Our History
The Midlands Co-operative Society Limited is the largest independent retailer in the Midlands and the third largest co-operative in the country. As a co-operative, it is firmly rooted in the community in which it trades; its employees come from that community; virtually all its members live and work in the Midlands; its profits are put back into the business or are shared with its members and stakeholders, so these stay mainly in the Midlands. That is just one of the differences between a co-operative and a plc.
How was Midlands Co-op created?
Most people today think of the Co-op as one big organisation, or as “just a shop”. However this is not the case. There have been retail and other types of co-operative societies in the midlands area since at least the 18 th century, but they were small, short-lived and poorly recorded. In particular they were very localised and independent of each other.
In 1844, co-operators in Rochdale realised a more productive, sustainable way of running a retail co-operative for the benefit of its members and the local community. Like other co-operatives, they were formed to meet the needs of members, in this case, the need for unadulterated, wholesome food, sold in honest weights. In addition, they put in place a set of values and principles to guide their activities, and the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society went from strength to strength. Very quickly other existing societies adopted the Rochdale principles and new co-ops set up in the same manner. The Derby Co-operative Society was registered in 1854 and was one of the earliest in the Midlands.
Local communities - a town, village or neighbourhood - formed their own co-ops. This was happening all over Britain, and then the world. Early antecedents of Midlands Society ranged from Ripley (1860) to the Wheaton Aston Single Shop Society (1867) in Staffordshire. Each Society had its own trials and tribulations when setting up, some had several goes before becoming established. Some went to extraordinary lengths to survive their first years. It must not be forgotten that co-operators in the 1800s were seen as radicals, revolutionaries. Shops were attacked, members beaten! The Tolpuddle Martyrs were followers of Robert Owen (the Father of Co-operation) and were transported for their beliefs. But in practice co-operators were not revolutionaries, the belief in self help meant simply, they got on with it. They could not change the unfair system so made their own fair one. They opened a shop and sold fairly produced goods.
One of the Rochdale principles is ‘Co-operation among Co-operatives’. It is known that Birmingham Co-operative Society (1881) was set up by railway workers who had heard about co-operation from Derby railway workers. Another example was when a co-operator from the Leicester Society travelled over to an inaugural meeting of the Soho Society (in an area around Smethwick), to offer encouragement and practical advice. The Soho Society registered around 1887.
The Rugeley Society and the Stone Society both in Staffordshire were helped to set up by members from the Stafford Society.
In the late 1800s, dozens of co-ops existed across the Midlands region, each trading separately and locally, yet all were members of the Co-operative Union and most were shareowners of the Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS). The CWS was set up as a buying and later manufacturing body for the whole of the movement. This was because very often suppliers would not sell to co-operatives, following pressure from other retailers.
After the First World War, co-ops up and down the country faced difficulties. Several were in danger of going under but were saved either by the CWS taking control or by amalgamating with a larger, stronger, neighbouring society, Soho for example merged with Birmingham in 1925. However by the late 1950s and early 1960s societies were again declining, due in part to competition, the rise of the ‘super’ markets and the abolition of retail price maintenance, and further mergers followed, leading to the emergence of sub-regional societies.
In 1969 in Leicestershire a series of mergers took place, creating the Leicestershire Retail Co-operative Society Limited. A similar pattern was being followed across the West and East Midlands, and Central Midlands Society was eventually created in 1985, following mergers across Derbyshire, Staffordshire, parts of the Black Country and Birmingham.
In 1995 something happened that was and still is quite unusual in the Co-operative Movement. Two strong regional Societies merged - not out of necessity but from a position of strength - to form the Midlands Co-operative Society Limited, a product of 64 original retail societies. And it is a nice coincidence that three of the main areas included in the new Society were Birmingham, Derby and Leicester, cities whose co-operators in the 1880s worked together to build the movement in the Midlands.
Since then the society has been joined by three more societies; Chesterfield and District, itself made up of several former societies, joined in 2001. Desborough and Ilkeston both became part of Midlands Co-op in 2006.
Today, we are the third largest Co-operative Society and one of the regions major employers.
For greater detail of the Society history contact your local Member Relations Officer.
