The Co-operative Commission 2000

The Co-operative Commission was an independent commission established in February 2000, with the support of the Prime Minister at the time, Tony Blair, and was officially announced of 24 Feb that year.

It was called into existence in response to two events: the impending merger of the Co-operative Wholesale Society and the Co-operative Retail Society in Apr 2000, and the threat of demutualisation of the co-operative societies (particularly the Co-operative Wholesale Society due to its size and value of its assets). The merger gave the Consumer Co-operative Movement the chance to assess how it can conduct business to be a more successful united front whilst maintaining its co-operative ethos. Demutualisation could thus be avoided by building stronger more unified co-operative society. The Commission was brought in to research and recommend ways in which this could be implemented, and "modernise" the Consumer Co-operative Movement, recommend co-operative business practices to the societies (particularly the new Co-operative Group), and establish the Consumer Co-operative Movement as successful and strong.

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