A Garden of Memories, Planted with Love Earlier this year, we lost one of our colleagues suddenly. Whilst he was at work. Our business is in many ways like a family, united by a common purpose. So, naturally, we grieved together. And we remembered him together. Our colleagues at De Gruchy’s Funeral Care [https://www.channelislands.
En Route to more convenience in Jersey Our members have been keen for us to expand our Jersey fuel offering for some time, so we are very excited about the prospect of securing planning permission for a new Co-op En Route at the J.F.T.U. Town & Country [http://www.jftu.co.uk] site
Free Fruit for Kids Photo credit: Jersey Evening Post [http://jerseyeveningpost.com] As a parent of two young children, I know how challenging a visit to the supermarket can be. They marvel at the crisps and salivate at the sweets, often trying to slip treats into my basket. So, I am really excited to
When superheroes meet: The End of Chapter One Giving Eliana her new trike and meeting Joanna with Sandra and Robyn of Variety – the Children’s Charity A couple of weeks ago, the boys and I spent a wonderful afternoon with Eliana and Joanna presenting them with their new mobility aids. The afternoon felt like the end of a
Hammerhead and StinkyPants are true heroes for two Channel Island charities It’s been a while since I have written about HammerHead and Captain StinkyPants [https://www.colinmacleod.co/the-story-behind-the-book/#.WRrUxhMrL9N]. Over the past few months, these two superheroes have been very busy raising money for two local charities. For those of you unaware of these intrepid
Why Dying Matters As CEO of our Society, I’m proud to fly the flag for two exceptional funeral propositions, De Gruchy’s Funeral Care [https://www.channelislands.coop/funeral-care/de-gruchys-funeral-care/] in Jersey and Argent Funeral Care [https://www.channelislands.coop/funeral-care/argent-funeral-care/] in Guernsey. But
The Next Step for our Jersey Flagship – Welcoming Dunelm to Grand Marché Six months ago, we announced that we were looking to improve and modernise our Grand Marché store in St. Helier, and were seeking interested partners to provide our customers with a greater choice of home furnishings and general merchandise. This week, I am pleased to reveal that market-leading UK
Celebrating Success Many of you may have already read in some of my previous blogs [https://www.colinmacleod.co/what-is-the-purpose-of-your-business/#.WQMKWFMrL9N] about how proud I am to lead a Society that bets on people, not strategies. As I’ve said before, business is lives, business is
Promoting Healthy Habits A few weeks ago, I discussed my #100DayChallenge [https://www.colinmacleod.co/a-healthy-competition-100daychallenge/#.WNoqdRIrJ3l]. As promised, I’d now like to take a moment to talk about the positive things we’re doing across the Channel Islands Co-op [https://www.channelislands.coop/] to promote the wellness
Grow Your Own Goodness Gang Last year we introduced the Goodness Gang [https://www.colinmacleod.co/no-more-boring-veg-introducing-the-goodness-gang/#.WMapbBKLSRd] to the Channel Islands. These fun, cuddly fruits and veggies were hugely popular and provided a great way to educate kids on the health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.
Sweetening the Deal: Our Fairtrade Commitment It is my pleasure to share the news that from May 2017, all the cocoa used in Co-op own brand [http://www.co-operativefood.co.uk/groceries/] products will be Fairtrade. This is a significant step for ethical trading and makes the Co-op the first British retailer to
A Healthy Competition: #100DayChallenge Before and after, left to right: Donna Abel, Mark Cox and myself. As many of you seem to have noticed, my recent photographs indicate some success with dieting! Thank you for all the positive comments. Lots of people have asked me to share the secrets of my success. So, here
What is the purpose of your business? In a world that is changing faster than ever, how can businesses develop a sustainable competitive advantage? There are many people who treat business like a game. You place a few bets, you win some and you lose some, and then you move on. But these bets often have human
The Gift of Giving While many of us are wrapped up in preparing for Christmas festivities surrounded by our family and friends, it can be easy to forget there are still many less fortunate individuals in our local communities who face the prospect of being alone on Christmas Day. Although we’re tucked away
The story behind the book About a year ago I found myself in one of those rare moods. I don’t often reflect on the world and my role within it, but for several reasons, I began to think about my hopes for the future. From a professional perspective, I have a great job. The
Raising the bar on wellness I always enjoy our regular discussions with Members. These meetings offer the opportunity to sit down, share what we’ve been working on and hear people’s views on how the Society could serve our communities better. A couple of weeks ago we met with a group of our Members
What next for our larger stores?? The news that we are seeking interested partners to introduce more choice into our Grand Marché store in St Helier has understandably caused some Member confusion. The fact that the paper chose to publish only part of the story didn’t help! I thought therefore that Members would appreciate hearing
United Through Pride Tomorrow sees Guernsey’s first ever Pride parade and the start of the inaugural Channel Islands Pride celebration [http://www.channelislandspride.org]. Jersey will then carry on the party next Saturday with their own parade after the handover [https://www.facebook.com/events/149250958817678/] of the official CI Pride flag
Leale’s Yard: Part 4 Photo Credit: The Guernsey Press I’m absolutely delighted that the Society has been granted full planning approval for our plans to regenerate Leale’s Yard. After a long and complicated journey, this was a big moment for us – and for Guernsey. As chief executive of the Society, Leale’s
A River of Light for St Helier I’ve had the pleasure of working on some exciting and unique community projects in my time at the Society, and our plans to regenerate Pitt Street are no exception. The street, which runs from Dumaresq Street to Charing Cross, will be rejuvenated as part of the Charing Cross development
No More Boring Veg: Introducing the Goodness Gang As a father of two young boys I have spent many a mealtime watching vegetables being flicked around a plate to wails of ‘Why do I have to eat these Dad, they’re boring!’ Ask your kids what they like, or find fun and chances are vegetables don’t feature
Mencap Pond Project: An environment for learning We’re surrounded by unrivalled natural beauty in the Channel Islands. We can forget how lucky we actually are to have stunning beaches, cliff walks and woods right on our doorsteps and how we all need to make an active effort to protect them. Step in the Eco-Fund [http:
The Horse is Long Gone I’m from a place. We all are. I was born in St Helier. It means something to me. So what makes that place? I think it’s a combination of identity and community. The heart of our community is our town: a place to work, a place to shop,
Variety and your Society: A Winning Team Variety [https://www.variety.org.uk/], the children’s charity is very close to our hearts here at The Channel Islands Co-operative Society. As I’ve said before, it’s been a great privilege of mine to work alongside Sandra Auckland in supporting the Variety Star of the Year
A Global Community of Local Co-operatives I’ve just returned from Brussels where I had the fantastic opportunity to showcase the Channel Islands Co-operative Society to representatives from 20,000 co-operatives from across the world at the annual Consumer Co-operatives Worldwide event. Seeing so many delegates from all corners of the globe was
