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      Co-op

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      Does Co-op offer employee discounts?

      Co-op reviews

      Overall its a good place to work

      Customer team member (ctm)
      Current employee
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      30% Employee discount, 36 days of holidays, friendly working environment

      Cons

      Scheduling is not very flexible

      avatar
      Co-op Response
      now
      Thank you for your review. We're happy to learn that you're enjoying some of the great benefits of working at Co-op, a generous holiday allowance and an amazing 30% discount of Co-op products in store. Please do speak to your manager about your schedules, especially if your availability has changed recently.

      Used to be great .. but gradually getting worse!

      Store manager
      Current employee
      Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, Yorkshire and the Humber, England
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      1. Competitive Staff Discount – Managers (and all employees) get a staff discount on Co-op products, which can save a significant amount on food and essentials. 2. Holiday Allowance – Generous annual leave compared to some other retailers, with opportunities to increase allowance based on length of service. 3. Decent Pay for Convenience Retail – While not the highest in the retail sector, Co-op store managers are generally paid better than assistant managers or supervisors in comparable chains. 4. Strong Ethical Brand – Working for a business that promotes fairness, sustainability, and community values can give managers a sense of pride and purpose. 5. Benefits Package – In addition to pay and discount, managers often have access to pension contributions, employee assistance programmes, and sometimes bonus opportunities.

      Cons

      1. Understaffing Issues – Like many retailers, Co-op stores often run on tight staffing levels, leaving managers to cover gaps themselves. 2. Frequent Audits & Compliance Checks – Managers face heavy regulation around age-restricted sales, health and safety, and food hygiene, with the risk of personal accountability for mistakes. 3. Dealing with Theft & Anti-Social Behaviour – Many Co-op stores are in areas with higher rates of shoplifting and aggressive customer behaviour, leaving managers to handle confrontations. 4. Corporate Pressure with Limited Support – Decisions are driven by head office targets, with limited flexibility or local autonomy, leaving managers caught between staff needs and corporate expectations. 5. High Staff Turnover – Recruiting, training, and retaining staff is a constant challenge, increasing workload when new employees frequently leave.

      avatar
      Co-op Response
      now
      Thank you for sharing your experience and for your many years service as a Store Manager. We truly appreciate the time and commitment you’ve given, and we’re glad to see you highlight some of the things that matter most to colleagues, such as our 30% colleague member discount, holiday allowance, benefits package, and the pride that comes from working for an ethical brand. We also take seriously the challenges you’ve raised. Many of the points you mention, such as staffing pressures, compliance demands, and dealing with theft, are common across the retail sector and reflect the complexity of running a store today. These issues can impact work–life balance and create challenges for managers and their teams, and we know they deserve attention. While audits and compliance checks are essential for safety and legal standards, we understand they can feel burdensome. Similarly, retail crime and anti-social behaviour have increased nationally, and Co-op has successfully campaigned to make a change in the law, resulting in a stand alone offence for violence against retail workers. We continue to review how we support colleagues in these areas, including exploring ways to make processes simpler and ensuring safety remains a top priority. Your feedback reinforces the importance of balancing operational demands with colleague wellbeing. We want to keep listening and learning from experiences like yours so we can focus on what makes the biggest difference for our teams. Thank you again for recognising the positives and for sharing constructive advice. If you’d like to discuss your feedback further, please reach out through our colleague channels so we can understand your experience in more detail. Your voice matters, and we appreciate everything you’ve contributed over the years.

      ok

      Customer team member (ctm)
      Former employee
      Manchester, England
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      can do shifts around other priorities, employee discount

      Cons

      overworked , understaffed, no real perks

      avatar
      Co-op Response
      now
      Thank you for your review and feedback. We're glad to see that you enjoyed flexible shifts around your life and that the 30% colleague member discount was of use to you.

      Understaffed

      Customer team member
      Former employee
      Sheerness, England
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Good employee discount on co op branded products

      Cons

      Understaffed and overworked, no extra pay for working bank holidays and late and early shifts

      avatar
      Co-op Response
      now
      Thank you for your review and feedback. We're pleased that you were happy with our amazing 30% colleague member discount. We're sorry that you feel that your store wasn't staffed appropriately and we hope that you shared your concerns with your manager at the time. Colleagues in store receive a shift premium for any hours worked prior to 6am or after 10pm, we pay premiums for hours worked after 6pm Christmas Eve, all day Boxing Day, after 6pm New Years Eve, and all day New Years Day.

