Co-op defends culture and leadership after reports of ‘fear’ among senior staff

The Co-op has defended its culture and the behaviour of its bosses after reports said senior managers had complained of a “toxic” environment at the retailer.

The grocery and services chain said it does not believe the criticisms “represent the views of our broader leadership and colleagues”.

The BBC reported that a letter, claiming to reflect the views of a large number of senior managers, had been sent to the chair and another member of the Co-op board last month.

The letter raised complaints about a culture of “fear and alienation” with some senior staff members feeling scared to raise concerns about business decisions in front of the company’s management, including chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq, according to the report.

The BBC also said it had heard from sources at senior manager level who said they personally have felt intimidated or afraid to speak up to most senior executives.

Addressing the concerns, a spokeswoman for Co-op said: “Our culture, as a co-operative, ensured decision-making throughout has listened to views from leaders and colleagues across our food and wider business, whilst simultaneously acknowledging when a wide range of views are expressed, not everybody will always agree with the final decisions and actions taken.

“We do not recognise the critical comments referencing culture, leader behaviours and decision-making in our Co-op and do not believe that they represent the views of our broader leadership and colleagues.”

The letter reportedly raised concerns about organisational changes at Co-op following a major cyberattack last year, which impacted the group’s sales by more than £200 million.

Co-op created a group commercial and logistics (GCL) division as part of a new strategy aimed at pursuing store partners and buying opportunities.

This consolidated several commercial teams into a single unit and resulted in a senior leadership shake-up, with the recovery from the cyberattack viewed as an opportunity make changes to its structure and management to strengthen the business for the future.

But the BBC’s report said that senior managers told the broadcaster that the reorganisation of the business was partly responsible for weakening the business’s performance and that the impact of last year’s cyberattack can no longer be blamed.

It also referred to warnings from staff that the changes would cause confusion among suppliers and disruption to the business.

Co-op’s spokeswoman said: “Following the cyberattack in 2025, which had a significant financial and operational impact on our business, we took informed decisions at pace to bring back the customers we had lost during the period of disruption and ensure the business was set up for future success.

“Given the challenging nature of these events, we had to make many difficult and decisive choices.”

Co-op said all its businesses, including the food division, had now seen market share return to pre-cyberattack levels.

“Equally, GCL was established to significantly grow at scale our buying group and the opportunities from that are already driving positive results,” it said.

The company added: “Our colleague engagement remains high, and our culture and ethos mean we continue to engage with all our colleagues and leaders to ensure they act constructively and co-operatively for the long-term benefit of the business.”

Co-op is member-owned, meaning its approximately seven million members can have a say in how the business is run and can receive money, rewards and offers on the back of profits made by the group.