About us

We are a member-owned, entirely independent, co-op society that operates across mid-Essex.

We have 40 food stores (co-op food), 2 department stores (Quadrant), 2 travel agents (co-op travel) and 9 funeral homes (co-op funeral directors)

‘150 Years & Counting’ was published in 2017

Co-ops are purpose-built to support the neighbourhoods and communities in which they operate. There is no box-ticking, or ‘being seen to do it’, it is just what we do. This support can come in the forms of investment, grants, donations, volunteering, gifts, or supplying whatever a group needs to be able to support others.

Chelmsford Star is just one of thousands of different, unique co-ops operating in the UK (there are millions across the world), and we’ve been doing good things for over 150 years. In 2017, when our peers nominated us as ‘Co-op Of The Year’, we published a book on our history up to that point called “Chelmsford Star: 150 Years and Counting…”

You can read an e-version of that book here.