- Scotmid
-
Scotmid Co-operative 
Type Consumer co-operative Founded 1859 Headquarters Edinburgh, Scotland Area served Scotland, Northern Ireland, Northern England Key people - John Brodie, Chief Executive
- Hollis Smallman, President[1]
Industry Retail, Property, Funeral Services Revenue £378 million GBP (2008)[1] Operating income + £5.1 million (2008)[1] Net income + £3.5 million before distributions (2008)[1] Members 237,000 (2008)[2] Website scotmid.com The Scottish Midland Co-operative Society Limited, trading as Scotmid Co-operative, is an independent retail consumers' co-operative which originated in the Scottish Midlands, particularly Edinburgh and the Lothians. It was formed in 1981 by a merger of the Dalziel Society of Motherwell with the St. Cuthbert's Co-operative Society which had been established in 1859. With over 5,000 staff, the chain now has nearly 200 supermarkets and five perfume shops in Scotland, and over 140 Semichem health and beauty shops throughout Scotland and Northern Ireland, and parts of England[3]
Like most retail consumers' co-operatives in the UK, ScotMid is incorporated as an Industrial and Provident Society, regulated by the Financial Services Authority.[4]
Contents
History
According to Edinburgh City Council, the former co-operative building at the west end of Great Junction Street has a distinctive domed octagonal clock tower, forming a major landmark.[5]
In 1968, Leith Provident's[6] 1911 department store on Great Junction Street was still operating a then unusual overhead wire system that transported a customer's payment and dividend number from the sales assistant to the cashier, returning change and receipt.[7][8]
In 1995, Scotmid acquired the Scottish health and beauty retail chain Semi-Chem (since rebranded Semichem), followed in 1999 by the similar Northern Ireland business, Options.[9] Also in 1999, Scotmid merged with Prestonpans Co-operative Society.[10]
In 2000, Scotmid closed all 20 of its non-food department stores, which had made losses for five successive years.[11]
In 2003, Scotmid acquired Wakefield-based national distribution business, M & S Toiletries, which it sold in 2008 to Sert UK.[12][13]
In the early 21st century, Scotmid acquired several competing convenience stores in Scotland: Alldays, 64 SPAR stores and Morning, Noon & Night.
Scotmid added Dundas Fyfe funeral directors to its funeral operation. The head office moved from Fountainbridge, Edinburgh, where it had been since 1859, to a new purpose-built office near Newbridge.
The Fragrance House was founded by Scotmid in 2009. It specializes in perfume and by 2011 had five stores in Scotland with plans to expand to England and Northern Ireland.[14]
The Leith co-operative merged with St Cuthbert's in the 20th centuryMorning, Noon & Night
Morning Noon & Night was a Scottish convenience store chain set up in Dundee in 1991, by retailing executive Eddie Thompson (who became chairman of Dundee United F.C. in 2002.) It operated morning, noon and night.
In 2004, Thompson sold the company to Scotmid for £30 million.[15]
This allowed Scotmid to add the 50 Morning, Noon & Night stores to its portfolio letting it expand into areas of Scotland, such as the Highlands, where it didn't previously have any stores.[16]
Botterills Convenience Stores
Botterills Convenience Stores was a Scottish convenience store founded in Blantyre, South Lanarkshire in the 1950s by the Botterill family. Trading under the name of "Botterills of Blantyre" and latterly under the SPAR banner, it ranked 19th in The Grocers Top 50 independent grocery retailers.[17] Owner Jim Botterill sold his 51 stores to Scotmid in November 2010 for an undisclosed sum, enabling Scotmid to extend its territory south and west.[18]
References
- ^ a b c d "2008 Summary Report (for year ended 26 January 2008)" (PDF). http://www.scotmid.co.uk/depts/Corporate/downloads/SR2008.pdf.
- ^ "2008 Annual Report (for year ended 26 January 2008)" (PDF). http://www.scotmid.co.uk/depts/Corporate/downloads/AR2008.pdf.
- ^ "About Us". Scotmid. http://www.scotmid.com/au.php. Retrieved 5 Oct 2010.
- ^ Companies House Webcheck, Company No. SP2059RS, retrieved on May 10, 2008
- ^ "LEITH CONSERVATION AREA CHARACTER APPRAISAL" (PDF). Edinburgh City Council. 2002-04-18. pp. 46–47 (with photograph). http://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/internet/attachments/internet/environment/planning_and_buildings/built_heritage/caca/Leith_CACA.pdf. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ Leith Provident Co-operative Society was founded in 1878 and merged with St Cuthbert's in 1975 http://www2.co-operative.com:8080/Ext_1/ShHistory.ns4/$WebSharebook/Leith?OpenDocument
- ^ "Timeline". Leith Local History Society. http://www.leithlocalhistorysociety.org.uk/timeline_content.php. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "Sold on sales for bagging best bargains". Edinburgh Evening News via scotsman.com. 2007-12-29. http://www.scotsman.com/people/Sold-on-sales-for-bagging.3627575.jp. Retrieved 2008-06-23.
- ^ "History". Scotmid. http://www.scotmid.co.uk/depts/Corporate/au_history.php. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
- ^ "Prestonpans Co-operative Society Limited, number 97RS". Mutuals Public Register. FSA. http://mutuals.fsa.gov.uk/SocietyDetails.aspx?Number=97&Suffix=RS.
- ^ Bevens, Nick (June 21, 2000). "Jobs go as Scotmid axes non-food shops". Edinburgh Evening News: pp. B.1. http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-2003&res_dat=xri:pqil:res_ver=0.2&res_id=xri:newsuk&rft_id=xri:newsuk:newsart:55440695.
- ^ "M&S Toiletries History". Scotmid. http://www.scotmid.co.uk/holding_pages/MST/history.php.
- ^ "M & S Toiletries Sold to Sert UK". Scotmid. http://www.scotmid.co.uk/depts/Corporate/news.php?articleID=103.
- ^ "The Fragrance House". Scotmid. http://www.thefragrancehouse.co.uk/. Retrieved 28 April 2011. ""We currently have five stores - in Dundee, Livingston, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Greenock ... plans are underway to open more stores in the right locations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England.""
- ^ "Dundee firm sold for £30 million". Evening Telegraph. 3 August 2004. http://www.eveningtelegraph.co.uk/output/2004/08/03/story6182386t0.shtm.
- ^ "Rival bags convenience store deal". BBC News. 3 August 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/3532652.stm.
- ^ "Loss of Botterills business forces CJ Lang to hit recruitment trail". The Grocer. 13 November 2010. http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/articles.aspx?page=articles&ID=213922.
- ^ "Scotmid acquire the Botterills family chain". The Grocer. 12 November 2010. http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/articles.aspx?page=independentarticle&ID=213872.
External links
- www.scotmid.com – corporate site
- History of Scotmid
- www.scotmid.co.uk – convenience stores site
- www.scotmidfunerals.co.uk – funeral directors
- Semichem – health and beauty shops
- The Fragrance House – perfume shops
Consumer co-operatives in the United Kingdom Anglia Regional · Channel Islands · Chelmsford Star · Clydebank · Co-operative Group · East of England · Heart of England · Lincolnshire · Midcounties · Midlands · Penrith · Phone Co-op · Radstock · Scotmid · Shepley · Southern · Wine Society · WooldaleSee also Categories:- Consumer Co-operatives of the United Kingdom
- Companies established in 1981
- Companies based in Edinburgh
- Supermarkets of the United Kingdom
- Defunct department stores of the United Kingdom
- 1981 establishments in Scotland
- Organizations established in 1859
- 1859 establishments in Scotland
- Co-operatives in Scotland
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