the Retail Industry Awards, another proud moment as doing the right thing for our communities has always been the driving force for us and this recognition means a great deal. We were also recognised for our innovative partnership with Trust Retail, winning Technology Innovation of the Year at the Retail Technology Innovation Hub awards. We partnered with Trust Retail to introduce self-checkout machines at our first fully cashless store at Ipswich Train Station - an excellent example of collaboration making us stronger together, this is one of our values. Opening Ipswich Train Station was one of many highlights for me personally and for us this year as this innovative store, right in our heartland, has had overwhelmingly positive feedback from our customers and has been recognised internationally by the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) for being a ‘Store of the Future’, one of only 25 stores worldwide to be selected.
2026 Reports & Accounts
Annual Results and Financial Statements
To download our Annual Results and Financial Statements for the year ending 25 January 2025 click the button below.
