At a time when most UK large retailers are shrinking their store portfolios, except for German Supermarkets owners Aldi and Lidl, the Co-op has announced a large expansion project for 2017 that will see it open 100 stores and employ 1,500 staff to man them. They have dedicated £70 million to opening more convenience stores, based mainly around food sales, the same level of new stores as they opened in 2016.

Initially London and the South will see the opening of the early 2017 Coop branches, with the programme rolling Northwards as the year progresses.

Most of their recent financial woes have been caused by the banking arm of the Coop Group where staff have been reduced significantly in 2016. The whole group has had to be restructured as they narrowly avoided a full collapse three years ago, thanks to a £1.5 billion hole in the accounts. They have sold most of their interest in the banking arm and this expansion has been part of a three-year plan to focus less on the financial side and much more on food and they are comfortable with the progress of it to date.