Lighting the way with LED installations

Posted by nathan lloyd | Published: 25/08/2016

Central England Co-operative is leading the way in sustainable practices as it announces the installation of LED lighting in another 118 of its food stores.

As part of the Society’s corporate responsibility strategy, the business has embarked on a decisive journey to tackle sustainability across all of its business operations. In 2015, Central England Co-operative was awarded the Carbon Trust’s internationally recognised environmental certifications for reducing organisational water use, carbon and waste outputs and for engaging with the supply chain on sustainability, making it the fourth organisation worldwide – and the first in the retail sector – to achieve all four Carbon Trust Standards. 

The latest venture involves installing LED lighting in 118 food stores over the next twelve months, as part of Central England Co-operatives continued environmental commitments.

The sector is seeing more companies tackling their environmental footprint as they embrace the benefits sustainable practices have on the environmental and commercial outlook. Central England Co-operatives LED lighting programme will reduce the Society’s carbon footprint by around 3.4% over the next two years and will save  enough electricity to power 1600 homes a year, saving approximately £725,690 per year at the 118 food stores.

During the LED lighting initiative, customers have been informed through targeted messaging both in store and on social media using the hashtag #mycoopideas.

Luke Olly, Energy Efficiency Lead at Central England Co-operative, said:

“As a responsible business, we are committed to minimising our impact on the environment. Our activities across all of the business operations have made considerable positive environmental impacts, by becoming a signatory of the Courtauld 2025 agreement to commit to reducing food waste by 20% by 2025, installing glass doors to chiller cabinets as part of our new store and refurbishment programme and more recently installing LED lighting in 118 food stores.

“We are dedicated to making a real difference and being environmentally responsible plays an important part in our Society’s overall success.”

Notes to editors

About Central England Co-operative
Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK. It is a modern, forward-looking organisation employing over 8,000 staff, with projected gross sales of £958million for 2016/17. The Society recently celebrated being named Leading Co-operative of the Year 2016 by Co-operatives UK. The Society’s principal areas of activity are food, funeral services, and property. Central England Co-operative has more than 430 trading outlets across 16 counties including; West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.  The Society has an ambitious food store development programme for 2016/17.

Central England Co-operative is proud of its reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.  It is a member of Business in the Community, the membership organisation that stands for responsible business, and has also won many business awards for excellence.  The Society supports a number of charities including Newlife Foundation for Disabled Children and invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities.

For more information visit www.centralengland.coop, follow Central England Co-operative on Twitter: @mycoopfood, and on Facebook: facebook.com/centralenglandcooperative

Rob Smyth / Jo Baldock at Central England Co-operative on 01543 414140
Email –publicrelations@centralengland.coop