The Co-operative Group has been named Retailer of the Year at the annual Rosenblatt New Energy Awards, beating off other retailers such as Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s.
At the ceremony, The Co-operative Group came out victorious and was commended for its energy programme, which is on target to reduce consumption by 25% by 2012.
The judges were “very impressed” by efforts from all areas of the group, but in particular the Food Retail business, which has embedded the programme in to its daily business with an energy champion in every store, a dedicated team of Regional Energy Managers, the monitoring of energy usage every half hour as well as delivering store re-fits with an average energy saving of 10%.
The judges were also impressed that over 4,000 Co-operative outlets are powered by wind and water, making it one of the largest purchasers of renewable energy in the country.
Nigel Holden, head of energy and environment, and David Mockford, director of food retail operations, said: “This award is a great testament to everyone involved in delivering all of our objectives on energy management.
“Everyone should be really proud of what we have achieved since 2006 when the programme commenced and we are now delighted to announce that as a group we have just hit the 20% mark in our endeavours to reduce consumption by 25% by 2012.
“We still have many challenges ahead as we strive to exceed our target, so the focus will remain strong!”
Source: The Co-op
