Any one over the age of 16, who shops with us and resides in the UK can become a member. Member’s share in our success, receiving a share of profits, and help shape our social goals agenda. For example, in 2007, over 100,000 members had their say on our Food Ethical Policy, which covers areas as diverse as animal welfare, ethical trading and the environment. In keeping with member’s priorities, at the launch of the Policy, we banned the sale of eggs from caged hens, converted our own-brand hot beverages to Fairtrade, and added a further 66 pesticides to our prohibited list.

 

Over at The Co-operative Bank, our unique, customer-driven Ethical Policy dates back to 1992. The Policy stipulates what types of businesses the bank will, and will not, finance. As a result of the Policy, we have turned away over £900 million of loans to businesses that conflicted with our customers’ ethical concerns on issues such as oppressive regimes and fossil fuel extraction.

When it comes to the environment, we believe that we are one of the world’s leading businesses in the fight to tackle climate change. This is about more than just sourcing 99% of our electricity from renewable sources – it’s about wind turbines on our farm land; considering the impact of the products we sell; and mobilising our customers and members. As well as managing our own impact, we believe it’s crucial to educate the next generation on environmental issues.

 

So, we’ve invested £2 million to help make schools greener, through supplying free solar panels and other renewable energy solutions. We also invite Key Stage 2 pupils to our Manchester recycling centre (the largest in the UK), where they can visit our Waste Works education facility to see recycling in action. Over at the windfarm we have built on our farmland in Coldham, children take part in a range of hands-on renewable energy activities as part of the energy education programme. Another of our community projects sees us assisting schools to set up ‘Walking Buses’ – groups of children who walk to school together, accompanied by adult volunteers. Our From Farm to Fork scheme invites children to our farms to get good and muddy finding out where their food comes from. To add to the fun, children are taught a healthy recipe, using fresh food, so they can see how easy it is to cook from scratch.

Our commitment to the community extends beyond the UK. We believe in helping people to trade their way out of poverty: back in 1992 we were the first major retailer to champion Fairtrade, and through our food stores, we now sell more Fairtrade grocery product lines than any other supermarket. The Co-operative Bank has created a £25m fund to support microfinance, the provision of financial services to the working poor, in order to support the development of small businesses in the world’s poorest countries.

It is as a result of this work (and more), that we were awarded the Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the Sustainable Development category in 2007and, in 2008, consumers voted us the ‘most ethical brand in Britain’. This is a title that comes with a lot of responsibility, but it’s one that we are confident we will continue to live up to.