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# slef-reflections on the Cooperative Group
* Meetings
* Membership News
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* Weston-super-Mare Co-operative Shops
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### Meetings
### Half-Yearly Meeting
2007-10-16 (Permalink): I attended my first half-yearly meeting as a member of
[the co-operative group](http://www.co-operative.co.uk/en/) yesterday evening
at 7pm. The event for the strangely-named Kennet and Avon area was held at
Jury's Hotel near Queen Square, which is a part of Bristol I've not visited
for a while, so I got there a bit early to find it.
![the co-operative food, The Centre, Bristol](centrefood.jpg) I found it
easily, which gave me a few minutes spare to visit the co-operative food store
on the Centre (pictured), which is the first rebranded one I've seen. It looks
light and airy and the staff were friendly. I didn't find everything I was
looking for, but after exiting, I noticed I'd not seen around the corner of
the L-shaped store!
Anyway, the meeting itself was chaired by Peter Begley and was attended by six
elected reps, three regional officers, four trading managers (all food?) and
about 50 members by my reckoning. There was a comment later in the meeting
about the low turnout from Bath - it seems that a meeting for each city had
been requested and refused. There was also a comment about lack of transport
from Weston-super-Mare, about which I'm not sure: trains between WsM and
Bristol are at least hourly. Maybe there should be a shuttle between station
and meeting for people who can't walk, but it seems nuts to run a bus from
here when trains are faster and have space.
Officer Chris Griffiths gave a presentation (with loud music!) about our
community support, including windfarms on the co-operative farms, Farm to
Fork, the Woodcraft Folk, the Queens Award for Sustainable Development,
community chef visits to Ilfracombe and Bath, community challenge, Mukti
Mitchell's Low Carbon Lifestyle Tour, Fairtrade fashion shows, Holyland
Handicrafts Co-operative at Bath Christmas Market, BAND (D is for Daycare, but
I missed the rest), Toy Box Library Bath, Avonmouth Community Centre
Association and Oldfield Park Juniors.
Frank Jones presented [the business interim report,](http://www.co-
operative.co.uk/en/corporate/reportsandpublications/) noting that the group
has a 2.2% increase of revenue before reinsurance premiums, but the bad
weather has hit the insurance arm, reducing the overall profit. Nevertheless,
we still paid a total of 38 million pounds to and on behalf of members. [The
closure of WsM Dolphin
Square](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2007/coopgroup#closedwsm) and the gain
of the co-operative pharmacy in Milton were mentioned in passing.
There was a short presentation about the constitutional review. The first
members' consultation ends on 26 October, so send in your comments soon. There
was particular concern about some multi-thousand-pound payments to elected
representatives who stand down.
Then came member questions, which I'll describe in another post, approval of
past minutes, reports of the local [co-operative
party](http://www.party.coop/) (success in Bath+NES, 8 councillors in Bristol,
loss of 2 councillors in N.Somerset) and presentations to Frank Jones and
Simon Crew of 10-year elected service awards. The meeting closed at 9pm.
##### Posted by mjr 2007-10-23
![the co-operative half-yearly meeting,
Bristol](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2007/coop-hym.jpg) Belatedly, as
promised, here are the questions from the floor at [last week's half-year
meeting of the Co-operative Group Kennet and Avon
area.](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2007/coopgroup#hym) All errors and
omissions are mine, of course.
How do we defend against demutualisation and private equity attacks?
Our rules are now written so that demutualisation would require assets to be transferred to other co-operatives. Please comment on other ways to the current constitutional review consultation.
How can ordinary members get informed and involved in running the group?
Get items into network, call the regional office.
The consitutional review should give more power to meetings and make it easier
for motions and binding promises.
will forward this to the review.
Why did the group secretary suddenly leave?
The job had changed post-merger, with different responsibilities.
How can we stop the payments to voluntarily-retiring directors?
The area has made its point. The chief executive of CooperativesUK will look into this and there was a congress motion to look into this issue.
There's been no mortgage advisor in one local bank branch for months. Is this
indicative of the bank's attitude to mortgages?
No, it's disappointing. Please send details to the area secretary.
Please can we use geographic numbers instead of the expensive 0845 for the
membership enquiries?
Will forward and ask for a geographic number.
Is the constitutional review being rushed?
It's streamlined because the merger gives a pressing need, but we want member input.
Can we or do we promote credit unions in-store?
Yes, we can and do promote them to members already. Can set aside some space in-store if needed.
