Major investment of £166,000 by Central England Co-op brings a brand-new look to Derby food store

Posted by james brindle | Published: 30/11/2021

A Central England Co-op shop in Oakwood, Derby, has been transformed with an investment of £166,000 giving a boost to the local community.

The food store in Smalley Drive has received a makeover to give it a lighter, fresher feel and includes some exciting new features and ranges for locals to enjoy.

This follows other notable investments in the area in recent months, including over £750,000 spent on transformations of stores in Littleover, Duffield, Inkersall, Overseal, Holme Hall and Horsley Woodhouse.

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

• New product ranges to suit shoppers’ tastes      
• Improved food to go section with new features such as a brand-new Tango Ice Blast machine
• Refreshed signage and decoration inside
• New outdoor seating area for locals to enjoy

Store Manager Luke Davies said: “The investment in the store has been a massive boost for us and it’s a really exciting time for colleagues. We’re quite a new team and this improvement to the store has been really beneficial.

“Most importantly the transformation has provided a big boost to our great local community here and we’ve had nothing but positive feedback from our regular customers and members who have said how much warmer and brighter the store feels as it was a bit dark before, so the changes have really improved the feel of the store.

“I would like to thank them for their continued support and for their patience while we brought our new look store to life, and I hope they agree with us that it’s been worth it.”

The Smalley Drive Food Store is open Monday to 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, cash machine, Lottery, Collect Plus/Paypoint, an instore bakery and a customer car park.

The store also now offers a home delivery service with shopping delivered via an eco-friendly electric van and click and collect.

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