Southern Co-operative

Southern Co-op (originally Portsea Island Mutual Co-operative Society Ltd, now officially The Southern Co-operative Limited)[1] is a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. The principal activities of the Society are food retailing and funerals. It operates over 200 convenience stores and 50 funeral homes, covering the southern English counties of Berkshire, Bristol, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire. Southern Co-op society is owned by over 130,000 members who share in the business's profits and democratically control its operations. It was previously registered as an Industrial and Provident Society, but its status is now as a mutual society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014.[1]

The Southern Co-operative Limited

Southern Co-op's headquarters at the 1000 Lakeside office complex, Portsmouth
Type	Consumer Co-operative
Industry	Retail
Founded	1873
Headquarters	1000 Lakeside, North Harbour, Western Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire PO6 3FE
Area served	Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Sussex, Berkshire, Somerset, Surrey, Devon, Bristol, Kent and parts of Dorset and Wiltshire.
Key people	Mark Ralf, Chair Mark Smith, Chief Executive
Products	Grocer, Funeral director, Independent living
Revenue	£494 million (21/22)
Net income	£3.3 million
Members	138,748 (21/22)
Number of employees	4,336 (21/22)
Website	thesouthernco-operative.co.uk

The business of the Southern Co-op includes a natural burial ground in West Sussex, crematoria in Hampshire and Devon, Following the acquisition from Midcounties Co-op in November, they have now expanded into Buckinghamshire and opened funeral homes in High Wycombe, Hazelmere, Wendover and Aylesbury. This increased the total number of funeral homes to 62. as well as an online home shopping service, Co-operative Mobility. Additionally, the Co-op franchises 57 Welcome stores operated by 26 franchisees under the Welcome brand and has a franchise project with Starbucks which has 50 stores.

In the full year ending 30 January 2022, Southern Co-op recorded sales of £494m (£490.3m 2020/21) and a profit before tax of £3.3 million (£1.2m 2020/21). Society membership was 138,748 in 2021/22, up from 132,051 in 2020/21.[2]

29,323 new Members joined Southern Co-op during 2021-22 (5,996 in 2020-21)

During the year 478 accounts were closed upon request and 22,819 accounts forfeited in accordance with the Rules. 671 previously forfeited accounts were re-opened upon request by the Member. The forfeiture process is set out within Southern Co-op’s Rules and is an important process to ensure that the membership register remains as accurate as possible.