Co-op not paying a dividend this year.

I never bought much from the Co-op and find they are not competetive with their prices. Anyway, I booked a Holiday last January at their Travel Agents , over £800,00 for two weeks. I shopped there a few times through the year and was looking forward to a nice divi. Received a letter this morning, they are not paying a dividend because they havn't made a profit,!!!!!

THAT IS REALLY BAD!

Badboy wrote:THAT IS REALLY BAD!

If they can't pay a dividend because they never made a profit, you watch Badboy, Members will leave intheir droves. Most Supermarkets offer cut price deals now and I found the Co-op more expensive than most. Watch what happens in the Press on monday if big investors are not going to get a dividend either.

I used to live opposite a Somerfield, COULD THAT SHUT DOWN?

In this area, a local freebie paper arrives on a Thursday and there's always leaflets inside for the Co-op and ASDA and recently Morrison's since there is a new store opened here. The leaflets list the latest weekly offers. For the Co-op you've got to be quick because they never seem to have much stock of the things they have advertised in their leaflet. If I fancy any of the offers, I try to get there on Thursday evening because by Friday morning, the offers that are supposed to be available for a whole week have often sold out.

Badboy wrote:I used to live opposite a Somerfield, COULD THAT SHUT DOWN?

I thought the Co-op bought out Somerfield Badboy, The Co-op Brancg near me definitely was Somerfield.

Panda wrote:

Badboy wrote:I used to live opposite a Somerfield, COULD THAT SHUT DOWN?

I thought the Co-op bought out Somerfield Badboy, The Co-op Brancg near me definitely was Somerfield.

EXACTLY MY UNDERSTANDING THAT THE COOP BROUGHT SOMERFIELD,WONDER WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO SHOPS IF COOP DOESN'T MAKE A PROFIT.

AnnaEsse wrote:In this area, a local freebie paper arrives on a Thursday and there's always leaflets inside for the Co-op and ASDA and recently Morrison's since there is a new store opened here. The leaflets list the latest weekly offers. For the Co-op you've got to be quick because they never seem to have much stock of the things they have advertised in their leaflet. If I fancy any of the offers, I try to get there on Thursday evening because by Friday morning, the offers that are supposed to be available for a whole week have often sold out.

I like Iceland, they are very cheap and good quality. I was in the Co-op the other day as it happens, thinking I was topping up my divi and there was a special offer, Meal for 2. Lasagne with new potatoes 2 individual apple pies and a Bottle of South African Wine.......really nice . !! I think the Co-op made a big mistake going into Banking., shame.

By Hayley Dixon The Telegraph

10:50AM GMT 17 Nov 2013





The former chairman of the Co-operative Bank has been using illegal drugs including crystal meth, crack cocaine and ketamine, it has been alleged.


Reverend Paul Flowers is said to have been filmed buying illegal substances just days after he gave evidence to the Treasury Select Committee on how the bank lost £700 million and came close to collapse when whilst he was at the helm.


He has apologised for his behaviour, partly blaming the “pressures” of his job with the bank.


A film appears to show the Methodist minister, who was resigned as chairman of the Co-op Bank in June, in his car discussing the cocaine and crystal meth he wants to buy from a dealer in Leeds.


In the footage, obtained by the Mail on Sunday, he then counts out £300 and hands it to an unseen friend to go and purchase the drugs.


Related Articles
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17 Nov 2013
Rev Flowers’ ignorance says it all
06 Nov 2013
Politicians 'wanted Co-op Bank to grow'
06 Nov 2013


But as the man gets out of the car the man believed to be Rev Flowers, 63, asks what else they want, questioning “Ket? No”

When told they cannot get hold of ketamine, a Class C tranquilliser, he replies: “Don’t worry, we will cope with what we have got.”

In a statement released through his church, Rev Flowers, who lost his mother Muriel a year ago, said: ""This year has been incredibly difficult, with a death in the family and the pressures of my role with the Cooperative Bank.

"At the lowest point in this terrible period, I did things that were stupid and wrong. I am sorry for this, and I am seeking professional help, and apologise to all I have hurt or failed by my actions."

After the claims about the use of drugs in the days surrounding his appearance in front of MPs on November 6, members of the committee said he should be recalled.

The video was filmed by Stuart Davies, who met Rev Flowers through gay dating site Grindr in October and who said that he was “disgusted by his hypocrisy”.

