Portrush on Northern Ireland’s most northerly coast was not the most hospitable of places during the cold winds of the ‘Beast from the East’, yet the Northern Ireland Co-operative Party’s weekend policy school was well attended – despite some journeys being literally derailed. (The Enterprise rail service from Dublin to Belfast was suspended and flights […]
Credit unions are struggling to cope with the challenge of switching to digital functionality, according to a global report from the Digital Growth consultancy. While this is also true for banks, it is clear that small credit unions have particular difficulty in adapting to the online world because of cost and often outdated legacy IT
A month can be a long time in business. In July Sainsbury’s was given exclusivity in its bid talks for mutual grocery chain Nisa. But in August, the Co-op Group became the exclusive bidder. During those few weeks, Sainsbury’s grew increasingly concerned that a formal bid would be blocked by the Competition and Markets
A bidding war is taking place between the Co-operative Group and Sainsbury’s to acquire Nisa – the Northern Independent Supermarkets Association and itself a co-operative of grocery traders. Nisa provides a franchise model across 3,466 convenience stores, owned by 1,300 members. It might be assumed that owners of a mutual would prefer to sell
The Co-operative Group’s announcement of a significant loss resulting from its shareholding in the Co-operative Bank should not be a surprise to anyone who has been paying close attention to recent events. While the bank’s value is not necessarily worthless, the Group has taken the cautious view and reported its equity stake in the bank
Speculation has intensified over recent days about the future of The Co-operative Bank. According to The Times and the Sunday Times, the bank may be forced to close, or sell its operations. The spark for this latest bout of bad news has been a statement from the Bank about its capital position. At present
These are difficult times for energy co-ops and they are set to get significantly worse. It is not just that the Financial Conduct Authority is taking a tough line on energy co-ops, there are also major challenges for all renewable producers of energy because of market conditions. As has been extensively reported in the
The building society sector is in surprisingly good health, according to the just published KPMG Building Society Database 2014. Of the remaining 45 building societies, 35 have reported increased profits over the previous year, while reserves across the societies have risen to £13.7bn – an all time high. It would be expected that the low
Globalisation, I suggest, is bad news for co-operatives and other types of mutuals. By creating a massive single market, globalisation favours the giant corporations that have the capital base to market themselves, provide administration and distribute products and services across a wide geography. Nowhere is this more of an issue than in banking. The impact
Just how many businesses are there that trade using the ‘co-operative’ branding, yet are not co-operatives? The situation has reached what some might call crisis point, and others might play down as ‘merely’ misleading marketing. The reason we have reached a crucial moment is the programme of disposals being undertaken by the Co-operative Group. Several
Just how crucial were the banks in driving the reform process at the Co-operative Group? Very, is the simple answer. The background to the Group’s debt owes more to the unwise acquisition of Somerfield than to that other disaster at the Co-op Bank, which was caused to a large extent by what it turns out
Excess debt caused Co-op Group to lose control of its business: Co-operative News Read More »
Let me declare a prejudice from the outset: I don’t like payday lenders. I admit they are better than the traditional loan shark, who pushes money into the hands of someone who can’t make ends meet – and then comes around with a heavy a few days later, demanding repayment and a substantial interest charge