Co-op Group planning huge sell-off of stores

The group has several stores around Shropshire, including six in Shrewsbury alone, seven in Telford, plus others in Bridgnorth, Shifnal, Broseley, Oswestry, and a number of villages around the county.

The troubled mutual has earmarked about 300 stores from a "non-convenience" estate of 700 shops which it may put on the market, according to sources.

The group is said to have recruited investment bank Rothschild to drum up interest from prospective buyers, pinpointing small food retailers and discount chains as potential suitors, Sky News reported.

The firm is considering the sale as they sharpen their focus on convenience shopping, but the proposal is still in the early stages and may not go ahead.

The Co-op sold off 91 food stores last year, raising £175 million, because they no longer dovetailed with its "focus on convenience shopping". It is also trying to offload a tranche of shops it acquired following its ill-fated takeover of Somerfield in 2011.

But any move to sell stores in the future would not affect plans to open 100 new food stores and refit 150 existing shops this year.

The Co-op Group declined to comment.

The plans come after chief executive Richard Pennycook disclosed last week that he had demanded the firm slash his pay after the group finally "turned a corner" thanks to rising sales. He asked the board to reduce his base salary from £1.25 million to £750,000, while his total pay, including bonuses, will drop by more than 60 per cent.

The firm revealed that like-for-like sales across its 2,800 food stores grew by 1.6 per cent in the 52 weeks to January 2, while its funeral business saw sales climb by 9.9 per cent.

But annual pre-tax profits hit £23 million, down from £24 million in 2014 when it was boosted by a £121 million one-off disposal.