In late 2025, the Department for Business and Trade invited the mutual sector to prepare bold plans for growth. On the back of this, Co-operatives UK developed its Policy Plan for Co-operative Growth, which sets out how government and the co-op sector can work together to double the number of co-operatives within a decade, achieve at least £20bn GVA by 2035, and ensure geographically and socially inclusive co-operative development. It identifies five areas where co-operatives can deliver the greatest economic and social impact – from the food system and public services to housing, community ownership and infrastructure.
“Co-operatives UK highlighted the opportunities and challenges for consumer retail co-ops in response to the Department for Business and Trade’s call for evidence, and identified consumer retail co-ops as a potential source of co-operative growth and impact,” said Co-operatives UK policy lead, James Wright. “Athough there have been some delays, we are also ensuring the Law Commission review of society law fully considers the needs of consumer co-ops … we are encouraging the government to create the conditions and the momentum that would enable the business representatives in this room to do more than they can now.”
Wright was speaking at a policy update session held at Co-operatives UK’s Co-op Retail Conference in Glasgow, where he and policy officer Tom Laing led a discussion on future policy asks around issues such as business rates and cyber security.
Delegates also debated ongoing tensions in the Middle East and the potential impacts of rising energy costs – and whether Co-operatives UK should consider making a representation to the government on behalf of the sector if the situation continues.
“There are so many unknowns,” one delegate said. “How big do the question marks get? How long the situation goes on will amplify any impacts on our businesses and our members.”
Discussions highlighted that while short-term Impacts on fuel prices and travel were concerning, the greater challenge came from the medium and long term, with risks to consumer confidence, organisational debt linked to interest rates and impacts on food cost and security – particularly taking into account energy inputs into agriculture.
There is also the issue of ethics: In 2022, UK co-ops withdrew Russian vodka from stores, as a sign of solidarity with Ukraine following the Russian invasion. What would the co-operative policy response be to Russian oil?
While a number of societies have purchased hedged energy, there were also operational buffers in those societies which produced their own energy, although some cited over-complicated planning challenges, particularly when it came to installing PV solar panels, which could be addressed through policy.
“We need to both reduce the energy we use and provide more ourselves,” added another delegate, “while making the case for community and co-operatively owned energy – we also need to empower other co-ops to participate in the Local Power Plan.”
Related: Boost for community energy as UK government launches £1bn power plan
Business rates were also discussed: in Scotland, where the conference was hosted, there is a system of relief for retailers in more remote areas. It was agreed that a similar system would benefit rural areas elsewhere in the UK, but that a wholesale reform of business rates was needed.
The purpose of business rates isn’t defined, said one delegate, and there needs to be more of a level playing field between online retail, physical retail, and the location of physical retail, while also protecting critical remote services. There was wide support for scrapping the current system and designing a different policy based on, for example, turnover of sales, which then wouldn’t require the complex rates relief system, which already undermines policies to tempt consumers back to high streets.
A rethink would also address the dual issues of inconsistency and unpredictability: “At the moment you can’t budget your business until November because the rates are so inconsistent,” said one participant, adding that while there have been attempts to impose rates on large warehouses – such as those used by online retailers – this has unintended consequence for high street retailers such as co-ops, which are hit twice as as they also have large warehouse sites.
On cybersecurity, it was agreed that cyber resilience needs to be mapped alongside operational resilience and business continuity. Delegates heard how several co-operative societies have recently set up a Co-operative Cyber Alliance to share challenges and intelligence, led by Longwall Security, which provides services to OurCoop and other UK retailers.
“We found that during the recent cyber attack [on the Co-op Group], information was not being shared, and there were parts that were being found from the news that were coming out before they were being made public,” said Longwall Security managing director, Mat Cornish.
Policy solutions could include removing some of the red tape that hinders the ability to share information in a timely manner.
“One issue is that nobody actually knows who their suppliers are, and they don’t know what the business risk is of that supplier,” he added. “For example, when we say to a retailer, ok, we need to turn off that supplier, they don’t know what the business impact is or what would happen if you turned off that link.”
Find all our coverage of the 2026 Co-op Retail Conference here.
