with central england co operative . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . april 2010 learn how and when to remove this template message the midcounties co operative limited type consumer co operative industry retail wholesale founded 2005 1853 headquarters warwick technology park products food pharmacy funeralcare travel childcare post office flexible benefits and energy revenue 1.167 billion number of employees 9 487 website www.midcounties.coop the midcounties co operative is the largest independent consumer co operative in the united kingdom . 1 citation needed registered in england under the co operative and community benefit societies act 2014 it is a member of co operatives uk and the co operative retail trading group . the society s principal activity is retailing in the english midlands . its trading groups are food funeralcare travel pharmacy post office childcare flexible benefits and energy . the midcounties co operative has its headquarters in warwickshire with trading outlets in buckinghamshire oxfordshire gloucestershire wiltshire shropshire west midlands worcestershire and the surrounding counties but also has a national trading presence through its travel childcare energy and flexible benefits businesses . in 2015 co operative energy initially became the fourth most complained about utility company with thousands of customers left without bills for six months before then becoming the second most complained about company and later in the third quarter of the year the most complained about . 2 3 4 as of mid 2013 midcounties became a 1bn business with more than 500 sites and 439 000 members . in 2014 trade with members as a proportion of total sales increased to over 45 % . the midcounties co operative has a strong commitment to investing in the communities in which it trades through responsible trading local sourcing community projects and charitable work . to this end the co op invested 17.6 % of its 2013 2014 pre tax profits 1.8 m into the communities in which it trades . this figure is significantly higher than the average value for large uk co ops 6.9 % or other rival supermarkets 2.4 % . 5 the society was a pioneer of the fair tax mark citation needed and has been ranked in the sunday times best 100 companies to work for list in 2011 2012 2013 and 2014 . its mission statement is to be a successful consumer co operative working towards creating a better fairer world and to enhance the lives of our colleagues members customers and the communities we serve . it has also invested in westmill wind farm co operative in watchfield oxfordshire identified by its promoters as the uk s largest community owned wind farm at its opening in 2008 . 6 the founding non executive president is patrick gray . contents 1 history 2 businesses 2.1 food 2.2 pharmacy 2.3 funeralcare 2.4 travel 2.5 childcare 2.6 energy 2.7 co operative flexible benefits 2.8 post office 3 former businesses 4 membership 5 values and responsible trading 5.1 community work 5.2 fair tax 5.3 environment 5.4 co operative development 6 key achievements 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit see also history of the cooperative movement the midcounties co operative was formed in 2005 by the merger of the oxford swindon and gloucester co operative society and the west midlands co operative society . as a result the society s geographical trading area spans seven counties including oxfordshire gloucestershire wiltshire shropshire staffordshire warwickshire and worcestershire . following the inception and growth of the travel childcare flexible benefits and energy businesses it is now a nationally trading society . some of the earliest predecessor societies that combined with others to eventually form the midcounties co operative are the society is governed by general meetings of its members . community formed swindon 1853 gloucester 1860 chipping norton 1866 walsall 1866 oxford 1872 cinderford 1874 businesses edit the co operative food store in chipping norton oxfordshire . the midcounties co operative is one of several independent co operatives that uses the co operative brand across its businesses . these are food edit the midcounties co operative is one of the largest independent food retailers in the country citation needed with 238 stores operating as the co operative food . pharmacy edit the midcounties co operative owns 46 pharmacies operating as the co operative pharmacy . the group offers a wide range of extended services to customers such as support to quit smoking medicine use reviews a weight management service and asthma reviews.the pharmacy group controls the co operativehealthcare.co.uk website and in 2013 launched a new online doctor service providing online medical care and prescriptions direct to customers homes . funeralcare edit the midcounties co operative operating as the co operative funeralcare owns 80 funeral homes and three masonry sites . the group has over 150 years experience in providing funeralcare to its local communities . travel edit the midcounties co operative operates 57 travel branches across midcounties trading area and controls the cooptravel.co.uk & co operativeski.co.uk websites . the travel business is branded as co operative travel part of the midcounties co operative and is not to be confused with the other co operative travel which is owned & operated by thomas cook . it can be difficult to differentiate between the brands but look out for the dark blue signage & online presence as well as the midcounties reference for cooptravel.co.uk compared to the bright orange signage of the other co operative travel . childcare edit in 2002 the society became the first uk co operative to open a children s day care facility . co operative childcare now operates 50 nurseries across the uk . the acquisition of the buffer bear nursery chain in 