Midcounties shortlisted for TOP.COOP award

The Midcounties Co-operative has been shortlisted for the TOP.COOP Awards, to be held at the International Summit of Cooperatives.

The only UK co-op shortlisted for the awards, Midcounties is one of the seven finalists in the mobilisation and involvement category. The society was nominated for its Team Midcounties Accreditation initiative, which educated colleagues about the its co-operative values and principles, and how to demonstrate them in everyday activity. The scheme, launched in June 2013, also aims to raise awareness of the business’s performance targets.

Midcounties is the largest independent co-operative society in the UK, with more than 507,000 members and 598 sites – all of which achieved the accreditation by the time the initiative ended in January 2014

Each accredited site was presented with a plaque and window clings showing their membership of the accreditation programme.

Pete Westall, group general manager for co-operative social responsibility at Midcounties, said: “We are driven by an ambition to ensure that all our colleagues understand the co-operative difference and the values and principles that are at the heart of any successful co-operative business.

“We worked closely with colleagues across our trading groups to help them understand what it means to be truly co-operative and to drive our business forward. To be the only UK co-operative shortlisted is a fantastic achievement, and testament to the hard work of all 598 of our sites to become successfully accredited and take pride in being part of a leading co-operative.”

The TOP.COOP awards were set up to honour and raise the profile of enterprises that showcase their co-operative or mutualist position through innovative ad campaigns and communication strategies.

Also shortlisted in this category are the Alliance of Agricultural Co-operatives of France (Alliance des Coopératives Agricoles), Cooperar of Argentina, La Coop Fédére of Canada, Ontario Co-operative Association of Canada, Singapore National Co-operative Federation and Summit Credit Union of USA.

The winners of the inaugural edition of TOP.COOP will be unveiled at the Summit’s awards ceremony on 7 October in Québec.