Chelmsford Star Co-operative Society

Our Mission/Vision Statement

Our Mission
“Our mission is to work together giving life and meaning to the Co-operative difference by trading ethically in order to share our success and serve, support and sustain local communities.”

Our Vision
“We aspire to be the leading ethical retailer championing excellence in service, employment and community involvement in Essex.”

Strategic Objectives

To improve the Society’s Return on Capital Employed.
To be the local employer of choice in retail.
To increase the level of members involvement in the Society both economically and democratically.
To improve the Society’s operational efficiency.
To add value to the local communities in which the Society operates.

Strategic Plan 2008 -2010
The Directors and Management of Chelmsford Star Co-operative Society Ltd recognise that to be a successful Co-operative business then a balance needs to be struck between traditional commercial success and success in Co-operative terms e.g. social responsibility. Directors and Managers also recognise that commercial success is paramount in order to implement initiatives to re-enforce its Co-operative credentials.

The Society’s Strategic plan for 2008 -10 has been based upon the Balanced Scorecard approach in order to provide a holistic strategic plan that encompasses both traditional commercial areas as well as areas that traditionally have been associated with the Co-operative businesses.

The plan covers five key aspects of our business:

Financial
People
Members
Internal Business Processes
Community

The Society believes that if we achieve our objectives in all five of the areas then we will be a better business and facilitate a sustainable future on all fronts.

The plan recognises that in order to improve our business for our members then stretch targets need to be set and that all targets need to be realistic.

It is very easy to measure quantitive objectives and the plan has many targets of this nature. However, it is important not to forget that as a business we must strive to improve the quality of our business and not just focus on the quantitative measures at the cost of the quality.

Strategic objective – Financial

To improve the Society’s Run on Capital Employed.

Success Criteria

Increased levels of gross profit in real terms.
Effective management of costs incurred in the operation of the Society’s business.
Increased levels of free cash flow being generated to fund further development of the business.
Reduction in the level of net debt in the business leading to a strengthening of the balance sheet.

Strategic objective – People

To be the local employer of choice in retail.

Success Criteria

Increased retention of employees beyond their first year of employment.
A business that people chose to work for.
Increased job satisfaction in all employees.
A decrease in absenteeism through sickness and other factors.
Effective development of employees skills through continued training and development.

Strategic objective – Members

To increase the level of members involvement in the Society both economically and democratically.

Success Criteria

Increased number of members taking an active part in member elections.
Increased number of members shopping with the Society using their Starcard to accumulate member financial benefits.
Increased number of instore concessions accepting the Society’s Starcard.
Increased levels of communication with members on member and trading issues.
Improvement in the levels of member benefits awarded through the use of the Starcard.

Strategic objective – Internal Business Processes

To be an efficiently and effectively run business.

Success Criteria

A reduction in the proportion of the Society’s income being consumed by operating costs.
A reduction in the number of members ceasing to be economically active of democratically active.
Increased awareness of the Chelmsford Star trading brands/names in the communities in which we serve.
Increased number of members taking advantage of all three of our retailing activities i.e. Food, Departmental Stores and Travel.
Increased proportion of our turnover being attributable to members using their Starcard.

Strategic objective - Community

To add value to the local communities in which the Society operates.

Success Criteria

Increased level of community based activities and press releases.
Increased participation of Fair Trade goods being sold across our businesses.
Reduced volume of waste being generated from our trading activities.
Increased proportion of Society waste being recycled.
Increased level of turnover being attributable to locally sourced products.
Reduction in the consumption of electricity.
Reduction in the consumption of water.
Raised awareness of the Co-operative difference in our members and customers.
The formation of effective partnerships with Co-operative Trust Schools.

Chelmsford Star Co-operative Society - at the heart of essex	marketing@chelmsfordstar.coop
Society Registered No. 973R Essex