Building the Wholesale: The development of the English CWS and British co-operative business 1863–90

Abstract

The English Co-operative Wholesale Society (CWS), established in 1863, emerged in the nineteenth century as a key component of the British co-operative movement, selling to retail societies many of the commodities they sold on to their members and customers. But the CWS had to compete with private wholesalers in supplying retail societies, a situation which made the CWS’ relationship with the wider movement quite problematic. This article explores the establishment and development of the CWS during the first quarter century of its existence, and the strategies it employed to maximise its trade with societies, which included major involvement in manufacturing, and the development of global commercial activity. It is argued that in contrast with the picture of British enterprise offered by such commentators as Chandler, the CWS was in many respects a highly efficient organisation for its time, which successfully developed its role in the quite dysfunctional federation which was the co-operative movement. Indeed, it is argued that the CWS achieved a level of organisational and managerial sophistication which would not be seen in most British non-co-operative business until well into the twentieth century.

Keywords:

• co-operatives
• co-operation
• wholesale and wholesaling
• dysfunctional federation
• global trade

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the Co-operative Group for allowing me access to the records of the CWS, and Gillian Lonergan and the staff of the Co-operative College Archive in Manchester for their generous assistance in undertaking the research for this article.

Notes

  1. Co-operative News, October 7, 1893, Vol. 23, 1082.

  2. Redfern, The Story of the CWS, 188.

  3. General Committee of the CWS minutes, 12 September 1890, Vol. 16, 124, Co-operative College Archive, Manchester.

  4. Co-operative News, November 1, 1890, Vol. 21, 1102.

  5. Co-operative News, July 18, 1891, Vol. 22, 728.

  6. Jefferys, Retail Trading in Britain, 1–39.

  7. Blackman, ‘The Food Supply of an Industrial Town’, 96–7; idem, ‘The Development of the Retail Grocery Trade’, Business History, 116–17; Fraser, The Coming of the Mass Market.

  8. Scola, ‘Food Markets and Shops in Manchester’, 167; Rubin, ‘From Packmen, Tallymen and “Perambulating Scotchmen”’, 221.

  9. Hodson, ‘“The Municipal Store”’, 109–10.

 10. Porter, ‘The Development of a Provincial Department Store’, 71.

 11. Stobart and Hann, ‘Retailing Revolution in the Eighteenth Century?’, 189–90.

 12. Mutch, ‘Public Houses as Multiple Retailing’, 12–16.

 13. Winstanley, The Shopkeeper’s World, 8–16.

 14. Alexander and Akehurst, ‘Introduction: The Emergence of Modern Retailing’.

 15. Purvis, ‘The Development of Co-operative Retailing’; idem, ‘Stocking the Store’.

 16. Purvis, ‘Stocking the Store’, 62.

 17. Gurney, Co-operative Culture and the Politics of Consumption, 199–201; Walton, ‘The Making of a Mass Movement’, 27.

 18. Purvis, ‘The Development of Co-operative Retailing’, 317.

 19. Editorial article: ‘The Grocers’ New Weapon’, Co-operative News, May 8, 1886, Vol. 17, 444–5.

 20. Walton, ‘The Making of a Mass Movement’, 27.

 21. Gurney, Co-operative Culture, 199–200.

 22. Cole, A Century of Co-operation, 194–5; Creighton, ‘Battersea – the “Municipal Mecca”’.

 23. Minutes of the Great Grimsby Co-operative Company Ltd, 1882 and 1886, 1–50 (1882); 448–502 (1886) NCR/2/17/5/1/2, Co-operative College Archive, Manchester.

 24. Minutes of Bridge End Equitable Progressionists, 1881 and 1886, NCRS/2/4/1/4–10, Co-operative College Archive, Manchester.

 25. Minutes of Langley Mill and Aldercar Co-operative Society, 23 March 1882, MID/1/2/3/1/1/3, Co-operative College Archive, Manchester.

 26. Ibid., 11 November 1886.

 27. Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee of the CWS, 8 May 1878 and 11 September 1878, Minute Book of the Grocery and Provisions Committee book 2/0/1, 290 and 339, Co-operative College Archive.

 28. Co-operative News, July 22, 1893, Vol. 23, 795.

 29. Letter: ‘The Southern Societies and Their Loyalty to the Wholesale’, Co-operative News, August 22, 1885, Vol. 16, 779.

 30. Letter from G. Scott, June 18, 1878, Co-operative News, June 29, 1878, Vol. 9, 429.

 31. ‘Co-operative Societies and the Wholesale’, in Co-operative Wholesale Society Ltd Annual, 1892, 489–521, 518.

 32. Ibid., 490.

 33. For example: ‘The Trade of the Wholesale’, Co-operative News, April 6, 1876, Vol. 7, 175. This was one of a regular series of such articles, aimed at societies whose record of CWS purchases was unimpressive.

 34. ‘The Wholesale and the Retail Societies’, Co-operative News, March 15, 1879, Vol. 10, 171. The article showed that the Rochdale Pioneers’ purchases from the CWS amount to only 16% by value of the Rochdale Pioneers’ sales.

 35. Paper by R. Whittle (undated), Special Meeting of CWS Directors, 11 August 1877, General Committee Minute Book, Vol. 5, 188, Co-operative College Archive.

 36. Paper by Noah Briggs, ‘The Duty of Buyers and Managers to Themselves, Their Own Societies and the Movement’, Conference of Buyers and Managers held at CWS premises, Balloon St Manchester, 14 March 1882, Co-operative News, March 18, 1882, Vol. 13, 172.

 37. Ibid.

 38. Co-operative Conference at Exeter, 2 April 1887, Co-operative News, April 16, 1887, Vol. 18, 370.

 39. Bonner, British Co-operation, 81–3.

 40. Minutes of 7 and 21 November 1863, Minute Book of the North of England Co-operative & Wholesale Industrial Society Ltd, 3–4, Co-operative College Archive.

 41. Ibid., Minutes, 16 and 28 January 1864, 10–12.

 42. Ibid., Minutes half-yearly meeting, 21 May 1864, 19–20.

 43. Redfern, The Story of the CWS, 35.

 44. 1 April 1874, Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee 1874–75, 3–6, Co-operative College Archive.

 45. 1 July 1876, Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee 2/0/1, 53, Co-operative College Archive.

 46. For example, 50 members of the Oxford Society were entertained to a ‘knife and fork tea’ at the CWS on 13 August 1887, only one of many such visits by societies from around the country. Minutes of the General Committee, 5 August 1887, Vol. 11, 294, Co-operative College Archive.

 47. Special Meeting of the Grocery and Provisions Committee, July 23 1878, Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee 2/0/1 247.

 48. Redfern, The Story of the CWS, 418–19.

 49. Editorial article: ‘The Trade of the Wholesale’, Co-operative News, April 8, 1876, Vol. 7, 175.

 50. Editorial article: ‘The Trade of the Wholesale’, Co-operative News, July 3, 1875, Vol. 6, 354.

 51. Letter, Co-operative News, March 4, 1876, Vol. 7, 123.

 52. In 1878, for example, it was reported that the CWS had lost £7351-0s-3d on its loans and investments in the Eccleshill Coal Company. Minutes of General & Branch Quarterly Meetings, December 1878, Committee’s report (printed); Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS, Vol. 5, 69–74, Co-operative College Archive.

 53. Minutes of General Quarterly Meeting, Manchester, 18 June 1881; Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 6, 143–4; also motion to Quarterly General Meeting of the CWS, 18 June 1881 adopted by the Newcastle branch, but coming from one of its local societies, ‘That in future no loans or overdrafts be allowed to other than distributive co-operative societies or to societies whose shares are held by such societies’.

 54. Jones, Co-operative Production, 218–19.

 55. Redfern, The Story of the CWS, 427–8.

 56. For example, in June 1876 one buyer went with the manager of the CWS Durham soap works to the soap works of Crossfields and Goodwins, and was able to report back that much had been learnt to improve quality. 1 July 1876, Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee 2/0/1, 53.

 57. Taken from Quarterly Reports of the CWS for this period, held in the Minute Books of the General Committee.

 58. Printed report of the CWS presented to the quarterly meetings in November and December 1889, Minutes of the General Committee, Vol. 15, 41.

 59. Taken from Quarterly Reports of the CWS for this period, held in the Minute Books of the General Committee.

 60. Report on CWS meeting with Woodin and his sons, 16 October 1880, Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 6, 25; Redfern, The Story of the CWS, 426.

 61. List of salary rises from 18 February 1889, Minutes of Joint Committee of CWS branches and SCWS, 5 March 1889; Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 13, 415.

 62. CWS Annual 1892, 460–7.

 63. Taken from Quarterly Reports of the CWS for this period, held in the Minute Books of the General Committee.

 64. General Committee, 23 August 1889, Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 14, 289.

 65. General Committee, 13 June 1890, Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 15, 400.

 66. General Committee, 18 January 1889, Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 13, 317.

 67. Letter from the Committee of the S.E. London Co-operative Baking Society, 25 June 1890, Co-operative News, July 5, 1890, Vol. 21, 687.

