Central England Co-op rebrands to Central Co-op as sales approach £1bn

Central England Co-op has rebranded to Central Co-op as the society’s sales approach £1bn for the first time.

Alongside the name change, the society will be rolling out fresh branding using the International Co-operative Alliance’s global marque across its 400-plus food stores and funeral homes.

It will form part of its ongoing regeneration plan which, in the past 18 months, has already seen the opening of nine new stores and regeneration of 63 existing sites.

Central Co-op’s upcoming new openings in Eastham and Sawbridgeworth this month will be the first of its food stores to receive the new look branding.

“We’re continuing our journey as we set our society up for future success,” said Central Co-op CEO Debbie Robinson. “We’ve adopted the globally recognised marque of co-operation to show our solidarity with the wider co-operative movement as part of our society-wide rebrand. Key to all of this is a refresh of our identity. We want to be modern, warm, relevant and inclusive so we can welcome the next generation of co-operators to our society.

“As we look to the future with our purpose in mind of ‘creating a sustainable society for all’, we continue to invest in our society and have explored a number of options. Following extensive research with members and customers we’ve taken the decision to update our identity and name.”

The society said the rebrand would complement its ongoing campaigns that drive value and the benefits of having co-operative membership.

For example, earlier this year, Central Co-op launched ‘Shop locally, for less’ to highlight the value of supporting local community stores as well as member-exclusive price cuts, which launched in October across over 50 everyday essentials, including cheese, teabags, eggs and pasta sauce, and reduced some items by as much as 43%.