The information on this page comes from the UK Activity Report.
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Co-operative Group Co-operative Group is looking to dispose of 126 local stores, in order to gain approval from the Office of Fair Trading for the £1.6bn acquisition of Somerfield. 21-Oct-2008 Co-operative Group is considering plans to open mini-banks in up to 125 food stores, with the creation of 250 jobs, depending on the success of a £2.5m trial. 28-Aug-2008 Co-operative Group is to acquire Somerfield, the Bristol-based chain of 880 supermarkets, for £1.6bn, and up to 120 stores are expected to be sold on to other retailers. 17-Jul-2008 Co-operative Travel Management has acquired Parador Travel Management, the London-based travel services firm, creating a nationwide network of 16 offices. 12-Jun-2008 Co-operative Group is to invest £1.5bn in the transformation of its estate of more than 4,300 retail outlets over the next three years, in order to create a single unified brand. 21-Apr-2008 Co-operative Group has acquired six Bells and Jacksons convenience stores in the North East, and will convert them to its new format. 31-Mar-2008 The Co-op is to close its three department stores in Sheffield and a warehouse in Halfway, with the loss of 130 jobs. 15-Jan-2008 Co-operative Group is to build a new £12m 270,000 sq ft distribution centre in Birtley, Tyne & Wear, by 2009, and 274 staff will transfer from two existing sites in Birtley and Blaydon. 08-Jan-2008 Co-operative Group has acquired seven Spar forecourt stores in Cleveland and North Yorkshire from QMP, taking its total forecourt chain to 85. 12-Dec-2007 Co-operative Group has acquired PCT Healthcare, the Chesterfield-based chain of 52 pharmacies with 400 staff. 05-Dec-2007 Co-operative Group is seeking a suitable site for a new 200,000 sq ft headquarters in Manchester, in order to relocate 3,000 staff from existing offices on Corporation Street. 30-Oct-2007 Co-operative Group is planning to invest £200m in the modernisation of its stores next year, and 200 more convenience stores will open by the end of 2009. 15-Oct-2007 Co-operative Group is considering plans to set up a new distribution centre on the M62 corridor between Warrington and Brighouse, casting doubt over the future of 370 jobs at existing depots in Talke and Eccleshall. 13-Sep-2007 Co-operative Group has sold its Shoefayre chain of shoe stores to Shoe Zone for undisclosed terms. 11-Sep-2007 Co-operative Group is to sell off eight food stores in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire and Northumberland, in order to win regulatory approval for its merger with United Co-operatives. 15-Aug-2007 Co-operative Group is to invest £20m in the development of a prescription drugs manufacturing plant in Tianjin, China, in a joint venture with Tasly Group that will give it greater control over its supply chain. 06-Aug-2007 Co-operative Group of Manchester and United Co-operatives of Rochdale have agreed terms for a merger to create the world's largest consumer co-operative with annual sales of more than £9bn. 19-Feb-2007 Co-operative Group is to acquire 21 pharmacies from Alliance Boots, including branches in County Durham, Northumberland, Devon, Somerset and East Anglia, taking its total chain to 454. 15-Jan-2007 Co-operative Group is in merger discussions with United Co-operatives, which would create a combined group with 86,000 staff and 2,300 food stores. 12-Dec-2006 Co-operative Group is aiming to become a significant generator of renewable energy over the next three years, developing a number of wind farm schemes that will provide electricity to the National Grid. 10-Jul-2006 Co-operative Group has acquired 30 Gordon Davis pharmacies in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and ten Raygale Chemists in the north-east, taking its total network to 429 branches. 05-Jul-2006 Co-operative Group is to sell seven department stores in Blyth, Bishop Auckland, Skegness, Berwick, Hoddesdon, Leighton Buzzard and Mansfield to Anglia Regional Co-operative Society. 03-Jul-2006 Co-operative Group Pharmacy is planning to open about 40 stores this year, taking its total pharmacy chain to more than 400. 05-May-2006 Co-operative Group is to set up a new Co-operative Legal Services business in Bristol, with the creation of 150 jobs over the next five years. 25-Apr-2006 Co-operative Group is to invest £23m refurbishing its convenience store chain, and £37m will be spent on new equipment. 24-Apr-2006 Co-operative Group has acquired an 86% stake in Fairways, the chain of 49 funeral parlours in East Anglia, London, Hampshire and Worcestershire with 225 staff, for £11m. 31-Mar-2006 Co-operative Group is looking to open a further 24 HomeStore outlets, and is seeking suitable 30,000 sq ft sites on retail parks. 06-Mar-2006 Co-operative Group has sold its department store in Abington Street, Northampton, to sports goods retailer Sportsworld for undisclosed terms. 