The Co-op Group has announced a £350m lending agreement with six major banks: HSBC UK, Barclays, ING, Lloyds, NatWest and fellow co-operative, Netherlands-based Rabobank.
It says the deal reflects strong market confidence in its resilience and performance, and follows a series of financial successes. In April, the Group reported a 35% increase in underlying operating profit, and returning “back to the black” for profit before tax for the first time since 2020. These achievements were powered by a renewed focus on member-ownership, it adds, where member numbers grew by 22% to to 6.2 million across the year.
The Group’s credit rating was upgraded by Standard & Poor’s in late 2024. The Group also renewed and extended its backstop undrawn revolving credit facility by five years, and says the new agreement is a continuation of its “strengthening financial picture”.
It added: “This represents a well-funded position with strong partners to 2030. The deal is a key step on Co-op’s journey to sustainable, profitable growth with much-improved borrowing rates directly tied to ambitious sustainability and social impact targets.”
The Group’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) commitments centre on achieving Net Zero by 2030, with the banking facilities linked to a goal to have 79% of suppliers adhering to the Science Based Targets initiative, reducing approximately 650 tonnes of food waste annually across its operations, and promoting diversity by aligning management representation of women and ethnic minorities with ONS UK population data.
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It claims the banking agreement “incentivises measurable progress on these goals, demonstrating how commercial success and social impact go hand-in-hand”.
“This funding arrangement is a powerful endorsement of strength – the renewed financial strength of our Co-op, the strength of our mutual model and the strength of the shared voice of our members,” said chief financial officer Rachel Izzard. “I’m proud to be building on our existing strong relationships with our banking partners, as well as partnering with new lenders, such as HSBC UK and a fellow co-operative in Rabobank for the first time.
“By weaving our social value commitments into our funding strategies, we’re able to invest in our Co-op while holding ourselves accountable to our members and their priorities. A heartfelt thank you to all our partner banks for making this possible.”
Rabobank MD Renée Marais said: “We are delighted to support the Co-operative Group with this new facility. It is a particular privilege, given our shared status, focus on food and agriculture and aligned values, to join the banking group during the UN’s International Year of Co-operatives.”
Robert King, head of commercial banking sustainability at HSBC UK, said: “This transaction re-affirms the Co-operative Group’s commitment to sustainability. We are proud to be involved in this transaction and to support the Co-op’s journey to becoming a net zero business.”
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Francesca Mosca, head of corporate sector coverage UK at ING, said: “As a core lender to the Co-op Group, ING is proud to support their latest £350m sustainability-linked financing. This collaboration underscores our commitment to driving sustainable growth and we look forward to continuing our dialogue with Co-op as they advance their sustainability and social impact goals.”
Nioami Reddington, senior relationship director, NatWest, said: “NatWest is delighted to be able to support the Co-op in its most recent financing agreements, acting as facility agent and mandated lead arranger to its new sustainability linked £350m term loan. The Co-op is a highly valued and long-standing client of NatWest, whose values are closely aligned to our own.
“The Co-op continues to demonstrate strong trading results, a robust balance sheet, growing membership numbers and a resilient operating model. The new £350m term loan – alongside the existing £400m RCF – allows the Co-op to recalibrate its capital structure and to focus on developing its goals, ambitions and strategy. We look forward to continuing to collaborate with the Co-op as a key funding partner for the future.”
Fiona Parkes, relationship director at Barclays UK Corporate Banking, said: “We are delighted to continue supporting our longstanding client Co-op. This funding is an example of our commitment to facilitate $1tn of sustainable and transition financing globally by 2030. We’re proud to be backing UK businesses through our £22bn Prosperity Fund and look forward to helping more clients invest for growth in communities across the country.”
