"Despite the background of the worst recession in over 60 years, we have continued our rigorous pursuit of sustainability and maintained our support for the many groups and individuals made even more vulnerable by the economic climate."
Peter Marks, Chief Executive,
The Co-operative Group
2009 saw exciting and unprecedented change at The Co‑operative, as we brought Somerfield, Britannia and two co-operative societies into our family of businesses. Our expanded food business can now claim its rightful place amongst the 'Big 5' food retailers in the UK, whilst the merger of The Co‑operative Financial Services and Britannia has created a stronger, more diverse offering in the financial services industry.
Our Values and Principles and, in turn, the reputation they have earned us with our customers and members, have provided us with considerable strength at a time of weak confidence in business. The 'flight to trust' saw current account openings at The Co‑operative Bank increase by some 38% in 2009, whilst sustained growth has continued in like-for-like Food sales.
Such factors contributed to The Co‑operative reporting excellent figures, with gross sales up 31% to £13.7bn. Profit before payments to and on behalf of members – equivalent to pretax profits in a plc – rose by 85% to £402m. These would be impressive figures in a normal year, but are exceptional in the midst of a severe recession and in a period of significant change.
In what was a transformational year for The Co‑operative, maintaining our leading approach to sustainable development has been paramount. I am delighted to report another year of impressive achievements in relation to our social and environmental priorities, which accompany the business's strong financial performance.
As a co-operative business, the notion of responsiveness is hard-wired into our very being and we continue to consult our members and customers on the identification of our priorities for sustainable development. 2009 saw a revised customer-mandated Ethical Policy launched by The Co‑operative Bank, complete with additional agenda-shaping positions in the areas of international development, animal welfare and the environment. A new member-endorsed Community Plan was launched in early 2009, prioritising community investment and resources across The Co‑operative in three areas: inspiring young people, combating climate change and tackling global poverty. Throughout this Report you will find details of the ambitious programmes of activities that are now progressing in support of these three agendas.
Naturally, the integration of several businesses into The Co‑operative has created a number of new sustainability workstreams. It has, for example, led to us extending the reach of the bank's Ethical Policy so that it now covers the Britannia business. Work is also in train to ensure that the policies covering product ranges at The Co‑operative Food are gradually extended across Somerfield. Reformulation and rebranding of Somerfield own-brand products has progressed, and, by the end of 2010, all own-brand food products sold across all Co‑operative and former Somerfield stores will be compliant with relevant Co‑operative standards and guidelines.
Our commitment to ecological sustainability did not falter as we brought several businesses into The Co‑operative family. An enormous amount of behind-the-scenes work took place to ensure we remained at the vanguard of ecologically responsible businesses. We also made significant progress on new packaging reduction initiatives and met our 15% packaging reduction target by the end of 2009 – a year ahead of schedule. In addition, we made a concerted effort to reduce the number of plastic bags given away to customers – recording a 63% reduction on 2006 levels at the end of the year.
As detailed throughout this Report, during 2009 we continued to campaign on an array of environmental and social issues; from the creation of marine reserves around the UK coast to protect threatened fish stocks, to supporting the campaign to free political prisoners in Burma. Such activity elevates The Co‑operative's approach to sustainability to an altogether different plane from that of most other businesses.
The contribution that our colleagues and members continue to make to the success of our sustainability and community investment programmes is enormous, and is no better evidenced than by the staggering £3.7m that was raised for 2009's Charity of the Year, RNID. This fundraising effort is additional to the £11.3m of community investment made by The Co‑operative in 2009 – some 3.8% of our pre-tax profits – which will support thousands of community initiatives in the UK and overseas.
Our approach to sustainable development is very much part of 'business as usual' at The Co‑operative. However, it is always pleasing to see our efforts across the sustainability agenda being recognised by others. During 2009 and early 2010, The Co‑operative received a host of accolades: not least, our number one 'green' ranking amongst supermarkets and the Financial Times Sustainable Bank of the Year award; our ranking as the bank customers are most likely to recommend in the Concerned Consumer Index; Retail Week's Responsible Retailer of the Year; the RSPCA's People's Choice Supermarket Award; Business in the Community's (BITC) Environmental Leadership Award; and a leading ranking in BITC's Corporate Responsibility Index.
Whilst 2010 will, no doubt, bring a host of new challenges, I am determined to see this leadership continue, and look forward to reporting next year on how the sustainability performance of the enlarged business has progressed. In the meantime, please spare some time to look through this Report, so that you can see the progress we made during 2009 on our ongoing journey to be one of the UK's most sustainable businesses.
Peter Marks