Co-op Group opens a convenience store at Microsoft UK headquarters

The Co-op Group has tied up with one of the world’s biggest technology companies to open a convenience store in the UK home of Microsoft.

This is the first time Microsoft has opened its head office campus to another business – and also a first for the Group to open a store in another business’ headquarters.

The new Reading store represents an investment of over £1m and the creation of 22 new jobs.

It will serve 5,000 employees and offer a range of chilled beers, wines and champagnes, snacks and food to go, bakery, ready meals, meat, frozen food, pizza, flowers and daily essentials. There are seven cashless self-service tills and two staffed tills in operation.

“We’re delighted to partner with Microsoft on this new store, which we hope will be the first of many partnerships with external organisations,” said Steve Murrells, retail chief executive at the Group.

“This is a state-of-the-art store, and moving forward will be used to pilot future innovations for Co-op Food stores. I can’t think of a better partner to make technological advances in retail with than Microsoft.”

The outlet features a ‘pick and collect’ service where Microsoft employees can buy items, which will be stored in chillers. It is anticipated that basket sizes will be larger than average as staff buy food for that evening and the week ahead.

Cindy Rose, UK CEO at Microsoft, said: “All of our staff are very excited about having such an impressive new Co-op store in our Reading offices.

“The Co-op has a long history of being a pioneer in retail innovation and we continue to be excited about partnering with them as they bring transformational new retail technologies to their customers.”

Co-operative Food is the UK’s fifth biggest food retailer, with over 2,800 stores across the country.