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Phil Ponsonby
Midcounties Coop
Phil took up the role of CEO for one of the UK’s largest independent Co-operative Societies, The Midcounties Co-operative, in August 2018 having originally joined to run its food retail business in 2015. Prior to joining The Midcounties Co-op, Phil was at the Southern Co-operative, where he was Chief Operating Officer for seven years.
These roles are part of a career spanning 40 years across the UK’s co-operative movement. Notable early achievements included being appointed as a multi-site Area Manager at the age of 22 and running one of the UK’s top 10 largest retail Hypermarkets for three years.
Phil has supported national co-operative projects including the development of the UK wide logistics infrastructure serving over 4,000 stores and was one of a small team that worked on the development of the Federal Retail Trading Services (FRTS) entity and specifically the Buying Services Agreement which binds the relationship of the UK retail societies for product buying, marketing and logistics.
He is Vice Chair (People and Culture) of the Association of Convenience Stores and a Director of the FRTS.
About Midcounties Coop
The Midcounties Co-operative is a consumer co-operative owned and controlled by its 750,000 members and can trace its roots back to Swindon Co-op formed in 1853. The Society operates a broad portfolio of trading businesses including Food Retail, Travel Agencies, Nursery/Pre-school and Utility partnerships on behalf of its members, and has a purpose stating that “through the power of co-operation, we’re building a fairer, more sustainable and ethical future”. Their elected Board work collaboratively with colleagues to make a sustainable difference to the communities in which they trade. Midcounties are also a proud and well-established part of the global co-operative movement, including being an independent member of Coops UK, Coops Europe and of the ICA itself.
(www.midcounties.coop)