Co-op Group Employee Reviews

The company is terrible, the only good thing is the people who work in these locations with you, wouldn't recommend coop to people with stress or depression because it's just a mentally and physically draining job. The pay isn't great for what you have to put up with and with customers becoming violent and aggressive more and more these days retail is no longer a safe choice of work. Do not work for Co-op you'll regret it.

Pros

Team

Cons

Thefts, aggression, long days, late nights, early morning, bad pay

Was this review helpful?

huge disparity in staff

Team Leader (Former Employee) - Tandragee - 25 September 2023

three supervisors got shifts and staff they wanted, other supervisors got who was left and worked all weekend evening shifts. guy who worked in the bakery was doing it as a way to make money during uni and was never given time to train someone to cover his shifts and so was never allowed to take a day off.

Was this review helpful?

Insights into Co-op Group

Based on 1,638 survey responses

What people like

Clear sense of purpose
Fair pay for job
Ability to meet personal goals

Areas for improvement

Energising work tasks
Sense of belonging
General feeling of work happiness

Ok if you work hard

Team Leader. (Current Employee) - Hampshire - 24 September 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Very good company care bout your mental health hard work though and most off time only 2 staff in at one time can be stressful What is the most stressful part about working at the company?Only 2 staff on at each shift What is the work environment and culture like at the company?Very good work environment and good culture What is a typical day like for you at the company?Very hard work as supervisor have to do many different jobs from tills etc so on

Was this review helpful?

Official response from Co-op Group

27 September 2023

Thank you for taking the time to write a review - colleague well-being is really important to us. Great to hear you enjoyed working for the Co-op - we would always encourage you to speak to your line manager if you have any concerns with anything in the workplace.

Relaxed work environment + nice colleagues

Customer Team Member (Former Employee) - London South East, Greater London - 23 September 2023

Pros: Worked with great people, shifts were pretty flexible (part-time) although my store seemed to be understaffed, decent pay for retail (esp. because of London rate)Cons: A lot of stores don’t have security guards, so you’re expected to spot thieves

Was this review helpful?

Official response from Co-op Group

27 September 2023

Thanks for your review - great to hear you enjoyed working at the Co-op and worked with some of our great colleagues! :)

Enjoyed my time here

Customer Team Member (CTM) (Former Employee) - Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire - 23 September 2023

Enjoyed my time at the co-op. Nice people to work with and good to be a part of the community and provide a service which benefited people. Would recommend

Was this review helpful?

Official response from Co-op Group

27 September 2023

We're really pleased to hear you'd recommend working at the Co-op! Thank you for your review!

Rate your recent company

Share your experience to help others

Hard work.good pay. Many rats.Feel invisible.

Warehouse Operative (Current Employee) - Andover, Hampshire - 22 September 2023

The pay is good but the work is hard. You work by yourself all day. Other workers are nice but you don't get to know them.spend more time with the rats.same people all the time get the easier jobs.

Was this review helpful?

Official response from Co-op Group

27 September 2023

Hi - thanks for your review. We'd really encourage you to speak to your line manager about this - we want our colleagues to feel they have the support available to them. Thanks

Over-worked and under-appreciated

Team Leader (Former Employee) - Sunderland - 22 September 2023

Busy store expected to serve customers, work deliveries, deal with 4 online shopping devices as well as 2 parcel companies. With a maximum of two other staff member if you were lucky. All whilst completing the long daily list of ‘must-do’ tasks, stock changeovers and keeping the store cleans and tidy. Find the time in your 9-16 hour days to have food and it’s chaos. Overtime became compulsory to cover sickness, ended up work over 45 hours minimum every week. No appreciation shown, glad to be out!

Was this review helpful?

Enjoyable and good environment

Sales Assistant (Former Employee) - Bath, Somerset - 21 September 2023

I enjoyed the few months i worked for coop. I was working among an amazing team. It’s very unpredictable sometimes it would get very busy if you like a busy lifestyle and sometime it would be very quite overall i would recommend working for coop. It’s very decent pay as well

Was this review helpful?

Work for this company only if you are desperate

Team Leader/Customer Assistant (Former Employee) - Woodhatch - 21 September 2023

A typical day at work : understaffed expect you and one other or being sent to other shopsWhat you believe you learned : very little expect numerous underage alcohol modulesManagement : expect numerous managers since they cant seem to retain managers Workplace culture : Profit above all else including your mental health and your family lifeThe hardest part of the job : working antisocial hours constantly i did not have a single weekend off being on the till constantly dealing with long queues constantly working from the first second till the last second being understaffed constantly having numerous beeping machines demanding your attention working with broken equipment constantly having a 25 hour contract but working 40 hours (theft of holiday ) and they will not tell you you have the legal right to reject sunday working

Pros

paid on time if you call that a pro

Cons

see above

Was this review helpful?

Good hours, great benefits.

Team Leader (Former Employee) - Aberdeen - 19 September 2023

It's a great place to work and to step up to attempt to further your career in retail if that's what you desire. The hours, the team, and the environment was definitely good.

Was this review helpful?

Official response from Co-op Group

27 September 2023

We love to hear you enjoyed your time working at the Co-op. We have plenty of progression opportunities available to our colleagues to explore. Thanks for your review.

Jobs at Co-op Group

See more jobs

Warehouse Operative (Day Shift) - Biggleswade

Hatfield

6 days ago

Warehouse Operative (Back Shift) - Biggleswade

Hatfield

6 days ago

Warehouse Operative - All Shifts

Warehouse Operative (Back Shift) - Biggleswade

Luton

6 days ago

Some good but most bad

Customer Team Member (CTM) (Former Employee) - Nottingham - 19 September 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?Customers not manager or some of the staff What is the most stressful part about working at the company?Only being rota'd 3 hour shifts as in 7pm - 10pm

Was this review helpful?

Avoid university of stirling coop

Store Colleague (Former Employee) - UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING - 19 September 2023

- unofficial interview under COOP name but you are an employee under the franchisee name which was never mentioned - offered hourly set rate pay but ended up getting paid minimum wage -horrible working culture and management - bakery/food assistant is not just bakery its hot food too. - no staff break room as its been converted into a small commercial bakery for store - intimidating/ threatening management

Pros

Nothing

Cons

Biggest mistake of my life working there.

Was this review helpful?

Your just a number, a robot that coop use till there is nothing left.

Cashier/Team Member (Former Employee) - Tenby - 19 September 2023

What is the best part of working at the company?The staff and that is the only thing.What is the most stressful part about working at the company?The lack of staff, making your job almost impossible.What is the work environment and culture like at the company?Do as much as possible with as few staff. Ironman triathlon in town. Five times the amount of people in town, any extra staff. The answer is no. Then getting told off because two people couldnt deal with the insane amount of people in the store queueing and stealing.What is a typical day like for you at the company?Awful. Trying to work understaffed and then getting abuse off the area manager who is the person responsible for how understaffed you are.

Was this review helpful?

Not too fun to work there

Warehouse Operative (Former Employee) - St Helens, Merseyside - 18 September 2023

Very physically demanding job, monotonous workdays, you have to run around like crazy and work like a robot; every day the same and same and same... I had to work there to keep myself during my studies; once I got my diploma, I went out of there and never looked back.

Was this review helpful?

Official response from Co-op Group

27 September 2023

Thanks for your review - our warehouse positions play an important role in making sure stock gets to our stores at the right time, but at times can be quite physically demanding. However, we would always encourage speaking to line management regarding any issues you're facing on site. Thanks

No work life balance poor management

Customer Team Member (CTM) (Current Employee) - Derbyshire - 18 September 2023

Hard work not rewarded poor management no work life balance some staff treated better than others don't ask if you want overtime just put it on your rota

Was this review helpful?

Official response from Co-op Group

27 September 2023

Thanks for taking the time to write a review - we do try and accommodate hours that fit your life outside of work. I'd definitely speak to your line manager about this, if you have any issues with your working hours.

Nice people awful company

Team Manager (Former Employee) - Littlehampton - 17 September 2023

Life balance wasn't there, nor was safety. No organisation. Found I was being pulled off days off due to lack of organisation. Need to be paid more for the jobs we get!

Pros

Discount

Cons

Not very fair

Was this review helpful?

Fun work place

Sales Assistant (Current Employee) - Manchester, Greater Manchester - 17 September 2023

Love it here staff are friendly management are kind and caring I work 35 hours per week and never expected to do any longer the home work life balance is good

Was this review helpful?

Official response from Co-op Group

27 September 2023

Hi - thank you for review. It's great to hear you enjoy working at Co-op and you have supportive managers. We do try and provide working hours to fit peoples lives, so its great to hear these work for you.

Fun and Easy Job

CSM (Current Employee) - Glasgow, Glasgow - 17 September 2023

Early start , heat up my food ( cook bacon ,sausages ), fill in temperatures, clean display and hot food units, open doors....greet customers always with a smile, be considerate of them and team members , throughout my shift I am refilling stock and serving. End of shift is cleaning kitchen...cookers, work tops and floorsThe hardest part is when I find a difficult customer but it is soon over and most of the time they leave happy 😊

Was this review helpful?

Reach truck 3 years

Warehouse Operative (Current Employee) - St Helens - 15 September 2023

Began picking using automated headset that never understood me, moved onto a gun and scanning pick locations. Management winged because I never came close to the rate on the headset. Trained for a Reach truck driver but never had the chance to work high up. Still on that reach truck albeit a small one but collecting empty pallets for three years with the sound of industrial refrigerator fans the only source of entertainment. Management cmon I want to learn!Canteen expensive, cheap frozen ingredientsVending machines are expensiveNo on-site shop

Pros

Majority of co-op staff great

Cons

Tedious work, headsets incapable of working, poor management

Was this review helpful?

Great team work and support

Customer Team Member (Former Employee) - Buchan road fraserburgh - 14 September 2023

Early start , heat up my food ( cook bacon ,sausages ), fill in temperatures, clean display and hot food units, open doors....greet customers always with a smile, be considerate of them and team members , throughout my shift I am refilling stock and serving. End of shift is cleaning kitchen...cookers, work tops and floors The hardest part is when I find a difficult customer but it is soon over and most of the time they leave happy 😊

Pros

The customers who have become friends and the reduced selection

Cons

Sometimes staff shortages cause breaks to be voided

Was this review helpful?

Official response from Co-op Group

27 September 2023

Thanks for taking the time to review - it's lovely to hear! :)

Productive and fun environment

Retail Assistant (Part-Time) (Former Employee) - Leeds - 13 September 2023

Great place to work part-time while studying at university. The team is very supportive and you work with a diverse range of people. The manager is very understanding and helpful.

Was this review helpful?

Official response from Co-op Group

27 September 2023

Great to hear you enjoyed working at the Co-op, whilst you were studying! We have plenty of PT opportunities available in our stores - find out more by visiting jobs.coop.co.uk