2010 saw its childcare business begin to trade nationally with nurseries spanning from newcastle to southampton . energy edit the midcounties co operative s energy business supplies gas and electricity to uk homes co operative energy . the co operative energy had a historic reputation for sourcing a significant percentage of its electricity supply from renewable sources 68 % in 2014 but more recent data from 2015 indicates that this has been cut substantially and in 2015 just over 4 % of their electricity was supplied by renewable sources over three times less than the national average . in addition the company s use of coal in its electricity supply significantly increased now being over a third of its total supply . in addition the business ran into criticism from customers in 2015 after a failed it upgrade to its online customer service and billing system caused numerous problems and a large backlog in dealing with issues . 7 in the first quarter of 2015 it was the fourth most complained about utility company measured in complaints per thousand customers . 2 in subsequent quarters it became the second worst and then the worst company . 4 co operative flexible benefits edit co operative flexible benefits turned over 28m in 2013 14 providing childcare voucher and cycle to work schemes . they currently service over 970 employers . post office edit the midcounties co operative operates 74 post offices employing 293 colleagues remaining the fourth largest multiple operator of post offices in the uk . citation needed former businesses edit motorworld also known as the co operative motors was a co operative car dealership . its franchises included volkswagen audi volvo mitsubishi mazda and hyundai . the midcounties co operative intended it to be the most socially responsible car dealership in the uk but sold it off in january 2010 at a loss of 2.4 million . 8 9 membership edit membership is open to all with members receiving a share of the profits in the form of dividend . when members join they are required to invest a minimum of 1 which entitles them to a share in the business . the scheme is run in conjunction with the co operative group membership allowing a midcounties card to be used at businesses operated by other participating societies . the membership card allows members to collect points either by spending in stores or attending events . points are converted to vouchers twice yearly usually in may and november . the vouchers can be spent in any of the midcounties co operative s trading outlets paid into the member s share account or donated to charity . values and responsible trading edit the midcounties co operative has four values on which the business is run consisting of democracy openness equality and social responsibility . these values are dervied from the co operative movement s founding values . the society is run in a democratic way with its board of directors voted for by its members it aims to be open and honest with its colleagues and members strives to promote and embrace equality and is committed to helping its local communities through grant giving and volunteer work and it also aims to be more environmentally friendly . community work edit the midcounties co operative has a strong commitment to investing in the communities in which it trades through responsible trading local sourcing community projects and charitable work . to this end the co op invested 17.6 % of its 2013 2014 pre tax profits 1.8 m into the communities in which it trades . this figure is significantly higher than the average value for large uk co ops 6.9 % or other rival supermarkets 2.4 % . 5 in 2014 the society provided support for over 10 000 community groups and encouraged colleagues to volunteer over 23 500 hours to support local communities . 10 the co op supports 40 local foodbanks and in 2014 enabled 10 000 products to be donated from its food stores . fair tax edit the society firmly believes that community retailers should pay all taxes which are due and should not engage in aggressive artificial tax avoidance . in 2013 the society set out its tax charter and in 2014 the co op became one of the first businesses in the uk to be awarded the fair tax mark . this certification shows that the business is transparent about its tax affairs and does not engage in tax avoidance . environment edit energy consumption across the business is down by 10 % since 2009 and own brand packaging is down by 39 % since 2006 . the society recycles over 80 % of all waste 2014 with food waste being converted into renewable energy . all electricity used by the business comes from renewable sources . in contrast to this and the group s stated environmental values the co operative energy business run by the midcounties co operative purchases only 4 % of its electricity from renewable sources one of the lowest figures in the whole uk energy market . it also has a relatively large portion of coal within its main fuel mix . co operative development edit the co op provided 100 000 of support for co operative development though its co operative futures project . in 2014 83 co operatives were advised or supported by co operative futures and 17 new registrations of co operatives were completed . its total commitment to supporting the growth of co operatives in 2014 was 280 000 . 10 key achievements edit the society was ranked in the sunday times best big companies to work for in 2011 2012 2013 and 2014 . citation needed co operative energy received an award from independent consumer body which for consumer action . citation needed however in 2015 it was the most complained about energy firm in the uk for the period jul sep 2015 according to the official energy ombudsman . 4 11 this was related to problems with the company s billing system . the society was awarded platinum in the business in the community