The Co-operative Movement has its roots in the Lancashire textile town of Rochdale where in 1844 harsh living conditions and inadequate consumer protection - the adulteration of food by private traders was widespread - inspired 28 working men to a new approach to the supply of food and other goods by setting up a Retail Co-operative Society, the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society. These 28 Rochdale men scraped together a meagre capital of £28 and opened a shop in Toad Lane where they sold wholesome food at reasonable prices. A share of the profit, or surplus as they preferred to call it, was returned to members in proportion to theirpurchases - the famous Co-operative dividend. From the decisions and practices of the Pioneers, the Rochdale Principles of Co-operation were formulated. These included: voluntary and open membership; democratic control - one member, one vote; payment of limited interest on capital; surplus allocated in proportion to members' purchases - the dividend; and educational facilities for members and workers. These Principles became the bedrock of a new pattern of highly successful co-operation; so much so that by the end of the nineteenth century there were some 1,400 Co-operative Societies in existence, and as we approach the end of the twentieth century there are something like 700 million co-operators worldwide.

As a result of merger and amalgamation over the years there are now just 48 retail societies in the UK, the largest of which is The Co-operative Bank's parent company, CWS, which has more than 650 stores and a turnover in excess of £3.1 bn. CWS is also responsible for some 4,500 'own brand' food and non-food products, marketed under the Co-op Brand label to other retail societies. As well as supplying goods and services to the wider Co-operative Movement, CWS is a major funeral director, travel agent and optician. It is also Britain's biggest farmer, farming 52,000 acres of land.