      Painfully dull

      Customer service assistant
      Former employee
      Macclesfield, England
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Employee discount (10% and 15% on payday weekends)

      Cons

      Constant flooding of shop which we were expected to deal with Lack of communication regarding holidays Felt like I was back at school with rude managers Unsocial hours

      avatar
      Co-op Response
      now
      Thank you for your review. We're sorry to learn of your experience with us and hope that you raised your concerns at the time. We're not certain how long ago you worked for Co-op but our colleague member discount is 30%

      Not a great place to work

      Customer service associate
      Former employee
      Edinburgh, Scotland
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Flexible hours discount on food

      Cons

      Management were awful - nobody done any work. System of exploiting the new hires and getting them to do all the work Abusive manager that would shout at us when things went wrong

      1
      avatar
      Co-op Response
      now
      We're sorry that you feel this way. You've made some very serious allegations about your manager and we take all complaints about behaviour like this very seriously. Please use the former colleague contact form at colleagues.coop.co.uk/contacts so that we may look into this matter further.

      Meh

      Team leader
      Former employee
      Glasgow, Scotland
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      discount on food fast paced environment always pushed to learn more

      Cons

      I had a sexist team customers were often rude

      avatar
      Co-op Response
      now
      Thank you for your review and feedback. We're sorry to learn of your concerns involving your team. We hope that you raised a complaint while you were with us. If you believe that there is more that we need to know then please get in touch using the former colleague contact form at https://colleagues.coop.co.uk/contacts

      Workplace culture

      Customer assistant
      Former employee
      London, England
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Friendly, flexibility, rewarding, career progression and overtime, 10% employee + family discount, seasonal perks.

      Cons

      Physically demanding and customer abuse.

      avatar
      Co-op Response
      now
      Thank you for your review. We're pleased that you enjoyed your time working with us and appreciated the benefits that our roles bring. It may have been sometime since you last worked with us as our colleague member discount is now 30% for Co-op products, 10% for non Co-op brand, which rises to 20% on pay-day weekends.

      Consistent hours per week

      Customer team member
      Former employee
      Cardiff, Wales
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      - You have job security to get your contracted hours - Relatively easy job and not very stressful - Get their employee discount which makes it almost same price as Aldi

      Cons

      - Can be boring since repetitive - Have to deal with lots of shoplifters

      avatar
      Co-op Response
      now
      Thank you for your review and feedback. We're really pleased to see that you were happy with your job security and your 30% colleague member discount. At Co-op, we recognise the very real challenges retail workers face, especially when it comes to shoplifting, abuse, and violence. That’s why we’ve been at the forefront of campaigning for stronger protections for retail colleagues. Our Safer Colleagues, Safer Communities campaign has been a driving force in pushing for change, and we’re proud that this work contributed to the government’s decision to introduce a standalone offence for assaulting a retail worker. This sends a clear message: abuse and violence against shopworkers will not be tolerated. We also continue to invest in colleague safety through enhanced security measures, body-worn cameras, and close collaboration with local police forces. While we know there’s more to do, we remain committed to creating a safer, more respectful environment for all our colleagues.

      It's alright

      Team leader
      Current employee
      Ilford, England
      Recommend
      CEO approval
      Business Outlook

      Pros

      Pays decent, workload isn't too bad unless you're just incredibly lazy. Work life balance is easy.

      Cons

      Career progression is pretty minimal unless you want to stay in retail your whole life. Benefits are pretty non-existent too especially since they got rid of double discount and staff discount on Co-Op member deals.

      avatar
      Co-op Response
      now
      Thank you for taking the time to submit a review. We're sorry that you feel this way. In April, we made the difficult decision to stop offering our double discount payday events to help bring our discount benefit to an affordable level. As a result we are able to continue offering our market leading 30% colleague member discount all year round. We are monitoring this and reintroduce double discounts at key seasonal events, our first one being in August.