Co-op announces results of AGM vote and Director elections
19 May 2018
The Co-op held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Exchange Hall, Manchester Central today (Saturday 19 May). The full results of the voting are as follows:
| Motions | Result |
|---|---|
| 1. To receive the Annual Report and Accounts for the period ended 6 January 2018 | Carried: For 97,284 (98.19%) Against 1,794 (1.81%) Withheld 8.830 |
| 2. To approve the Directors’ Remuneration Report for the period ended 6 January 2018 | Carried: For 82,964 (88.34%) Against 10,950 (11.66%) Withheld 13,011 |
| 3. To approve a change in the Executive Remuneration Policy | Carried: For 74,979 (84.13%) Against 14,140 (15.87%) Withheld 16,861 |
| 4. To re-elect Ian Ellis as an Executive Director | Elected: For 88,156 (95.99%) Against 3,685 (4.01%) Withheld 11,063 |
| 5. To re-elect Lord Victor Adebowale as an Independent Non-Executive Director | Elected: For 85,321 (93.17%) Against 6,254 (6.83%) Withheld 11,492 |
| 6. To re-elect Simon Burke as an Independent Non-Executive Director | Elected: For 85,820 (95.37%) Against 4,169 (4.63%) Withheld 11,523 |
| 7. To re-elect Stevie Spring as an Independent Non-Executive Director | Elected: For 91,589 (95.72%) Against 4,095 (4.28%) Withheld 11,558 |
| 8. To re-appoint Ernst & Young LLP as our auditors and authorise the Risk and Audit Committee to fix their remuneration | Carried: For 86,459 (94.60%) Against 4,932 (5.40%) Withheld 10,526 |
| 9. To approve a change to our Rules | Carried: For 81,446 (88.91%) Against 10,155 (11.09%) Withheld 14,838 |
| 10. Joint motion from Board and Council – Political Donations | Carried: For 73,805 (79.38%) Against 19,168 (20.62%) Withheld 13,737 |
| 11. Joint motion from Board and Council – Plastic Recycling | Carried: For 94,915 (99.06%) Against 900 (0.94%) Withheld 6,693 |
| 12. Members’ Motion – Responsible Advertising | Carried: For 92,811 (96%) Against 3,868 (4%) Withheld 8,387 |
Results for the election of Member Nominated Directors
Hazel Blears - Elected Margaret Casely-Hayford - Elected Pernilla Bonde - Not elected Monica Burch - Not elected
Enquiries:
The Co-op Jon Church Tel: 07545 210812 Chris Sonne Tel: 07770 544721
Tulchan Communications Jonathan Sibun Tel: 07779 999683
Notes to Editors:
About the Co-op:
The Co-op is one of the world’s largest consumer co-operatives with interests across food, funerals, insurance, legal services and an online electrical store. It has a clear purpose of championing a better way of doing business for you and your communities. Owned by millions of UK consumers, the Co-op operates 2,500 food stores and over 1,000 funeral homes, with more than 63,000 colleagues and an annual revenue of £9.5bn.
Newly elected and re-elected directors’ biographies
Executive Directors
Ian Ellis
Ian joined the Group as Chief Finance Officer in 2015. Previously Ian was CFO for Wilkos for nearly 8 years and previous to that held a number of senior finance positions at Morrisons and Northern Foods Plc. Ian is a member of the Board of Governors at Nottingham Trent University.
Independent Non-Executive Directors
Lord Victor Adebowale
Victor is the CEO of the charitable social enterprise Turning Point Health & Social Care. He has been involved in a number of independent commissions advising governments on, mental health, learning disabilities, the role of the voluntary sector, policing and stop & search, policing and mental health, housing policy, the future of public services and employment/skills and race & equalities.
He is currently Founding Chair of Collaborate CIC, Director of Leadership in Mind Ltd, Non-Executive Director of NHS England, Director of IOCOM UK Ltd; Chair of charity Urban Development Music Foundation, Chair of Social Enterprise UK, a Visiting Professor and Chancellor of University of Lincoln and member of the Court of Governors of the London School of Economics.
Victor has a Masters in Advanced Organisational Consulting from City University & The Tavistock Institute.
Simon Burke
Simon was previously an Independent Non-Executive Director for the Group’s subsidiary, Co- operative Food Holdings Ltd. Simon was appointed Chair of the Group Risk and Audit Committee on 25 June 2015.
Simon is a Chartered Accountant and is currently a Non-Executive Director for the BBC, a Director of The Light Cinemas (Holdings) Limited and Blue Diamond Limited. Simon was previously Chair of both BathStore and Hobbycraft, and CEO for Virgin Retail, Virgin Cinemas and Virgin Entertainment Group.
Stevie Spring
Stevie is a respected Board Director with broad Executive and Non-Executive experience across the private, public and not for profit sector. She was previously CEO of Clear Channel, the world’s largest out of home company; then of Future PLC, an international media company where she led its digital transformation.
Stevie’s portfolio currently includes chairing the technology company, Kino-mo; chairing the remuneration for LCG plc and advisor of ITG, international retail software company. Stevie was named in the Sunday Telegraph/Debretts 2017 list of Britain’s 500 most influential people and in 2017 was awarded a CBE for services to charity.
Member Nominated Directors
Hazel Blears
Hazel was a Labour Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2015, representing Salford and Eccles. She has held a number of senior positions in government including Public Health Minister, Police and Counter Terrorism Minister and Communities Secretary. Hazel also served on the National Intelligence and Security Committee.
Hazel’s other roles include being Chair of the Social Investment Business Foundation and Chair of the Institute for Dementia at Salford University. Hazel is also an Ambassador for the Alzheimer’s Society and a Trustee of the Social Mobility Foundation.
Margaret Casely-Hayford
Margaret is a qualified lawyer of 30 years standing, was the Director of Legal Services for the John Lewis Partnership for 9 years and on the Board of the British Retail Consortium for 4 years to 2014. During her term on the Board of NHS England she was one of the Directors who promoted and championed ‘NHS Citizen’ the new listening structure for the NHS that enables proper consultation and collaboration. Margaret is currently Chair of international development charity, ActionAid UK, Chancellor of the University of Coventry, Chair of the Carnegie and Kate Greenway children’s book awards diversity review, a Director of Ultra Education Ltd and Chair of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre.