Its work with community groups across Swindon has earned The Midcounties Co-operative, the UK’s largest independent co-operative society, a coveted 5-star rating in Business in the Community’s Corporate Responsibility (CR) Index.
The society, whose businesses in Swindon span food, childcare, healthcare, travel, funerals and energy businesses, gained the status after investing more than £11m and 26,000 hours of volunteering in communities across its operating region. 
It follows the introduction of The Midcounties Co-operative’s Regional Communities Strategy in which staff work in partnership with their local communities to identify challenges and make improvements through sustainable and long-lasting staff and member involvement.
The Midcounties Co-operative, which employs more than 9,000 staff, ploughed £1.2m back into the community last year and has raised £1.4m for charity partners over the past eight years. A commitment of more than 26,000 staff volunteering hours and an impressive reduction in both waste and energy usage, were also praised by the judges.
To mark the achievement, staff from across The Midcounties Co-operative have been cementing their commitment to working responsibly by focusing on a drive to collect 5,000 food bank items for families in need.
The 2016 CR Index has been published as part of Responsible Business Week – an annual campaign to inspire more businesses to create a positive change in society. As part of the week’s celebrations, the Society has also been reaccredited in the Responsible Business Awards for its commitment to Community and Sustainability.
The Midcounties Co-operative leadership team ambassador in Swindon, Mark Ashby, said: “Supporting our local communities is at the heart of everything we do as a society and so this achievement is one we are extremely proud of.
“We’ve worked hard to give the Swindon community significant time and investment to understand how we can help to make a genuine impact on their lives that we can all be proud of, and we’ll continue to work with our customers, members and colleagues in the area to create a better, fairer world.”
Business in the Community chief executive Stephen Howard said: “Genuine responsible business starts in the engine room of companies. It’s about how companies translate their values into behaviour and decision making, create the right culture and drive societal and economic value in the process.
“The CR Index helps companies take an in depth look at their business from the inside out and it’s encouraging to see companies increasingly integrated responsible business into business at all levels. This year’s Index also reinforces the opportunity companies have to think much longer term to address pressing issues such as climate change. I congratulate The Midcounties Co-operative for achieving its ranking and look forward to working together to create a fairer society and a more sustainable future.”
