New Co-op team ‘falls at 1st hurdle’

THE UK’s biggest independent Cooperative has accused the Co-op Group of undermining its ‘core democratic values and principles’.

In a letter to new chairman Allan Leighton, the president of the Midcounties Co-operative criticised the new management for not giving members a ‘credible choice’ over the election of directors to its new-look board.

The broadside reflects the challenge faced by Leighton and his team in winning over the old guard of the Co-op as he tries to make the accident-prone business more professional.

The focus of the row is the decision by the former Royal Mail and Asda boss, who took the helm in February, to reject three of the six candidates for the board elected by members.

Ruth FitzJohn, the director of the Midcounties Co-operative, said it had only backed plans to create a more professional board on the basis that there would be contested elections.

She described it as ‘deeply disappointing’ that three ‘credible members’ were removed from the list of candidates and that there are now just three nominees for three positions on the board.

Arguing the Co-op’s new management had ‘fallen at the first hurdle’ in delivering more democracy and a more competent board, she said: ‘My board’s position is that this undermines the core democratic values and principles that lie at the heart of the what it means to be a co-operative, which is why the issue is causing such disquiet both among Midcounties Directors and the Group’s membership.’

As part of a major transformation, the Co-op is putting together a smaller, more professional board to avoid the major financial blunders of the recent past that drove it to the brink.

Members will vote on a series of changes – including whether to approve the new look board – at its annual general meeting on May 16.

Co-op Group said: ‘Candidates had to meet strict selection criteria, demonstrating clear commercial acumen as well as a strong affinity with the co-operative model.’