Does the co-operative travel insurance discriminate against over 75s?
will forward the answer when we have it.
The top management post-merger are all from United: is this a take-over?
no, 2 executives had clear intentions to retire already and the lower levels are more mixed.
Which? gave the co-operative food a D for organic produce: why and what will
we do about it?
Report from today's Guardian not yet seen. Expect to respond in next few days. The report may have compared convenience stores with larger stores.
Will ex-United travel agents become the co-operative travel stores?
Yes. There's a big big change coming, to be more of a community travel agent, restructured, with more phone and internet options.
Is the energy-saving policy to include refrigeration, lighting and IT?
This is a top goal, to improve refrigeration and lighting control. It saves the earth and saves money. Nearly all electricity is already "greener" electricity.
Do we own the freehold on the land previously occupied by a store at
Shirehampton?
Yes. Only a non-food retailer will be allowed in.
Why do elected representatives have to retire at 70 if still capable?
Please submit comments on it to the constitutional review?
Why was there no transport from Weston-super-Mare?
Will check the office records for requests.
Anyone see these themes appear at other meetings? Any comments on these
themes?
* Comment on this
### SW Regional AGM
I went to [the Co-operative Group's](http://www.co-operative.co.uk/) South-
west region Annual General Meeting in Taunton last Saturday (5 May) and I'll
be writing this up over the next few days. It's taken me that long to find
time to reread my notes. I'll try to blog the two bits that I think are
interesting to other regions today, because more AGMs are happening tomorrow.
![\[pic of agm panel\]](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2007/tcgagmpanel.jpg)
> "The AGM is one of only two [formal decision-making] meetings open to
members each year, when they can recieve information on the performance of
their Society, and hold their elected representatives to account. Afternoon
sessions will again be less formal, and include topics such as food retail,
ethics, our banking and insurance businesses, and healthy eating."
(from [A Cambridge Co-operator](http://cambridgeco-
operation.blogspot.com/2007/05/dont-forget-members-meeting.html)). There are
other meetings for members during the year, of course, but they tend to be
consultations and workshops and so on.
The meeting was opened by the Woodcraft Folk, who I didn't know much about,
but they seem to be like an outdoorsy co-operative youth club. Then there were
introductions by the chair, a presentation by Catherine Staveley (update:
found the name in another note) from group head office about ethics,
environment and community, the annual reports and then a motion:
> "This meeting is disappointed that we fail to declare our distinctive,
mutual, consumer ownership and ethical values in our trading outlets. In our
large outlets, wall space is left vacant and little attempt is made to promote
what we stand for. We undersell ourselves as an alternative form of business
enterprise which has principles.
>
> Therefore, we request the Regional Board to pursue the prominent display of
messages to proclaim our ownership structure and promote the causes
fundamental to our unique consumer appeal."
After many speakers in support and one against, the regional board came out in
support and the motion was passed overwhelmingly. Finally, there were the
questions and the report of the Party.
[Sam](http://cambridgeco-operation.blogspot.com) commented:
> "Quality motion. This is exactly the point that I raise at just about every
committee meeting I attend, but to have it formally supported by the wider
membership is a good step. If things don't improve soon, we should try that
line of attack in the Central and Eastern region."
One suggestion in the debate was to have a co-operatives fortnight, similar to
the fairtrade fortnight, to promote the Co-operative Group (tCG) membership,
other tCG businesses and other local cooperatives. Let's see whether SW can
lead the way again! ;-)
![\[pic of agm chair\]](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2007/tcgagmchair.jpg)
The question-and-answer session was pretty interesting. All of the questions
were submitted in writing. Some of them were submitted in advance and others
during the lunch break. No spoken questions were taken and most Insurance
(CIS) and Bank questions were held back because no-one from financial services
was there. The answers were grouped under a few headings.
Ethics, answersed by Catherine Staveley
1. CIS's voting record is public, but some details are buried under sustainabiliy on the group's corporate web site.
2. The panel were asked to define a few terms. By ethical, tCG means generally being "a good neighbour". Materiality is how much a business relates to tCG's aims and they think shelf penetration is how much space and promotion a product gets in the stores. The financial services profits aim to be all-ethical.
3. Members were asked to please take part in the consultations about the new food retail ethical policy.
4. tCG has a "triple bottom line" - in addition to looking at profits, we also consider our effects on our communities and sustainability.
5. tCG is leading the way on packaging minimisation: onion nets are already biodegradable, work continues on developing biodegradable fruit nets and a new light-weight (but still strong) whiskey bottle has just been launched. We'll see whether it's possible to give more dividend points for buying less packaged goods.
