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 a tangible reminder
Every Minute Counts Living in the Channel Islands, we easily get used to the small distances we need to travel to get from A to B – so much so that a journey that takes any longer than 20 minutes can feel like an odyssey! While our sense of distance can be a bit
Great businesses are made with great people Although difficult in many ways, I think that 2015 will be looked back upon as our best year ever. Sales were up by 6½ %, and we served more customers than at any other time in our history. We opened new stores at Grouville in Jersey and St Sampsons in Guernsey
A link to our past; a bridge for our future - Part III We were delighted when over 600 islanders took an interest and attended the public presentations of The Society’s plans for Leale’s Yard in Guernsey and we are really pleased that the plans have been welcomed by so many members of the community. Understandably though, with a scheme of
A Link to our Past; A Bridge For our Future Part II It was a real privilege to be able to share the plans for St Sampson’s Bridge with so many islanders over the weekend. I am sincerely grateful to all those that found the time to attend - 600 people over two days was a phenomenal response! As the leader
A Link to our Past; a Bridge for our Future Leale’s Yard and St Sampson’s Bridge or “Le Grande Pont” are important parts of Guernsey’s heritage. As we’re on the verge of announcing major plans for Leale’s Yard, I wanted to share some of the history of this site with you, and whet your appetite
If Not Now, Then When? At the Channel Islands Cooperative Society we see day in, day out, that people achieve much more when they work together. We combine strengths, offset each other’s weaknesses and achieve far better end results through bridging divides – between producers and retailers, between consumers and the origins of their purchases,
A Ray of Jersey Sunshine What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you think of January? A cold return to work after the festive season? A relentless bombardment of ‘get fit now’ schemes? Or maybe just a desire to hibernate until spring? Whatever it is, I’m sure one of the last
Dealing with the Disconnect “What do you want to be when you grow up?” My two boys love this question. Aged 7 and 4, you can be whatever you want. Swashbuckling adventures fill their minds, tripping up their developing vocabularies as they urgently respond. All parents try to give their children the best start
Edible Guernsey: Community Centred Growing In the fast paced world of convenience that we live in today it’s easy to forget that vegetables are grown in the ground and are not born in freezer bags. Most consumers are now more informed about the importance of growing and buying local, but have little opportunity or
Co-op News Wheels of Change: The Jersey Bike Cooperative The Cooperative belongs, in a concrete way, to every Member. We all have a stake in the success of the Society, and the people who are part of it. We made a commitment to each of those who were facing redundancy last year to help them into other roles either
Co-op News Your New En Route St Sampson’s: A Shop For How We Live Now Our shop of choice should fit around our lives – not the other way round. As more and more of us turn away from the weekly shop, an affordable shop to visit a few times a week is becoming an essential. As we all get busier, our free time is becoming
Farming Farm to Fork – Creating the Connections It’s a shame that many children in our local community can’t experience a garden, let alone get their hands and knees dirty on a farm. We are proud to be helping to put this right. These days, our local growers are enjoying a much more informed consumer, one
Co-op News Your Society, your thoughts, your vision A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of working with our Jersey and Guernsey Members on the future direction of the Society. Every business needs a compass and your Society’s management team have spent many months examining the long term trends that will influence the future choices
Innovative Store of the Year The Architecture of Innovation Creating Opportunities and Innovation in Our Communities Typically, only the big guns with their big budgets can afford the level of innovation that would get noticed on an international scale. So, when we found out that our new Grouville Locale had been shortlisted by the IGD for Innovative Store of
Healthcare Rethinking Health and Education Health and education are arguably the two most important pillars of our community. Education, at its best, nourishes identity, ambition and aspiration whilst excellent Healthcare is vital for maintaining a productive and happy population. The question is whether government is best placed to deliver the key components of these foundations
Co-op News Do You Have a Kindness Policy? Where is diversity on your agenda? At the heart of how you do what you do? Buried in a pile of risk assessments in compliance? On the 'Can't see the ROI' list? Two big reasons to give this some thought are just around the corner. Firstly,
Co-op News Eco Fund: Reinvesting in our Environment It doesn’t seem like eight years ago that we stopped issuing free carrier bags in our food stores. The Channel Islands very much led the way on this environmental initiative and since then, we have reduced the use of single use carrier bags from 17 million in 2008, to
A Sparkling 60 for The Society Later this year we plan on celebrating the 60th Anniversary of our Channel Islands Co-operative. Of course, both the Jersey and Guernsey Societies predate this anniversary but this is like a Diamond Wedding for us. And an opportunity to recognise and celebrate a special union. Our business obviously looked very
Co-op News Your Co-operative, your vote [http://www.uk.coop/coopoftheyear] I am genuinely thrilled that we have been shortlisted for the Co-operatives UK’s Co-operative of the Year Award. It really is an honour for our small Society to be recognised in this way. We are one of nine co-operatives across the UK in the
Coming Together to Celebrate Freedom Soon our communities will celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of the Channel Islands from German Occupation. I have been reflecting on the responsibility our former co-operative colleagues shouldered during that terrible period in our history. The Jersey Co-operative Society, as it was then, was still a small business.
Co-op News United by Our Differences, A Society for All To whom do we owe dignity, respect and fairness? As the community retailer, we take our role in daily life seriously. Making a real difference to the communities we serve is our primary purpose. But what does that mean? Well, it means lots of things. First and foremost it means
Co-op News A Rewarding Night to Remember Triumph, adversity, creativity, honesty and compassion. Last year we had a lot of everything. Some of the highlights include: * We successfully diversified into community pharmacy creating a platform for future growth * We created Co-operative Medical Care a new and disruptive model for patient focussed health care at an affordable price
What Answer Do You Want? You tell me who you want to be cheapest, give me half a day to do a price survey, and I will get the evidence. Whilst in no way denouncing the excellent work the Consumer Council do to keep value at the forefront, I do think it’s only fair
Giving Herm a Helping Hand “Colin, can you help us restore a crane?” Now, there’s a request you don’t get every day! Community giving is a topic that is close to my heart and central to the ethos of The Channel Islands Co-operative. We take our social responsibilities seriously and try to support
