Shareholders

Who?
Co-operative Financial Services (CFS) is an Industrial and Provident society and the holding company for The Co-operative Bank and Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS). Whilst the bank has approximately 2,500 preference shareholders who receive a half-yearly fixed dividend, CFS' sole equity shareholder is the Co-operative Group.i The group is the largest consumer co-operative in the UK, with sales of £8 billion in 2003. The group employs over 75,000 people and trades with millions of customers across the UK every day through shops, department stores, travel agents, banking, insurance, funeral homes and farms.

What?
Issues of co-operation, ethics and sustainability are of real concern to the Co-operative Group, as detailed in its Corporate Responsibility Report 2003. The group's vision is to be the world's most successful consumer co-operative business. It has the following aims:

• to strive for world class levels of business performance;
• to be open, responsible and rewarding, putting co-operative values and principles into everyday practice;
• to enhance the lives of its people, members, customers and the communities where it trades;
• to work for the long-term success of the co-operative sector.

Where?
In line with the Co-operative Group's aims, CFS reports on the following:
Business performance - A summary of CIS' and the bank's financial performance is provided here.
Open, honest and rewarding - External ratings of CIS' and the bank's 'warts and all' sustainability reporting are described here, whilst customer satisfaction across a range of products and services is described here.
Delivering value to Partners - The degree to which CFS enhances the lives of staff is described here. Support for local communities is described here.
Co-operative support - Support for the Co-operative movement is detailed here.

i www.co-op.co.uk
(This link will open in a new window)