Co-op chair Lidbetter to fast track Lord Myners’ reforms April 15, 2014 THREE Co-op Group directors are working on implementing Lord Myners’ reforms as fast as possible, City A.M. understands, hitting back at the non-execs who have campaigned against the changes. Group chair Ursula Lidbetter has publicly backed Myners’ bid to streamline the ungainly democratic structure. But others, led by Midcounties Co-operative boss Ben Reid, have opposed [...]
Unite union says Co-op needs to reform to thrive April 14, 2014 TRADITIONALISTS at the Co-operative were under fire from workers yesterday, as Unite the Union backed major reforms to the mutual’s governance structure. The business has stood still while rival firms have modernised, the union said in a letter, leaving the Co-op vulnerable. Lord Myners is leading a review of the Co-op’s historic democratic structure. He [...]
Co-op Group braced for new round of losses April 14, 2014 THE CO-OPERATIVE Group is set to follow its bank into multi-billion pound losses when it reports its finances later this week. The troubled retail, pharmacy and funerals group is expected to have lost up to £2.5bn in the last year, during which it has lost its chief executive, Euan Sutherland, who quit over a row [...]
Co-op Bank: No profit this year or next as chief apologises to customers April 11, 2014 Co-op Bank has, as expected, reported that it made a £1.3bn pre-tax loss last year. The struggling lender also says it doesn’t expect to make a profit this year or next. Payouts to former executives who quit having been linked to the collapse of the bank will be cut by £5m, it added, and chief [...]
Osborne caught in new round of Co-op chaos April 10, 2014 AN INFLUENTIAL MP yesterday attacked George Osborne for failing to explain his team’s involvement in the Co-op Bank’s disastrous efforts to buy 632 Lloyds branches. The chairman of the Treasury Committee wants to know how and when any pressure could have been put on the banks by Osborne through his contact with key figures involved [...]
Co-op in turmoil as Myners quits April 9, 2014 THE CO-OPERATIVE Group was plunged into fresh chaos last night after the man tasked with saving the troubled organisation quit the group. Lord Myners, a former City minister, is set to resign his post as senior independent director just four months after he was appointed to lead an overhaul of the company’s bloated structure. It [...]
The Co-operative Group strikes deal to turn 54 pubs into shops April 7, 2014 THE CO-OPERATIVE Group has signed a deal to open 54 convenience stores on sites formerly occupied by Marston’s pubs. Property group NewRiver Retail, which bought 200 pubs in total from Marston’s last year for £90m, will lease the sites to the Co-op over the two years through a phased development programme. The deal will create [...]
Flowers: Chancellor wanted a Co-op deal March 25, 2014 DISGRACED former chairman of the Co-operative Bank Paul Flowers has accused the chancellor of being the driving force behind a deal which ultimately exposed the bank’s dire financial situation. In an explosive interview on the BBC’s Newsnight programme, Flowers told Jeremy Paxman that he came under “considerable” pressure from the government to complete a successful [...]
Co-op could cut off ailing bank March 24, 2014 THE CO-OP Group could sever its 143-year ties with its bank, after the scandal-hit lender yesterday revealed another £400m gap in its finances. Losses have now ballooned to £1.3bn for 2013, after bad loans came in even higher than expected and as its PPI mis-selling compensation bill keeps mounting, the bank said. It is asking [...]
Co-op Bank says it needs a further £400m March 24, 2014 The beleagured Co-op Bank has announced something of a combshell this morning: it needs to find another £400m of capital to cover unexpected costs and charges relating to misconduct and poor documentation. The lender's management has uncovered the costs, which come predominantly from compensation for PPI misselling, poor customer treatment relating to mortgages and breaching [...]