Leicester Central England Co-op store receives makeover following £67,000 investment

Posted by james brindle | Published: 02/08/2021

A community food store in Leicester where colleagues have been going above and beyond to support locals during these uncertain times has been given a fresh new look following an investment of £67,000.

The Central England Co-op in Narborough Road has received a raft of updates to give it a fresher, lighter feel and to include several new ranges and features to boost its offering to the local community.

This follows the store’s colleagues working around the clock to ensure people in the community it has served through the Coronavirus pandemic have continued to have access to vital food and essentials.

The community food store has been undergoing a makeover in recent weeks with changes including:

• An updated product range to better reflect customers’ requirements including an improved food to go section
• New internal signage and decoration

Store Manager Sam Clarke said: “Through the pandemic it has been lovely to be able to be there to support our community and we have had great feedback from them that we have been a safe environment so it’s great to say thank you by having this investment in the store and in the community.

“It is a great boost for the team as well as we have had to develop a new team through the pandemic so it is exciting for them to be part of a new-look store.

“The feedback to the changes so far has been really positive from our customers, and I would like to thank the community for their patience while the work has been completed but I hope they agree with us that it has been worth it.”

The Narborough Road Food Store is open Monday-Sunday 7am-10pm. The store has a wide range of products from everyday necessities to something a little more special and also offers a lifesaving defibrillator, Collect Plus/Paypoint, Lottery, instore bakery and a free cash machine.

Notes to editors

About Central England Co-operative

Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral and property investment.

Owned by hundreds of thousands of members, its over 7,800 colleagues serve customers across 400 plus trading sites in 16 counties in the East and West Midlands, Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.

Its purpose is to inspire communities to create a sustainable Society for all.

It actively campaigns for the Government to increase sentencing for violent attacks on retail workers and works with FareShare Midlands and hundreds of food banks, generating enough food donations to create over 2.1 million meals for people in need.

The Society embraces inclusivity and equality and is a signed-up member to the Business in the Community (BITC) Race at Work Charter, while it is also fully committed to addressing the impact of climate change and is on track to be Carbon Neutral by 2030. 

It invests a percentage of its trading profit into local communities through its Community Dividend Fund scheme which has seen over £175,000 shared out between 116 good causes over the past 12 months.

Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle

Phone - 01543 421390

Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop