Central England Co-op offers everything from free water to bike repair kits for commuters heading back to work on their bike or on foot
Posted by rob smyth | Published: 04/06/2020
Central England Co-op is opening its stores up to workers who will be looking to walk or cycle to work as the Coronavirus lockdown starts to ease.
The retailer, which has over 262 stores across 16 counties, has outlined a range of free services that bikers and walkers can access in its shops as they travel to and from work after the Government advised people who can return to work to do so via walking and cycling if possible to help maintain social distancing and ease potential pressure on public transport.
Cycling and walking commuters can enjoy free water refills, charging points for their phones, indoor and outdoor seating and customer toilets when they stop off at selected Central England Co-op stores, while free bike repair kits will be available at all stores from this week.
Cyclists are also able to leave their bikes safe and secure as all shops have bike racks outside for their use.
Debbie Robinson, Central England Co-op Chief Executive, said: “As a co-operative, our communities are always at the heart of all our decisions, especially during these uncertain times.
“This is why we wanted to make sure we are there for people heading back to work and supporting those choosing to walk or cycle to help continue efforts to defeat the Coronavirus.
“Anyone commuting to or from work can nip into one of our stores and enjoy free access to all different kinds of support from customer toilets and water refills to special charging points and special store bike repair kits.”
The retailer has also started rolling out a specialist feature at some of its new sites, a public use bicycle repair station.
Colleagues at the Society can also apply to take advantage of the Cycle to Work scheme, which allows people heavily discounted bikes to get to work.
People can find their nearest store by visiting https://stores.centralengland.coop/ or visit www.centralengland.coop/updates to find out about its local community to the Coronavirus pandemic.
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About Central England Co-operative
Central England Co-operative is one of the largest independent retail co-operative societies in the UK with interests in food, funeral, floral, travel and property investment.
Co-operatives have always been there for their communities; they were formed to protect them and help them flourish.
Our 7,900 colleagues who serve Members and customers work hard to ensure that co-operative values, principles and spirit flow through everything we do to help support and improve our local communities.
Owned by hundreds of thousands of Members, we have over 430 trading outlets across 16 counties including West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Nottinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Lincolnshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire.
We are proud of our reputation for ethical business practices and corporate responsibility.
We invest a percentage of our trading profit into local communities through our Community Dividend Fund scheme, have donated over £1.3 million to our corporate charity partner Dementia UK and also operate a pioneering food redistribution partnership with FareShare Midlands so unsold food goes to those in need.
Visit www.centralengland.coop for more information or follow us on Facebook or Twitter using @mycoopfood
Press office contacts: Rob Smyth and James Brindle
Phone - 01543 421390
Email - publicrelations@centralengland.coop