Channel Islands Co-op’s growth continues

AT the Channel Islands Co-op&#039s annual general meeting, President June Le Feuvre announced another year of continued growth with sales exceeding &#163 90 million.
Even with the new accounting procedures for recording travel income only, rather than agency sales, on a like-for-like basis, turnover increased 9.6 per cent, considerable increasing market share.
Major developments and refurbishments had improved the society&#039s retailing operations. The three major developments were:-
? St Martins Grand Marché; a new food store concept now open in Guernsey. The store is double the size of the previous one and now the island&#039s flagship store.
? St Peters En Route in Jersey; the old filling station has been transformed into a new five-pump station, with a 1,500 sq ft convenience store which includes a coffee stop and a state-of-the-art car wash.
? Guernsey Homemaker; a major transformation has brought the out-of-town Homemaker store up to a very high standard.
The society&#039s net assets continued to grow and now stood at almost &#163 50 million, an increase of 6.13 per cent on last year with surplus transferred to reserves totalling &#163 1,351 million.
Dividend of four per cent was again proposed and unanimously accepted, and it was announced that the total return to Jersey and Guernsey members in Dividend, Double Dividend and Share Interest amounted to &#163 4,406,000, a real benefit to the 91,628 members, a number which had increased by 2,133 during the year. However, the community also benefited through the continuing community involvement including the `Penny Back` scheme to encourage the re-use of plastic carrier bags, which saw donations to the two local hospices of &#163 5,736. In another very successful initiative, the `Sports equipment for Schools` in conjunction with the Society&#039s Total Sport outlet, involved 22 schools being supplied with over &#163 15,000 of sports equipment.
Chief Executive, Allan Smith, commented: `The progress the Society has been making in recent years, fuelled by a development programme totalling some &#163 38.686 million over the last five years, has placed us in a very strong position to continue growth and increase market share in coming years.