The Co-operative Bank

The Co-operative Bank plc

The bank's headquarters on Balloon Street, Manchester
Formerly	CWS Loan and Deposit Dept.
Company type	Public limited company
Industry	Banking & finance
Founded	8 November 1872 (8 November 1872)
Headquarters	Manchester, England, UK
Number of locations	50 (2024)
Key people	Nick Slape (Chief Executive Officer) Bob Dench (Chairman)
Products	Commercial banking Credit cards Loans Mortgage loans Retail banking
Operating income	£71m (2023) £133m (2022)
Total assets	£26bn (2023) £28bn (2022)
Owner	Coventry Building Society
Number of employees	3,350 (2019)[1]
Divisions	Smile
Website	www.co-operativebank.co.uk
Footnotes / references [2]

The Co-operative Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank based in Manchester, England. Established as a bank for co-operators and co-operatives following the principles of the Rochdale Pioneers, the business evolved in the 20th century into a mid-sized British high street bank, operating throughout the UK mainland. Transactions took place at cash desks in Co-op stores until the 1960s, when the bank set up a small network of branches that grew from 6 to a high of 160; in 2023 it had 50 branches.

The Co-operative Bank is the only UK high street bank with a customer-led Ethical Policy which is incorporated into the bank's articles of association. The Ethical Policy was introduced in 1992 and incorporated into the bank's constitution in 2013. The policy was revised and expanded in 2015 in line with over 320,000 customer responses to a poll.

Despite its name, the bank has never been a cooperative itself. In the 1970s it was registered as a separate PLC that was wholly owned by the co-operative society it was part of, in order to achieve its status as a bank among other banks entitled to use inter-banking systems. That society, The Co-operative Group, maintains some relationship with the bank, including managing the licensed use of the brand name "Co-operative ..." and maintained full and later partial ownership until 2017.

In 2013–14, after a merger with Leek-based Britannia Building Society, a failed attempt to buy a larger rival and a troubled commercial property loan portfolio, the bank was the subject of a rescue plan to address a capital shortfall of about £1.9 billion. The Co-operative Group, which had previously owned the bank outright, became a minority shareholder holding a 20% stake in the bank. Following restructuring and the formation of a new holding company on 1 September 2017, the Co-operative Group no longer had a stake in the bank and the relationship agreement between the two organisations ended in 2020.

The bank is a plc with debt securities listed on the London Stock Exchange. Its equity is not listed. The bank's sole shareholder is the Co-operative Bank Finance plc. The sole shareholder of the Co-operative Bank Finance plc is the Co-operative Bank Holdings Ltd which is a private company limited by share capital.^[3][4] The holding company is owned by hedge funds and other asset management companies.^[5] Coventry Building Society agreed to purchase The Co-operative Bank in May 2024, which is expected to be completed in early 2025 subject to regulatory approval.