[1]Co-op: new old logo
Members of the Co-op are set to receive money back if they use the group’s legal services arm.
As the Co-operative Group looks to recover from the reputational damage of recent times, it has unveiled its new logo – returning to the familiar design first used in the 1960s – and revised its membership offer.
This will see give members receive an “automatic 5% personal reward” back on purchases of its own brand products and services, with a further 1% reward going into supporting local community groups and charities.
The proposals will be piloted with Co-op staff before rolling out across the UK in the autumn.
Matt Howells, managing director of Co-operative Legal Services (CLS), said: “This is an extremely exciting time for Co-op Legal Services. The new member benefits will further signify a better way of doing business for our members.
“Not only will Co-op members receive a 5% reward on a range of our legal services including wills, trusts, lasting powers of attorney and fixed-fee family services, a further 1% will benefit local causes in their communities.”
The Co-op said the new logo is intended to highlight the group’s heritage, “while providing a fresh identity to signal the changes to its membership”. It continued: “The moves underline the Co-op’s commitment to return to the heart of the communities it serves across the UK with its outlets working to establish themselves as community hubs.”
CLS returned to profit last year, although turnover continued to fall, its annual results revealed in April [2].
Though turnover – which reached a high of £33m in 2012 – was down a further 14% to £18m, CLS turned a £5m loss into a £700,000 profit in 2015 “following work to reduce costs in 2014”.
It attributed the turnover figure to “personal injury volumes continuing to normalise and as we shaped and refined the business back to core service propositions”, while investment in digital technology limited profits.
Staff numbers were up 5% to 355, excluding the 100 staff added by the acquisition of wills, trust and probate company Collective Legal Solutions.