In a series of text messages between the pair Rev Flowers is said to have written: “I was "grilled" by the Treasury Select Committee yesterday and afterwards came to Manchester to get wasted with friends.”

He also claims to use cannabis and club drug GHB, it is reported, and in one message he is said to have boasted that his plans for a party were “turning into a two day, drug fuelled gay orgy!!!”

On the day he was scheduled to first appear before the Commons committee, but did not appear because of time constraints, he is said to have texted that he was “snorting some good stuff”.

The minister, a former Bradford councillor, once chaired drugs charity Lifeline.

Mr Davies, 26, said he decided to film Mr Flowers' after being shocked by his double standards.

He heard him “bragging” about his connections in Parliament and his 40 years in the church, he said, adding: “He seemed to be using his status to get young men off their heads for sex.”

Mr Davies alleged that at a party Rev Flowers was making “fat lines” of cocaine on a metal tray, taking GHB and ketamine, and smoking cannabis.

He said that Rev Flowers was telling them how he had been at the Commons the day before for the aborted meeting.

Mr Davies said: “He took great delight in telling us how he had put one over on them – "Tory c****" he called them – because they'd wanted him back the next day but he had told them where to go.

“We asked him about how he kept his drug taking secret and he laughed and said that a Labour MP had passed him in the corridors and said, "Have you got a touch of the old Colombian flu?" He laughed.”

The Methodist Church has suspended Rev Flowers while they investigate the allegation. A spokesperson said: ""We expect high standards of our ministers and we have procedures in place for when ministers fail to meet those standards.

"Paul is suspended from duties for a period of three weeks, pending investigations, and will not be available to carry out any ministerial work. We will also work with the police if they feel a crime has been committed."

A spokesman for the Co-operative Bank said: “We can make no comment on these allegations which are of a personal nature and being made against a former board member.”

West Yorkshire Police said that no one was available on a Sunday to confirm whether or not they were looking into the allegations

Its in the Mirror today as well.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/paul-flowers-crystal-meth-crack-2803420

Now we know where the profit has gone.....up his nose.

Co-op Group Chair Quits Amid Flowers Scandal
The chairman of the Co-op Group Len Wardle resigns as the behaviour of former bank chair Paul Flowers is investigated.9:11am UK, Tuesday 19 November 2013 Co-op downgraded by Moody's
Co-op Bank's finances have been stretched by its merger with Britannia



Email
Len Wardle, chair of the Co-operative Group, has resigned after "serious questions" were raised by the scandal over its former banking chairman Paul Flowers.

Mr Wardle had announced last month that he planned to step down amid the wider financial crisis at the bank but would now quit with immediate effect.

Reverend Flowers, who has already apologised for doing things that were "stupid and wrong" - but without elaborating - has been suspended from the Methodist Church and by the Labour Party after being filmed allegedly trying to buy illegal drugs in a newspaper sting.

Len Wardle. Pic: Cooperative Group
Len Wardle joined the Co-op's board in 2002
The claims, which are the subject of a police inquiry, exacerbated pressure on Britain's biggest mutual which is under pressure to explain the background to the bank's financial difficulties - largely a result of its merger with Britannia in 2009.

Mr Wardle said in a statement: "The recent revelations about the behaviour of Paul Flowers, the former Chair of The Co-operative Bank, have raised a number of serious questions for both the Bank and the Group.

"I led the Board that appointed Paul Flowers to lead the Bank Board and under those circumstances I feel that it is right that I step down now, ahead of my planned retirement in May next year.

"I have already made it clear that I believe the time is right for real change in our operations and our governance and the Board recently started a detailed review of our democracy.

"I hope that the Group now takes the chance to put in place a new democratic structure so we can modernise in the interests of all our members."

The Co-op confirmed Mr Wardle would be replaced by Ursula Lidbetter, currently Group deputy chair and chief executive of the Lincolnshire Co-operative Society.

His decision was announced hours after The Co-op Group launched a fact-finding probe and a root-and-branch review of its structure after "serious and wide-ranging" allegations about Reverend Flowers, who resigned in June after three years as chair of the banking arm after a £1.5bn black hole was discovered in its finances.

The Group statement on Monday said: "Given the serious and wide-ranging nature of recent allegations, the new executive management team has started a fact-finding process to look into any inappropriate behaviour at the Co-operative Group or the Co-operative Bank and to take action as necessary.

"In addition, the board of the Co-operative Group has launched a root and branch review of the democratic structure of the organisation.

"We need to modernise to ensure that the interests of all our seven million members are properly and directly represented in the oversight of our business activities."

While announcing Mr Wardle's decision to quit, the Co-op said on Tuesday that Ms Lidbetter would chair the Group through the governance review, which will include consideration of how the Board is constituted and chaired.

More follows...

""I led the Board that appointed Paul Flowers to lead the Bank Board and under those circumstances I feel that it is right that I step down now, ahead of my planned retirement in May next year."


What, he couldn't hang on for another 6 months? More skeletons in the cupboard I suspect. What is it about Banks that they are so corrupt?? In the short time that the Co-op went into banking the result is that the Co-op will never be regarded as squeaky clean again.

Panda wrote:""I led the Board that appointed Paul Flowers to lead the Bank Board and under those circumstances I feel that it is right that I step down now, ahead of my planned retirement in May next year."


What, he couldn't hang on for another 6 months? More skeletons in the cupboard I suspect. What is it about Banks that they are so corrupt?? In the short time that the Co-op went into banking  the result is that the Co-op will never be regarded as squeaky clean again.

Panda, the Co-op has been in banking for quite a long time. I've had my account with them for about 20 years. I choose them because of their ethical stand: they aim not to invest in things like armaments.

AnnaEsse wrote:

Panda wrote:""I led the Board that appointed Paul Flowers to lead the Bank Board and under those circumstances I feel that it is right that I step down now, ahead of my planned retirement in May next year."


What, he couldn't hang on for another 6 months? More skeletons in the cupboard I suspect. What is it about Banks that they are so corrupt?? In the short time that the Co-op went into banking  the result is that the Co-op will never be regarded as squeaky clean again.

Panda, the Co-op has been in banking for quite a long time. I've had my account with them for about 20 years. I choose them because of their ethical stand: they aim not to invest in things like armaments.  

Is it that the Co-op only recently went public AnnaEsse? Flowers was appointed just over a year ago , bad choice obviously , such a shame that their record of honesty and history is gone, who is going to be a Member if they are not paying dividends?

Thanks AnnaEsse, how the hell did they get in such a mess then???Was it because they issued shares , it is the shareholders now who may be taking over the Bank. Because they are not paying a dividend this year shoppers will go to cheaper stores, the Co-op is not as cheap as several, but customers knew they would get a dividend so it was a form of saving for them.

HE WAS USING CO-OP EMAIL TO CONTACT MALE ESCORT:shy:                              

Badboy wrote:HE WAS USING CO-OP  EMAIL TO CONTACT MALE ESCORT:shy:                              

Seems yet again the Government knew something!!!!! Parliament can't get much lower ....and they want us to vote for them??

By Peter Dominiczak and James Kirkup

8:56PM GMT 20 Nov 2013





An independent inquiry has been ordered into how the Rev Paul Flowers was appointed chairman of a major British bank, amid allegations that the Labour Party covered up concerns about the drug-taking Methodist minister’s conduct.


David Cameron accused Ed Miliband on Wednesday of failing to disclose doubts about Mr Flowers before he was appointed to lead the Co-operative Bank, which has close links to the Labour Party.


Mr Flowers, a senior Labour figure, was a member of Mr Miliband’s business advisory group despite a string of serious allegations about his behaviour while serving as a councillor.


Downing Street now wants a full investigation into how Mr Flowers, who was filmed buying class-A drugs, came to lead a major financial organisation.


Amid growing questions over Mr Miliband’s links to Mr Flowers, the Prime Minister yesterday told the Commons that Labour “knew” about the Methodist minister’s past but did “nothing” to raise concerns with the authorities

Ian Wardle Chief Executive of Lifeline , the Charity Rev Fowler robbed of £75,000 is just being interviewed by Sky Hews, Eamon
Holmes who asked why the Charity did not take action when Fowler joined Lloyds Bank said the Charity approached a Solicitor and QC about this and were advised not to say anything.!!!!!

Flowers acted as Advisor to Ed Milliband, the plot thickens,

It looks as if Flowers has done a runner, he can't be found and is thought to have fled to Thailand.

What a b***dy shambles.!!!!! If lifeline was too timid to expose the fraud when Flowers was made Chairman of the Co-op, surely Board Members must have noticed his lack of ability ??? Maybe some even knew about his past and did nothing.

I got a mailing from the Co-op today. All members will get 10% off shopping between now and end of December. Every time we shop with our membership cards, we'll get a voucher for 10% off next time. Vouchers can be saved and used all at once up to December 24th.