The Co-operative Does The Double At Retail Week Supply Chain Awards
Released on: September 19, 2011, 4:45 pm
Author:
Kieran Howlett
Industry:
Retail
The Co-operative Group has won the prestigious Supply Chain
Project of the Year and the Grand Prix accolade at the first ever
Retail Week Supply Chain Awards.
The Group won the Supply Chain Project of the Year Award, the biggest of the night,
for the integration of Somerfield’s supply chain and the transformation of Lea Green
distribution centre in St Helens. This award was shared with technology partner
Manhattan Associates whose supply chain optimisation solutions played a key enabling
role in the project.
However, the real success story of the night was the Group walking away with Grand
Prix Award. This special award, which is not open to general entry but is conferred
by the event's organisers, was awarded by the judges who felt the Group had
achieved a significant amount of change to the organisation, while also delivering a
massive benefit to the enlarged Food shops business.
The Co-operative’s Supply Chain and Information Systems teams worked together to
deliver the integration of the two organisations’ supply chains, which included a
number of tactical solutions, such as including more fairtrade food and
transport optimisation that has resulted in the significant reduction in
transportation costs and has also removed more than 5,800 tonnes of CO2 per annum.
Mark Hale, the Group’s Director of Food Retail Information Systems, said: “These
awards are recognition of all the fantastic people we have in our business and the
hard work they put in to transform our supply chain for the benefit of our stores
and customers."
More than 400 of the UK’s top retailers attended the inaugural industry event held
at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London, which was hosted by comedian
Russell Kane.
Trevor Ashworth, the Group’s Director of Food Retail Supply Chain, added:“This is a great collective achievement for both the Group and our partners within
our supply chain. We’ve delivered a fantastic result, which was a major milestone in
our integration plan for the Somerfield business, which also delivered huge business
benefits.”
The Co-operative worked closely with a number of key partners, including Manhattan
Associates, BT, Zetes and IBM, to successfully deliver the integration programme
without impacting availability in its stores.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The Co-operative Group is the UK’s largest mutual business, owned not by private
shareholders but by almost six million consumers. It is the UK’s fifth biggest food
retailer, the leading convenience store operator and a major financial services
provider, operating The Co-operative Bank, Britannia and The Co-operative Insurance.
Among its other businesses are the number one funeral services provider and
Britain’s largest farming operation. As well as having clear financial and
operational objectives, the Group has also set out its social and sustainability
goals in its groundbreaking Ethical Plan, which specifies almost 50 commitments in
these areas.
The Group operates over 5,000 retail trading outlets, employs more than 110,000
people and has an annual turnover of £13.7bn. Further information is available at www.co-operative.coop. http://www.co-operative.coop/food/
Contact Information:
Kieran Howlett
Senior Public Relations Officer
The Co-operative Group
Tel: 0161 266 3592
Mob: 07739 657 585
kieran.howlett@co-operative.coop
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