Food retail, answered by David Parker (regional food), Gary Metcalfe
(operations), Clive Netherway (top 100 stores) and Nick Lowe (sales and
support)
1. Local stores: Minehead Post Office contracts have been exchanged and planning permission granted in Budleigh Salterton - both sites should be ready in a couple of months.
2. There are new small stores at Amesbury, Ilfracombe, Perranport and Lyneham (where it's hurting Tesco Express more than anyone). tCG have also acquired 7 stores from Higgins, one from Savages and a petrol station with minimarket in Bath. Dawlish has just opened, giving a total of 14 new stores. In addition, 50 stores are being refitted in the south-west region.
3. The Falmouth store is a bit of a puzzle: whether to split the existing store or develop a nearby site.
4. tCG stores have outperformed the [The Institute of Grocery Distribution](http://www.igd.com) index for 15 months in a row and is now seeing growth-on-growth.
5. Problems with product stocking should be taken up with store managers first.
6. Home delivery has been trialled and failed several times, but is being trialled again in the new OCO stores. (What does OCO mean? There's one at Portishead.)
7. Supply problems with RSPCA Freedom Foods meats will be investigated.
8. The Westbury-on-Trim Stoke Lane store will only be expanded if its turnover increases.
9. Suppliers are still letting some stores down on delivery times. This will be re-checked.
10. The best response to the crocodile community projects of other companies is to strengthen tCG's community project funding in areas before other supermarkets open new stores.
11. Local produce is rarely stocked because of problems with availability and meeting tCG technical standards (I could almost hear the hackles raise at this answer!). Organic is only usually stocked in areas where surveys suggest the target audience lives (which I guess is why my tatty 60s store has more sweets and sugar drinks than fresh food). Similar biases exist for other ranges.
12. Missing product complaints will get written answers: Clipper tea and sugar-free Mintoes.
13. There was a complaint about the lack of notices about the unique status of co-op milk. (In short, [we own our farms](http://www.co-opfarmcare.com/) so our milk had better not be getting abused.)
Corporate questions, answered by Frank Jones
1. Compensations of the merged tCG/United Co-op societies are shown on page 12 of Stronger Together.
2. There was a question about a 10% profit target which I didn't understand. The answer was on page 13 of the annual report.
3. Party politicians were in the hall.
4. The results of the merger meetings were unknown at the time.
5. The Co-operative Funerals are derecognising the GMB union, which has worried many members. The comment from the floor was "there's usually one motive for derecognising a union"!
6. There's a 16% pay increase for executives who don't join tCG's pension fund, which is what would have been paid into the fund for them. Whether it applies to all employees will be checked and a written reply given.
Strategic questions, answered by David Doyle
1. Travel offers will be promoted in the food stores. tCG wants to avoid "silo" businesses which don't cross-promote with other businesses where appropriate.
2. Leaflets of other tCG and other co-ops should be stocked, particularly at festive times.
3. Offsetting CO2 is not a complete answer to climate change, but it was the only one of five suggested actions which was approved. Is the Co-operative Travel chain underperforming because it doesn't offer enough ethical choices? Some shouting from the floor about them still not offering European rail tickets.
4. The regional view of the United merger... This was nicely controversial, as it bloody well ought to be... There's no requirement for a tCG membership vote, so there will be no tCG membership vote. There was a hierarchical vote: very few of the Cornwall area turned up at the regional meeting in Bristol, but Devon and Somerset turned out in numbers and the south-west's delegates to the national meeting voted against 5 of the 6 merger resolutions, which were passed anyway. The chair stepped in and cut short the debate, stating that everyone knows the south-west is unhappy about certain aspects, like not having a choice on the first merged chief executive, but what's done is done.
Finally, a list of questions being sent for written answers were given by
Andrew North and the chair (was it Colin House? It's annoying to find one name
and lose another).
I [mentioned above](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2007/coopgroup#swagm) that I
didn't know much about the Woodcraft Folk. Ben Hutchings commented:
> "I was in [the Woodcraft Folk](http://www.woodcraft.org.uk/) for a while.
They're like Scouts/Guides but more liberal and PC. I think I fit in quite
well there..."
[Sam](http://cambridgeco-operation.blogspot.com) commented:
> "Some excellent questions, I might say. The 10% profit target that you
mention is probably the target for Return on Capital Employed (ROCE), which
was set at 10% by [the Co-op Commission.](http://www.co-opcommission.org.uk/)
This number is not displayed on page 13 of the annual review, but I think it
is calcuable from the information there."
