Major investment in Derbyshire food store unveiled including zero-waste refill station and free space for local community

Posted by james brindle | Published: 16/11/2021

A Central England Co-op in Littleover which has been transformed following hundreds of thousands of pounds of investment has unveiled its brand-new look.

The food store in Burton Road has been completely refreshed over the last two years including the opening of a hugely popular Insomnia Coffee Shop last summer.

The final phase of the work has now been completed with £177,000 invested, with changes to the food store including:

• A zero-waste refill station in partnership with fellow Co-op Suma Wholefoods, offering products such as oats, porridge, rice and dried fruit as part of long-term efforts to cut down on plastic packaging and waste
• Fantastic new food to go section, including a brand-new Insomnia Coffee machine, as well as Tango Ice Blast, F’real milkshake and Rollover machines. There is also free water refills, a make your own fresh orange juice machine and much more
• New self-checkout tills installed
• Refreshed signage and decoration inside

Additionally, a further investment of over £50,000 has been made to create brand new community space at the rear of the store’s Insomnia Coffee Shop.

Central England Co-op Vice-President Elaine Dean joined Store Manager Tony Wills to cut the ribbon on the community room, which will be used for member gatherings and classes but will also be free to use for local community groups and organisations.

Store Manager Tony Wills said: “We are all really thrilled to have had this investment. The additional ranges have really got people excited and the food to go offer is absolutely brilliant.

“The customer feedback already has been really positive, and it is great to have everything completed and to have such an exciting, transformed store for our local community.

“The whole project has been a real success – the addition of the Insomnia Coffee Shop last year has been huge and has been really welcomed by customers and members.

“We are delighted to also now offer space on site for our member groups and which is also free to use for the local community to hold meetings and events, as we truly become a community hub for Littleover.”

Any local groups or organisations interested in using the new community space can book via the Insomnia Coffee Shop team.

The Burton Road Food Store is open Monday-Saturday 7am-9pm and Sunday 10am-4pm. The store has a wide range of products from everyday necessities to something a little more special and also offers a free water refill station, cash machine, Lottery, Collect Plus/Paypoint, an instore bakery and a customer car park. It also offers a home delivery service with shopping delivered via an eco-friendly electric van.

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.

Central England Co-op was named Leading Co-op of the Year by Co-operatives UK in 2021.

Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle

Phone - 01543 421390

Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop