Co Operative Massive Debts

[emmie]

this is quite astonishing, had no idea they had their fingers in so many pies

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/coop-group-to-sell-farms-ahead-of-2bn-loss-9153806.html

[factor-fiction]

I'd take the size of the losses with a pinch of salt. The Chief Exec has been there less than a year and gave dire profit warnings last year. It's a bit like when a new government comes in- they always say "blimey, things are far worse than we thought" and make the early figures look as bad as possible. Then in a year or so the figures will suddenly look much better and the chief exec/government will takemost of the credit

[emmie]

not so sure about that, the job losses alone will be thousands.

[FredPuli43]

Sell it for building? Obviously good news if they can sell even a few acres for building. Current price for building land is upwards of £1 million an acre.

[modeller]

What do you expect ? It's run on sound Labour principles .

[Zeuhl]

^
Yes - unlike other great successes such as Somerfield, MFI and Woolworth's

Perhaps modeller can explain how the retail division has performed so well, the funeral and pharmacy businesses have always been so successful and even the travel business has weathered the downturn better than most in the sector?


My concern over them losing their own farms is that they have led the way in animal welfare and food quality issues.

That was helped by them testing, developing and proving the practicality of such things on their own farms.

[emmie]

Woolworths were their worse own enemy, had they modernised, upgraded all their stores, and not borrowed an inordinate amount of money, forget the reason why they did, they could well have survived, now their place has been largely taken by the likes of Wilkinsons and pound stores. I lament the passing of Woolies, but they could have kept going. I believe you can buy stuff online from them, not sure if the store that was a success is still going, the young woman who worked there took it over, but i hope it is.

[Gromit]

Most of the Cooperative Groups problems stem from the terrible decission of its banking group to buy The Britannia Building Society.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/10052605/How-Britannia-merger-sowed-seeds-of-Co-ops-woes.html

They in effect bought a load of bad loans that have crippled the group ever since. That was a turning point in their fortunes.

[emmie]

i know, and the company i worked did the same, bought companies that were ailing, probably because they were cheap, in relative terms, but they came unstuck, because the only part of the business that worked well was ours in the UK, the rest were just bystanders, who sucked the life out of the core business, my job went, as did thousands of others eventually