Co-op to create 1,600 jobs as part of plans to open 100 new stores this year

The Co-op has announced pans to create around 1,600 jobs with the opening of 100 new food stores across the UK in 2018.

The community retailer will invest over £160m in new stores and makeovers for a further 150 of its outlets.

More than 20 new stores are set to open in London, and up to 18 stores are planned for Scotland, including stores in Glasgow; Edinburgh; Forres (Highlands) and Kilmacolm (Renfrewshire).

Rhayader (Powys) and Bryncoch (Neath) will be the first of ten new stores which are set to open in Wales.

Other new stores are lined up for Blackpool; Bristol; Chesterfield; Crewe; Leicester; Liverpool; Manchester; Nottingham; Plymouth; Southampton and York among other towns and cities.

Jo Whitfield, chief executive of Co-op Food, said: “The Co-op is positively responding to the changes occurring within this dynamic sector. Our Food business is going from strength to strength in what is clearly a challenging retail market.

“We have the ambition for our stores to be at the heart of local life, bringing communities together and offering our Members and customers great quality products when and where they need them.”

Stuart Hookins, Co-op’s director of portfolio and development, added: “The Co-op’s extensive acquisitions and refit programme is a fundamental part of our food strategy.

“Moving forward with a clear purpose and momentum, our expansion plans for 2018 will mean that the Co-op is on track to have opened at least 100 new stores in each of three consecutive years.

“With over one million new active Members joining us in the last year, we are always looking for new locations to get closer to where our Members and customers live and work and to meet their shopping needs conveniently. Our Members are also now telling us where they would like to see a new Co-op store opening to serve their community through our suggest-a-site website.”

The new stores will see the Co-op focus on offering a wide range of fresh, healthy foods, meal ideas and essentials, alongside increased ranges of own-brand and locally-sourced produce.

The Co-op has added around 1.3 million new Members since it re-launched its Membership proposition in September (2016), and now has around 4.6 million active Members UK-wide.

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