Co-op polls public on its future

[Michael Browne]

After banking scandal, the Co-op wants to sound out the public on the dividends and whether it should continue to make political donations.

 

The Co-operative Group has launched a wide-ranging poll about its future, including whether it should keep making political donations of up to £1m.

 

In what is thought to be the first survey of its kind, the group is also asking the public for its views on the dividend paid to its members and on what it can do to help local communities following a series of scandals inside its banking arm.

 

 

Euan Sutherland, chief executive of the Co-op group since May, when the problems at the bank were uncovered, wants the survey to help restore the organisation's standing as the UK's biggest mutual. "In recent years, the Co-operative has lost touch with its customers and members and with the communities in which it operates," he warned. "We haven't been listening. As a new management team, we are focusing on reviewing the Co-operative, and the UK public will be vital to that process."

 

Describing the survey as unprecedented, he added: "If we are to successfully serve the communities in which we operate, to become as relevant today as we were in the past, we need to hear directly from the communities and the people we serve. We have seen incredible loyalty from our customers, colleagues and members in recent months – and we want to reward loyalty."

 

 

The survey closes on 24 March and the results will be announced at the annual general meeting in May, and published online.

 

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