I also noticed that Sam's excellent site has [a report on the Central and
Eastern AGM.](http://cambridgeco-operation.blogspot.com/2007/05/saturdays-
regional-agm.html)
[lorenzo](http://www.biffadigital.org) wrote:
> "This is a comprehensive report - right down to the sugar free Mintos. I'm
going to an AGM next week - so maybe i should do something in this interesting
vein instead of a four line summary."
michael harriott wrote:
> "Cheers for this. I was also at the AGM. Your report is very conprehensive.
Do you mind if i create a link from my blog to yours.?"
Of course you can link here. Let me know if you put something relevant on your
site, or spot something on another site and I'll link to it.
Michael's sent me a link to [his view of the Co-op Group from Devon](http
://devon-co-op.blogspot.com/) and it currently has a few comments on another
nearby major retail cooperative, PSW.
bill watson commented:
> "Excellent report. I'm a member of Co-op Group (Northern) and also United.
United is an extremely well run outfit with well maintained shops. They also
have about 30 petrol stations, mostly in Yorkshire and Greater Manchester. The
fear from United members, on the proposed merger, is that focus will be lost
and regional investment diluted. United are also trialing factory made shop
units which are erected on-site (similar to the way McDonalds do it). This
gives a turnaround time of about 16 weeks from start to shop opening. There is
one not far from me (Ditton) and it's very popular. The United website [United
Acquisitions](http://www.unitedacquisitions.co.uk/) gives lots of info on this
and other things."
I've mixed feelings on modular build (McStores?) - it makes the construction
greener, but there seems little information on the long-term energy use of the
store. Maybe it's simply unknown yet.
The offer of a finder's fee for new store sites is interesting. I wonder if
that will spread to the Co-operative Group after the merger.
As I understand it, the fear from tCG members is that we're getting a lot of
new members and a new chief exec who seems to have a very different focus to
the members. I'm sure we'd be happy to see well-run and well-maintained shops,
but will it mean even more centralisation and all the mistakes that means?
Like stocking no Somerset Cheddars in some Somerset stores, with the confusing
excuse that (as far as I could understand - see previously-mentioned answers
to AGM food questions) no supplier offers enough units that meet the
specifications or it's unsuitable for our type of stores ("Welcome").
I'm glad so many people liked my report, anyway.
Rounding off AGM season, [Sam reports on the national AGM](http://cambridgeco-
operation.blogspot.com/2007/05/group-national-agm-part-1.html) with [a second
part](http://cambridgeco-operation.blogspot.com/2007/05/group-national-agm-
part-2.html) and also mentions [more on the food retail ethical policy.](http
://cambridgeco-operation.blogspot.com/2007/05/food-retail-ethical-policy.html)
While considering food retail ethics, did you see [last night's BBC
Whistleblower programme](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6676345.stm)
about dodgy practices at Tesco and Sainsburys?
I don't believe the claims that this isn't widespread. I've not bought much
fresh stuff from them since a friend told me about discovering some of those
tricks during his time working in two of those stores. Most of the time, I buy
fresh from small independents, but I'm not going to link them here because I
don't like their web sites.
I'm glad the co-operative food wasn't on the BBC show, but I wonder how good
our labelling is at showing the source. It can't be that bad, as I've been
able to choose not to buy co-op's Kent-sourced Cheddar since moving to
Somerset, as I mentioned in the Food Miles topic of [the Climate Doctor Online
Discussion](http://www.co-
operative.co.uk/sw/members/getinvolved/onlinediscussions/previousdiscussions/climatedoctor22may07/)
yesterday (members only link). I was quite talkative in that, but hopefully
not too much.
It's not a very lively "live" discussion, because there's no way to see new
contributions as they come in or discuss things privately. It's like a web
discussion board from 1996, but less accessible.
Anne Betty commented:
> "From your report, OCO = Our Customer Offer
>
> I work on labelling of The Co-operative brand products, and it is our policy
to always include the origin of the main characterising ingredient(s) of the
product. It's not required by law though!"
Thanks for the clarification on OCO - I understand that means the aim is for
those stores to promote the co-op's distinctive features more clearly.
Sometimes us simple new members get bamboozled by the Co-op Group jargon.
I think the law on labelling should be changed. It's almost as important to
know where our food has come from as to know what it contains, else we cannot
make an informed choice. I'm glad the Co-op takes a lead on this.
