The death has been announced of Geoff Whiteley, Editor of Co-operative News from 1986 until his retirement in 1999.
Mr Whiteley, who was 78 and had been in poor health for some time, died at his home in Oldham just before Christmas. His funeral will be held on Monday January 14th and full details can be obtained by emailing [email protected]
During his editorship, Co-op News — then published weekly — established a deserved reputation as the voice of the UK Co-op Movement and Mr Whiteley was noted for his hard-hitting reports and comments on all aspects of co-operative retailing.
Current News Managing Editor Dave Bowman, who worked alongside Mr Whiteley as Deputy Editor for two years, recalled: “Geoff was an outstanding journalist and a lovely man, who saw it as his role and duty to expose bad management practices whenever and wherever they occurred.
“Geoff will probably be best remembered for his in-depth coverage of the abortive bid by entrepreneur Andrew Regan to take over CWS (now known as the Co-operative Group) in the early part of 1997.
“Thankfully, the attempt to demutualise CWS was thwarted and Geoff played a major role in warning the Movement to guard against carpet-baggers.”
Prior to joining the News as Editor in 1986, Mr Whiteley was Industrial Correspondent for the Guardian newspaper and also worked before that for the Manchester Evening News and Oldham Chronicle.
Mr Whiteley’s wife, Gilda, died in 1997 but he is survived by his sons, Jon and Graham and his granddaughter, Ellie.
Condolences go to all Mr Whiteley’s family and friends.
In this article
Join the Conversation