East of England Co-op promotes COO Andy Rigby as acting chief executive

East of England Co-op on Thursday announced the appointment of Andy Rigby as acting chief executive for a minimum of 12 months.

Rigby joined the East of England Co-op in early 2022 as chief operations officer and has over 40 years’ leadership experience in senior executive roles across a range of formats in the UK, EU and international markets.

“Andy has proven himself to be a force for good in many ways for our Society in the time he has been with us; we welcome his appointment as we continue on our journey together to make a bigger difference in our communities and return to sustainable profit,” Joy Burnford, president of the East of England Co-op, said.

Rigby commented: “It is an honour to lead the East of England Co-op on our exciting journey which will continue at pace. Our focus remains on our customers, our colleagues, our members and our communities who we take great pride in supporting and serving, now and in the future.

“I’d like to thank our 3,000 incredible colleagues who continue to work so hard for our co-op and our Board too for their continued support, I’m excited and proud to continue to work closely with them to deliver our strategy. We’ve come a long way in a short-time and we have lots to be excited about.”

East of England Co-op Food store in Woolpit

Meanwhile, the regional retailer has also re-opened its Woolpit store after being refurbished as part of a wider £5 million investment by the retailer, including upgrades to the sustainability and food-to-go offering of its stores.

The refurbishments, which form part of the East of England Co-op’s portfolio reshape, improve the stores’ member and customer experience alongside their environmental impact with new eco-friendly refrigeration units.

The Woolpit store, on The Street, reopens with a larger store footprint, the East of England Co-op's much-loved serve behind in-store bakery, a larger chilled range and brand-new self-service checkouts.

This is the final refurbishment of 2024 and forms part of the retailer’s wider refurbishment of a total of 12 stores across the East of England which began in August.

“This investment in Woolpit has allowed us to enhance our member and customer offering through upgrades to store sustainability and improved shopping experience. This is part of our commitment to continue supporting the local communities these stores serve by providing quality products and exceptional customer service,” Rigby said.

“We want to do everything we can to minimise our environmental impact, which is why we’re placing a large emphasis on the stores’ sustainability throughout these refurbishments. These are crucial upgrades as we continue to invest in and reshape our wider portfolio.”

The East of England Co-op is the largest independent retailer in East Anglia with food stores, travel branches and local funeral service branches across Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire.