The Co-op has unveiled a £130m investment programme including more store openings and more jobs.
The convenience grocery retailer intends to open around 50 more stores and extend other branches and will create around 1,000 new jobs.
The Co-op’s expansion came as convenience stores benefit from more local shopping following the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown.
The new jobs come on top of 1,000 temporary jobs that have been made permanent. The retailer employs around 55,000 people altogether.
As well as in-store roles, new positions are being created at the retailer’s online business – the Co-op fulfils from shops rather than central warehouses and distributes through Deliveroo.
New planned stores include 12 franchised branches, including on university campuses such as Oxford Brookes and Stirling.
The Co-op said 70% of adults have been shopping in c-stores recently, during the pandemic and its aftermath, and customers had on average visited their local shop three times a week.
Property managing director David Roberts said: “The Co-op works to operate at the heart of local life, making a difference in its communities.
“Multiple factors motivate consumers, with ease, choice and added services chief among them. We continually look for new locations, sites which are definitively convenient in their community.”
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