As we gear up for the 2025 Global Innovation Coop Summit (GICS), we’re pleased to share an exclusive conversation with Pete Westall, Chief Values Officer at Midcounties Co-operative in the UK and moderator of the Opening Session. With over three decades of experience in the cooperative movement, Pete brings a rare combination of strategic leadership and deep-rooted commitment to co-operative values. In this interview, he reflects on the power of co-operatives to drive change, the need to align ethics with action, and the responsibility businesses have toward their members and communities. A must-read for anyone striving to turn principles into lasting impact.
1 Global Innvoation Coop Summit (GICS): Can you briefly introduce yourself and your role at Midcounties Co-op? Why did you choose the co-operative model?
Pete Westall (PW): I’m Pete Westall, Chief Values Officer and part of the Executive team for The Midcounties Co-operative, (www.midcounties.coop), where I’ve worked for over 30 years.
Midcounties Co-operative is seen as one of the leading Co-operatives in the UK, in Europe and across the world. We operate a broad portfolio of businesses, including Food, Travel and Childcare on behalf of our 720,000 members, and have a purpose of “Through the power of co-operation, we’re building a fairer, more sustainable and ethical future”.
I hold accountability for the Society’s Social Responsibility and Sustainability agenda, as well as ensuring Co-operative Values and Principles are at the heart of the Society. I’ve taken Executive lead on several of the Society’s trading and support functions during my 3 decades with Midcounties, and believe all businesses have a responsibility to the communities in which they trade.
I hold a number of Board positions associated with my Executive role – including as Chair of Bright Future Co-operative https://brightfuture.coop/ – an organisation dedicated to the employment of survivors of modern slavery and as Chair of Business in the Community Leadership Board in the West Midlands. I’m also a founding director of the Fund for International Co-operative Development, a fund set up to support cooperatives worldwide in rebuilding after crises and fostering peace through the power of cooperation.
I was lucky enough to be named Co-operator of the Year by Co-op UK members in 2021 in recognition of work across the UK movement and I’ve spoken at a number of national and international events over recent times, including the UK Co-operative Congress in July 2025 and at the last Global Innovation Co-operative Summit in Montreal.
2 GICS: What made you want to join GICS, and what are you hoping to get from it?
PW: One of the aims of GICS is to inspire, promote, and foster the development of co-operative and mutual enterprises around the globe. Strategically, that aligns well with us at Midcounties.
From an international perspective, Midcounties are a founder member of the Fund for International Co-operative Development, set up to help support the long-term development of co-operatives around the world, & part of the ICA’s CM50 group.
Closer to home we are also working with Coops UK, the Coop Party and others in creating the environment for Coops to flourish and support the UK Governments pledge to double the size of the Co-operative sector. As part of that work, and in partnership with Coop Futures and the Plunkett Foundation, Midcounties have helped set up over 30 Coops in the last 3 years.
I had the good fortune to attend and speak at the 2023 event in Montreal, that brought together a network of co-operators from across the world, sharing knowledge and best practice on innovation within and by cooperatives. I attended with two colleagues and found it to be incredibly beneficial. I hope and expect the October conference to be the same.
3 GICS: How does Midcounties Co-op help members and staff make a difference in their communities? Can you give a few examples?
PW: Obviously as a Co-op, concern for the community is a key principle for our members and our colleagues. We’re at heart a member owned community retailer, offering predominantly Travel, Early years and Food products and services. We’re part of the ICA, so our definition of community includes those in close proximity to our physical sites, members trading with our national businesses or International Co-operatives.
From an international perspective, we are a founder member of the recently launched Fund for International Cooperative Development. That’s a Global Solidarity Fund by co-operatives, for co-operatives. The Fund can quickly act on Principle Six by directing resources to support co-operatives in the immediate aftermath of a crisis. It also distributes funds to support the long-term development of cooperatives around the world.
To give even more back to the communities we serve, we launched our Doing Good Together Fund in September 2024. Every time our members shop with us money is added to the fund to support good causes local to them. The fund has made an additional £331,000 available, and combined with The Midcounties Co-operative Community Fund, we now have around £600,000 in community funding for members to apply for
4 GICS: As Chief Values Officer, how do you ensure that ethics and transparency guide your decisions? Can you share a concrete example where this helped build trust?
PW: At Midcounties we have a fully-elected Board, 16 members elected by the Society membership. They are responsible for setting the Society’s objectives and strategy and ensuring these are delivered by the Chief Executive, Executive and team.
To help guide, we have a purpose statement mentioned earlier and 5 strategic TRUST pillars – Thriving Co-operative, Remarkable Colleagues, Uniquely Engaged Members, Sustainable Impact and Thought-Leading pioneers.
We have a number of measures against each one, for example on Remarkable Colleagues we measure Colleague Satisfaction, Colleague Retention, Colleague development and Diversity statistics. These, and associated trend analysis and commentary, are reported back to elected members each month and used to monitor, guide and influence strategy and plans.
It’s also important to us as a Co-operative how we achieve these results. Our behaviours are based on our “DOES values – Democracy, Openness, Equality and Social Responsibility”. These are distilled from the ICA Co-operative Values and Principles. The DOES values and TRUST measures ensure that ethics and transparency to members and colleagues guide our decisions.
At our May 2022 Annual general Meeting, we announced 10 Pledges – commitments for the next 5 years. These ranged from a reduction in direct greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to Supporting the creation of 50 new co-operatives and from switching Society mobiles over to Fairphones to go even further in supporting people to sustain independent living.
Transparent progress reporting against those pledges has been a regular feature of each Annual meeting and report since then – illustrating the opportunities these long term commitments can bring and being open where there have been challenges to achievement.
Perhaps one of the strongest examples of ethics and transparency is in support of Principle 7 – concern for community. One of our trading sites is in Walsall town centre, an area of higher than average deprivation. Given its status as a loss-making site, other business models may have chosen to close and vacate. We didn’t do that. Having listened to members and stakeholders in that community, we instead launched a “Fairer Futures” initiative, using the store as a base for work experience and holistic care for vulnerable youngsters. As of June 2025, the scheme has supported 60 young people, with 39 of those now in long-term employment. To my mind that’s a perfect example of a co-op working with its members to do the right thing, rather than simply seek profit maximisation.
5 GICS: What do you see as the biggest opportunity for co-operatives in the coming years?
PW: One of the phrases that has stuck with me for many years is that consumer co-ops should be in markets where they are not just in the game or concerned solely on winning the game but are focused on CHANGING the game for the benefit of their member owners.
Business decisions and the priority of social, economic and environmental impacts are different if taken by the actual users of services or products. The Co-operative ownership model gives authentic and integral voice to users, a democratic voice that is missing in so many industries and areas at present.
Rose Marley, CEO of Co-ops Uk has given many examples of the above, not least in the UK public utilities such as water, or services such as the Post Office.
The opportunity to achieve that change has to be to increase public awareness of the benefits of Co-operatives to Society and communities. That’s down to each and every co-operator and co-operative in this, the UN International Year of Co-operatives. I hope the Global Innovation Coop Summit can help drive that awareness and help shape actions to deliver co-operative solutions.