01-Mar-2006 Co-operative Group has sold Syncro, its engineering division with 400 staff in Salford, Manchester, Gateshead, Paisley and Bristol, to Aston Ventures for undisclosed terms. 01-Mar-2006 Co-operative Group Pharmacy has acquired the Duran Drive-Thru pharmacies in Norton Canes and West Bromwich for undisclosed terms. 13-Feb-2006 Co-operative Group is to close ten department stores in February, including seven in Scotland, with the loss of 141 jobs, and a buyer is being sought for the remaining 26. 17-Oct-2005 Co-operative Group is to close the Alldays retail distribution centre in Eastleigh next month with the loss of 30 of the 194 jobs, and the remaining staff will transfer to Fareham. 12-Sep-2005 Co-operative Group is looking to sell off 100 underperforming stores, with most of them being former Alldays and Balfour sites. 15-Aug-2005 Co-operative Group is to shed 600 jobs at its headquarters in Manchester, in order to save £50m a year. 27-May-2005 Co-operative Group is to shed 59 jobs at its distribution centre in Birtley and 137 jobs at its centre in Nottingham, due to the development of a new site in Coventry. 14-Apr-2005 Co-operative Group is to close the Townville Bakery in Castleford in May, with the loss of almost 100 jobs. 14-Apr-2005 Co-op is to build a new regional distribution centre in West Thurrock, with the relocation of up to 550 staff from two existing sites in Gillingham and Swanley. 31-Jan-2005 Co-operative Group has acquired Howard & Palmer, the Swansea-based pharmacy chain with 174 staff and 30 branches. 18-Oct-2004 Co-operative Group is to invest £8m in the development of a 300,000 sq ft distribution centre in Coventry by next June. 04-Oct-2004 Co-operative Group has awarded a multi-million pound contract to Manhattan Associates to overhaul its supply chain systems. 13-Sep-2004 Co-operative Group Pharmacy has acquired five stores in Norfolk from Typharm for undisclosed terms. 31-May-2004 Co-operative Group is to acquire Conveco, the Bristol-based chain of 64 convenience stores with more than 900 staff, for an estimated £25m. 11-May-2004 Co-operative Group is said to considering plans to sell off its ACC liquid milk processing and manufacturing division, which includes the Llandyrnog Creamery in Denbigh. 08-Apr-2004 Co-operative Group is to sell off its 2,330 dairy cows and shed up to 48 jobs at farms in Cheshire, Shropshire, Ayrshire and Leicestershire, in order to focus on arable, fruit and vegetable farming. 04-Nov-2003 Co-operative Group is to invest £18m in its travel business, including the expansion of its branch network, refurbishments, new technology and acquisitions. 03-Nov-2003 Co-operative Group has acquired the Balfour chain of 76 convenience stores and 35 newsagents from 3i for £30m, and will spend £16m converting them to its Welcome format. 01-Jul-2003 Co-operative Group is planning to acquire the Norpak chilled and frozen foods distribution business in Staffordshire from United Co-operatives for undisclosed terms. 06-May-2003 Co-operative Group is planning to refit 160 Alldays convenience stores this year, and is also looking at the possibility of establishing a common retail distribution centre with other co-operative societies. 10-Apr-2003 Co-operative Group is considering plans to shed up to 100 of the 300 jobs at the Eastleigh head office of its recently-acquired Alldays convenience store business. 24-Feb-2003 Co-operative Group is planning to merge its five travel operations to create the Co-operative Travel Trading Group, which will include 600 outlets and seven national call centres. 24-Feb-2003 Co-operative Group is planning to close the Alldays distribution centre in Dundee, with the loss of up to 85 jobs. 10-Feb-2003 Co-operative Group has acquired the Alldays chain of 600 convenience stores for £131m, and will soon announce plans for a major refurbishment programme. 29-Oct-2002 Co-operative Group has acquired GT Smith, the West Yorkshire-based chain of 13 stores, and will invest £4.2m converting the sites into its Market Town and Welcome formats. 27-May-2002 Co-operative Group has acquired the Williams Family Foodstores chain, and will convert the seven east Yorkshire sites to the Welcome and Market Town formats. 22-Apr-2002 Co-operative Group is to combine its insurance and banking operations into a new financial services division, in order to cross-sell more services to customers. 19-Apr-2002 Co-operative Group is to invest £20m on refits and local stores in Scotland over the next year. 21-Jan-2002 Co-operative Group is launching a new £100m building services group called Syncro, which will employ 600 people and combine the activities of CWS Engineering, CWS Scales and CWS Energy. 22-Mar-2001 More from the Retailing sector Related pages: Marks & Spencer Tesco Tesco Stoke-on-Trent City Council Carphone Warehouse Co-operative Group website: www.co-op.co.uk The information on this page comes from the UK Activity Report. 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