Hello everyone and welcome to my Coop Directors blog. I hope to be able to keep Members and Colleagues up to date with current issues and I am keen to hear from you.

Our Fairtrade activity makes a tremendous impact on communities all over the world. We will rightly be celebrating this fantastic work in Fairtrade Fortnight in March but we can also do similar brilliant work here at home.

Some of you may have heard of the Social Value Act which I helped to take through Parliament when I was an MP. This encourages the creation of Social, Economic and Environmental Impact in communities by using procurement and supply chains in more creative ways.

This is a perfect way for our Coop to make a real difference in our communities by making sure every pound we spend on purchasing is working hard to create local jobs, support local suppliers…