Our heritage
A history of sticking together
It all started in Rochdale 1844…
The modern co-operative movement had humble beginnings. A group of 28 weavers – the ‘Rochdale Pioneers' – joined together to create a local store to avoid exploitation by unscrupulous shopkeepers.
Their ambition was not just to provide goods, but also to improve the lives of the community through education and investment in the local area.
Other groups followed suit and co-operative businesses began to spring up across the north of England, then throughout the country.
You can find out more about The Co-operative Movement.
In 1867 the Co-operative Insurance Society was formed
Originally it was created as an insurance company for the co-operative societies but the business developed a broader customer base with a wider portfolio of insurance services and a reputation for social responsibility.
For years it was known as CIS, until more recently becoming The Co-operative Insurance.
The Co-operative Bank was founded in 1872
The bank had similar origins to the Co-operative Insurance Society – offering banking services to the existing co-operative societies.
As the bank grew, it took on a different role, making close connections with local communities and making banking available to more and more people.
The bank and The Co-operative Insurance have always had many natural connections and the two businesses were brought even closer together in 2002 when The Co-operative Financial Services was launched, encouraging a stronger working relationship.
Today, we're closer than ever to the co-operative movement
In July 2007 The Co-operative Group and United Co-operatives become one organisation, known as The Co-operative, the world's largest consumer co-operative.
We, The Co-operative Bank and The Co-operative Insurance, are part of this. The Co-operative comprises of seven businesses: food, bank, insurance, travel, pharmacy, funeralcare and legal services.
We all share the same values and aims and we're also about to adopt the same visual look – bringing us even closer together. Read more about how we're building a bigger, stronger, brighter future.
Throughout our values have remained constant
As a co-operative business, a sense of fairness comes as second nature to us. We're run for the benefit of our customers so we operate democratically, giving them the opportunity to have an equal say.
Other values such as, self-responsibility, solidarity and encouraging self-help amongst members and local communities, can be seen in our Community activities.
Membership to The Co-operative is open to everyone and gives you not only a share in the profits, but access to exclusive benefits and a say in how the business is run. Find out more.
In more recent years we've pioneered a new form of ethical finance
The Bank's Ethical Policy was created in 1992, whilst The Co-operative Insurance created it's own Ethical Engagement Policy in 2005.
Both of these are unique in allowing our customer's ethical concerns to play a central role in guiding our business.
More than any other single aspect of the business, our ethical policies explain why we're good with money.
