Major investment of over £134,000 by Central England Co-op brings a brand-new look to Norfolk food store

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

A Central England Co-op shop in the Norfolk village of Mulbarton has been transformed with an investment of over £134,000 giving a boost to the local community.

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

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

• New product ranges to suit shoppers’ tastes      
• Fantastic new food to go section with features such as brand-new Costa Coffee and Tango Ice Blast machines, as well as a new hot food unit and Rollover hot dogs
• Refreshed signage and decoration inside
• New bicycle repair station to support local cyclists

Store Manager Jamie Twell said: “It’s been nice to see the investment in our store – the team are loving the new wood-effect decoration and the brighter, more modern look and feel.

“We’re really pleased with the great new ranges and the new features we can now offer, especially the new hot food range and the enhanced food to go section, as well as the bike repair station outside for the local community.

“We’ve had a really, really great reaction from the local community to the new style and they’ve been excited to see the finished product. 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 Mulbarton Food Store is open Monday to Saturday 7am-10pm 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 lifesaving defibrillator, cash machine, customer toilet, Lottery, Collect Plus/Paypoint, an instore bakery and a customer car park.

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