 68. Conference at Long Eaton, 25 October 1890, Co-operative News, November 1 1890, Vol. 21, 1102.

 69. Redfern, The Story of the CWS, 58, 88.

 70. Report on meeting in Wakefield in June, 29 July 1881 Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 6, 163–4.

 71. Ibid., 159.

 72. General Committee, 20 October 1881, Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 7, 69.

 73. Redfern, The Story of the CWS, 426–7.

 74. Western Section Conference, 15 October 1885, Co-operative News, October 24, 1885, Vol. 16, 968.

 75. Shaw et al., ‘Structural and Spatial Trends in British Retailing.

 76. General Committee, 16 April 1886, Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 10, 64.

 77. Printed report presented to the quarterly meetings of Manchester and the London and Newcastle branches, August/September 1889, Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 14, 320.

 78. Special meeting of the Grocery and Provisions Committee, 15 December 1877, Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee 2/0/1, 231.

 79. General Committee, 24 January 1890 and 7 February 1890, Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 15, 137 and 162.

 80. General Committee, 7 March 1890, Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 15, 225.

 81. Redfern, The Story of the CWS, 117.

 82. Paper by T. Brodrick: ‘Some Objections to the Proposed Maximum Rates and Charges’. To meeting of co-operative societies, Special Meeting of the General Committee, 4 May 1889, Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 14, 88–91.

 83. Meeting, 25 March 1879, Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee of the CWS 2/0/3, 127.

 84. Grocery and Provisions Committee, 30 May 1877, Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee of the CWS 2/0/1, 155.

 85. Special meeting of the Grocery and Provisions Committee, 13 September 1880, and meeting of 21 December 1880, Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee of the CWS 2/0/3, 13 and 68.

 86. Redfern, The Story of the CWS, 135.

 87. Grocery and Provisions Committee, 6 November 1878, Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee of the CWS 2/0/1, 365.

 88. Tweedale’s Report (printed) to the CWS General Committee on his visit to Greece, 30 July 30–27 September 1886 (dated October 1886), Co-operative College, 3–9.

 89. For example, General Committee, 10 November 1882, Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 7, 82.

 90. Grocery and Provisions Committee, 5 April 1877, Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee of the CWS 2/0/1, 136-137; Grocery and Provisions Committee, 18 June 1880, Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee of the CWS 2/0/2, 341–2.

 91. Taken from Quarterly Reports of the CWS for this period, held in the Minute Books of the General Committee.

 92. These figures are calculated from entries in the General Committee Minutes for the period; Volumes 5 to 16.

 93. Blaydon loan: General Committee Minutes Vol. 5, 134; Wigan loan: General Committee Minutes Vol. 6, 125.

 94. According to Quarterly Reports of the CWS for this period, held in the Minute Books of the General Committee.

 95. General Committee, 26 November 1886, General Committee Minutes Vol. 10, 377.

 96. Financial Committee, 1 July 1902, Financial Committee Minutes Vol. 37, 1–2.

 97. Chandler, Scale and Scope, 259–61.

 98. Ibid., 257.

 99. Ibid.

100. Ibid., 261.

101. See, for example, the minutes of the Joint Committee, 18 February 1884, General Committee Minutes Vol. 8, 68.

102. For example, the General Committee meeting of 29 February 1884 made several decisions which demonstrated its final authority in all appointments. It overturned the appointment of a Mr Bottomley as boot and shoe traveller because it was unhappy with his references. It confirmed the appointment of Mr A. Hill in the tea department in London at 7s per week, and approved the prosecution of two workers in the same department for theft. General Committee Minutes Vol. 8, 74–7.

103. Yeo, Who Was J.T.W. Mitchell?; Melmoth, ‘J.T.W. Mitchell and the Shaping of the Co-operative Wholesale Society’.

104. Yeo, Who Was J.T.W. Mitchell?, 58–62.

105. Ibid., 10–16.

106. Grocery and Provisions Committee, 29 July 1882, Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee of the CWS 2/0/4, 5–8.

107. Grocery & Provisions Committee, 21 January 1884, Minutes of the Grocery and Provisions Committee of the CWS 2/0/4, 366–7.

108. Grocery & Provisions Committee, 16 September 1875; Grocery & Provisions Committee Minute Book (un-numbered) 1874–75, 170; Grocery & Provisions Committee, 24 April 1884, Grocery &Provisions Minute Book 2/0/4, 428.

109. General Committee, 23 August 1889, Minutes of the General Committee of the CWS Vol. 14, 289.

110. Wilson and Popp, ‘Introduction’.