In an email to members, Group Chief Executive, Phil Ponsonby, has announced “Following a full strategic review of its Food Retail Business, Co-op Midcounties identified a small number of stores which in their current format do not fit with the long-term strategy of the Society. This includes the Thame store.”
The board have approved an offer to sell the site to new owners.
The Society is looking for an alternative site for food retailing in the town and intends to re-locate travel and funeral care within the town centre or surrounding areas.
Last week the Co-op Group co-signed a letter from 1,000 organisations calling on chancellor Rishi Sunak to make sure that social enterprises and co-ops are given a helping hand to kick-start the national recovery from the Covid-19 crisis.
The letter from community businesses, social enterprises and co-ops warns that a lack of action is putting tens of thousands of social businesses at risk – posing a grave threat to the economy.
It says that one million jobs, 200,000 of which are in the poorest communities, could be lost over the next two months, with research showing that half the social sector could run out of money by June without further action. At the moment, they are falling through the cracks in the government Covid-19 support schemes.
