The Co-operative Group - Former Businesses

Former Businesses

Syncro was the rebranded engineering and building services business of the Co-operative Group, based in Salford. Syncro was sold in 2006.

Associated Co-operative Creameries (ACC) was the group's milk processing and distribution division. ACC handled logistics of the retail business but this responsibility was transferred to Co-operative Retail Logistics before it was sold to Dairy Farmers of Britain, a farmers co-operative, on 10 August 2004.

The group withdrew from the department store business after many years of increasing losses, with several stores being acquired by the Anglia Regional Co-operative Society, and the remainder closed. Many shops had been in poor locations and had suffered from under-investment. Initially, two stores were to be retained in Perth and Tunbridge Wells to trial of a new style of department store but were closed in 2006.

Shoefayre, established in 1959, as Society Shoes was co-owned by several co-operative societies and became owned and managed by the Co-operative Group. In 2006, it reported operating losses of £6 million and in 2007 was sold to Shoe Zone.