Co-op increased active membership by 11% to 7.5 million during the first half of 2026 as the group recovered from the commercial effects of last year’s cyberattack and continued investing in its retail proposition.
Member participation also increased. Voting at the Co-op’s 2026 annual general meeting was 52% higher than a year earlier, while attendance at local events rose 65%.
The mutual reported group sales growth of 2.4% against a comparative period heavily affected by the 2025 cyber incident. Co-op previously estimated that attack reduced revenue by £206m and had an £80m effect on profitability through lost margin and non-recurring costs.
Trading improved during the second quarter and into the second half of 2026, although investment in promotions and stores weighed on first-half profitability. The group said it had kept the increase in its overall cost base to 2% despite £78m of additional headwinds, including the annualised effect of higher employer National Insurance costs.
Interim chief executive Kate Allum said: “Conditions remain challenging, but we see reasons for confidence across our portfolio.”
The balance sheet also strengthened over the period. Net debt excluding leases fell from £317m at the end of 2025 to £239m, while Co-op reported £1.2bn of liquidity. A new £350m sustainability bond was 3.3 times oversubscribed.
Membership growth carries particular weight for Co-op because its ownership model makes participation more than a conventional loyalty mechanism. Members can receive commercial benefits while also exercising governance rights, connecting customer engagement with the organisation’s mutual structure.
The figures arrive after a cyberattack that exposed how closely technology resilience and customer experience are connected. A security incident can interrupt payments, availability, logistics, digital services, and communications at the same time that customers are seeking reassurance about their information.
Recovery therefore involves more than restoring systems. Trust, service levels, promotional activity, and the willingness of customers to continue identifying with the organisation all influence whether an operational incident becomes a longer-term commercial problem.
Co-op’s first-half numbers indicate that membership continued to expand despite the disruption. The group also reported growth in online convenience shopping, while its life-services operations produced stronger results. Funeralcare revenue increased 8%, Legal Services revenue rose 15%, and underlying operating profit in Insurance increased 20%.
The wider retail environment remains difficult. Consumer confidence has been weak, employment costs have increased, and grocery retailers continue to balance price competitiveness against margins. Co-op has chosen to invest in promotions and stores during that period, accepting some short-term effect on profit in an attempt to improve trading momentum.
Expansion is also changing the group’s footprint. Southern Co-op transferred 170 stores, 70 funeral homes, and three crematoria into a wholly owned Co-op subsidiary in July, although the operations remain independent while the transaction awaits competition approval.
That creates another execution task alongside cyber recovery. Bringing greater scale into the wider group while preserving service standards and member participation will require investment in systems, operations, and integration.
Co-op expects a stronger second half across sales and profitability measures. Its first-half performance leaves membership growth as one of the clearest indicators of customer engagement during a period in which management has been balancing cyber recovery, higher costs, investment, and expansion.
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