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Farmcare Trading Limited
Farmcare
Company typeSubsidiary
Industry
Founded1896
Headquarters
Key people
Richard Quinn (Chief executive)
ProductsFood
Number of employees
240
ParentWellcome Trust
Websitefarmcareltd.com
Farmcare was part of the Co-operative Group from 1896 to 2014.

Farmcare Trading Limited,[1][2] trading as Farmcare, is the largest lowland farming organisation in the United Kingdom.[3][4] Farmcare traded as The Co-operative Farms while a subsidiary of The Co-operative Group until it was sold to the Wellcome Trust in 2014. Welcome decided to cease farming activities in 2017 and instead form partnerships with farmers.

History[edit]

The Co-operative Farms[edit]

The first farm was acquired at Roden, Shropshire in 1896 in order to supply potatoes to local societies' stores.[5] By 1918, the then Co-operative Wholesale Society already farmed a total of 32,648 acres (13,212 ha) across England.[6]

Following the merger of CWS and Co-operative Retail Services in 2001, CWS Agriculture became Farmcare Limited.[7] It was rebranded as The Co-operative Farms in 2007.

Wellcome Trust[edit]

On 4 August 2014, the business was sold to the Wellcome Trust for £249 million, to reduce The Co-operative Group's debt following its financial crisis in 2013.[8] At the time of the sale, The Co-operative Farms owned 39,533 acres (15,998 ha) of land organised as 15 farms, and more than 100 residential and 27 commercial properties.[9]

In 2017, Wellcome announced that they would cease farming activities and instead formed 12 partnerships with farmers and farming contractors.[10]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "FARMCARE TRADING LIMITED overview". Companies House. 29 July 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Farmcare Privacy Statement Oct 2018.pdf" (PDF). Farmcare. October 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2024.
  3. ^ Registered under the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965, No. 28966R
  4. ^ "Farmcare builds on its own identity following Co-op sell off". Farmers Guardian. 31 October 2014. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  5. ^ The foundations Archived 2009-03-21 at the Wayback Machine The Co-operative Farms (retrieved 21 August 2009)
  6. ^ The war years Archived 2009-03-21 at the Wayback Machine The Co-operative Farms (retrieved 21 August 2009)
  7. ^ Mutuals Public Register Financial Services Authority (retrieved 21 August 2009)
  8. ^ "Wellcome Trust acquires the Co-operative Group's farms business for £249 million". Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  9. ^ "Co-op sells farms business to Wellcome Trust for £249m". BBC. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  10. ^ Horne, Suzie (12 September 2018). "Farmcare hands over farming operations to new partners". Farmers Weekly. Retrieved 7 November 2023.

External links[edit]

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