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By the way, if you're a cooperative supporter and know someone who's looking
for a webmaster to develop their web site or help with email, or a system
administrator to run a server or network of computers, please let them know
about [TTLLP, my workers' cooperative](http://www.ttllp.co.uk/).
* * *
## Membership News
### Co-operative food stores ethical policy
2007-09-18 (Permalink): I just received the autumn 2007 edition of the Co-
operative Group's membership magazine. It came with a cover letter that
finally prompted me to answer [the food ethical policy
consultation](http://www.co-operative.co.uk/en/food/foodethicalpolicy/)
The announcement was covered in the Guardian under the slightly inaccurate
headline [How green do you want your bananas? Co-op ballots members on ethical
issues](http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/sep/03/food) and in the
Metro under the headline "Flight logo row" focusing on the criticism of the
Tesco and M+S branding (which I think was a little unfair in some ways). Even
so, it's good to see the Co-operative Group getting our message across and
wrong-footing the BBC's attack dogs, described in [Cambridge Co-operator:
Ethical Policy.](http://cambridgeco-operation.blogspot.com/2007/09/ethical-
policy.html) [Last time on five live,](http://cambridgeco-
operation.blogspot.com/2007/06/great-news.html) our man got a bit mauled.
Will this change make a difference, like it has to the Co-operative Bank? Can
an ethical policy persuade you to change where you buy your food?
[Simon Richter](http://www.hogyros.de/) commented:
> "Of course it would change my shopping behaviour.
>
> Trouble is, there are virtually no cooperative shops in Germany anymore
since the time "coop" went bankrupt over here."
I've not heard about that before. I'm still learning about English
cooperatives, let alone German ones. I had a bit of a look around and I found
[these German cooperative
federations.](http://www.ica.coop/members/index.html#germany) One of them
mentions [the end of AG in their history.](http://www.zdk-
hamburg.de/geschichte/aktiengesellschaften.html) but [the next
chapter](http://www.zdk-hamburg.de/geschichte/weiterhin-genossenschaften.html)
mentions that there are still many cooperative shops, including Sky-Markt and
[coop.de](http://www.coop.de/) \- are they still going?
I guess the comment above illustrates the concerns a lot of co-operative
members in the UK have about the Co-operative Group using the brands "co-op"
and "the co-operative" so heavily - they are only one co-operative, but when
they make mistakes, all co-operatives suffer. [My main co-
op](http://www.ttllp.co.uk/) doesn't have co-operative in its name, but that's
partly because we grew into being a co-operative for pragmatic reasons. That
may end up being a feature, not a bug.
[Simon Richter](http://www.hogyros.de/) replied:
> "The first article talks about the majority of cooperatives that reformed
into a publicly traded company under economic pressure, which went bankrupt
and in the end was sold off by the banks to the Metro group. Of those
cooperatives that weren't affected (because they were going well at the time,
so they remained independent, only one is left (the others are currently being
liquidated) which is slowly expanding over Germany, but haven't quite reached
Munich yet."
I hope the survivor expands quickly but safely to fill the gap left by the
collapse. Black holes suck.
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## Weston-super-Mare Co-operative Shops
As far as I know, we have food shops in Whitecross and Worle, funeralcare in
Oxford Street and a pharmacy in Milton. There may be others. It's a bit
confusing.
### Weston-super-Mare Co-op Welcome Closed
2007-08-16 (Permalink): Sorry, but I can't see how to make this post anything
but a bit negative: Along with a few million others, I own some shops. I
usually try to shop there. I go away for a few weeks and the picture shows
what's happened to my nearest food shop...
![\[picture of closed shop\]](coop-closed.jpg)
It's closed! Well, that's one less store for [the rebranding, [Cambridge Co-
operator]](http://cambridgeco-operation.blogspot.com/2007/08/sorry.html) but
it's a bit of a pain in the backside. There's no sign on the closed shop and I
saw no sign when I last visited it. There's nothing on the membership web news
and there was nothing in the last magazines. I've called the regional office
to find out what's happening and left a voicemail. I might email one of our
committee too, as I think they decide on closures.
I'm a bit unhappy about this. Now we're down to two medium/small food shops
that have really bizarre stock policies (for example, they sell filter coffee,
but no coffee filters) and are unable to order key ethical products.
[Sam](http://cambridgeco-operation.blogspot.com) commented:
> "Store closures are approved by the regional board rather than by the area
committee (which can merely comment on the decision - and perhaps try to argue
the store's corner).
>
> During my time (around 2 years) on the Cambridge and East Anglia committee,
closures in that area have only occured when loss-making has become really
entrenched, and there seems little hope of turning it around. How was the
store in question doing? Did you get the feeling that it was failing from your
visits?
>
> We used to get into real problems every time a major competitor opened
nearby, but we are getting better at responding well to this sort of threat.
>
> Getting in touch with your area representatives is a good idea - both to
complain if you feel that the closure was not communicated to
customers/members well enough, and to enquire about the reasons behind the
closure. Be sure to mention the stocking policies of the remaining Co-ops as
well - we really should be pushing for a decent ethical range in **every**
store."
The store seemed poor to me, with about half its space given over to drinks,
sweets and magazines, with only a few low aisles of normal food and household
goods. Its main entrance doors (visible on the left in the picture) had been
locked shut every time I visited it.
It seemed fairly busy with people popping in for sweets and papers, so I
assumed it was doing OK and I just had unreasonable expectations of finding
what I wanted there. It's a high street location near buses, hotels and shops,
not a residential area, after all. Now I've been told it was losing money
badly - maybe stocking what I want to buy wouldn't have been bad business.
To be honest, I'd started mostly shopping at the next nearest store
(Whitecross), because I'd have to go there anyway. Dolphin Square never
stocked all I wanted and was apparently unable to order it, so I'd stopped
trying it unless I was nearby. It's still disappointing to see it close rather
than correct. If only the members had had some warning, maybe we could have
helped put it right?
I've had a reply from a regional board member and the discussion continues. I
hope our other shops are not under threat. That's two I've seen close since I
started visiting Weston, although we've taken over at least one newsagent
/post-office too.
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## Press Coverage
### Co-operative Bank slapped for bad security
2007-07-11 (Permalink): I'm disappointed to see that [the Co-operative
Bank](http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/) was one of those chastised by [the
Information Commissioner](http://www.ico.gov.uk) for ["dumping customers'
personal information in bins outside their
premises."](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6287504.stm)
At least it wasn't the Co-operative Bank [I was calling stupid
recently](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2007/badtech#bankstupidity) and [its
online banking works with GNU.](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2007/banking)
I keep getting asked by banks (including the Co-op) and utilities to switch to
email billing, but they seem clueless about email security and none of them
have offered me encrypted email yet (OpenPGP or S/MIME). Email without
encryption is like post without envelopes - anyone along the route can read it
without asking. This leaves customers at risk of identity theft and worse,
even more so than dumping details into bins.
When will the information commissioner tell companies to stop exposing
customer details by e-mail billing and start using encryption? Would these
companies be allowed to post bills without envelopes?
2007-07-17 (Permalink): Daniel Jacobowitz asked:
> "Do these banks actually send billing information via email? The US banks
I've dealt with (and other things, like most utility companies) only send you
notifications to go to their encrypted web site to get your bill."
Good question. Actually, I don't know. I already have web access to my bank
statements, so it would be strange to describe that as **email** billing.
My emailed phonecoop bill is the actual bill as a PDF file attached to an
email, along with a zipped CSV file containing fuller call data. I don't mind
that being unencrypted too much because I download it from their mailserver
with TLS, which doesn't seem too risky. Another phone company sends me an
emailed bill as plain text, also unencrypted - I should go stop that one.
Looking at the other utilities, it seems like two of them send email notices
telling you to use their (horribly broken) web sites to get the bill, while
[the water company try to screw you if you sign up to their web
services,](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2006/wsm#phonenumbers) and don't seem
say how their system works.
So, I'll not be signing up for any more of these just yet. What idiots are
describing "email notices that ask you to download from the web" as email
**billing,** which UK companies actually offer proper email billing and do any
encrypt email yet?
### BBC Two's Money Programme
I wrote this yesterday:
> "Dear BBC Money Programme,
>
> I'm really surprised that [BBC Two's Money Programme "How Green is Your High
Street?"](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6245892.stm) correctly mentions
that the recent greenwashing of public listed companies is motivated by
shareholder returns rather than ethics, yet doesn't mention that cooperative
businesses **are** motivated by ethics.
>
> ![\[pic of agm lunch\]](http://mjr.towers.org.uk/blog/2007/tcgagmfoyer.jpg)
Nor does it mention that the UK's largest cooperative retailer, [the
Cooperative Group,](http://www.co-op.co.uk/) has been at the forefront of
moving its stores to renewable energy and developing friendlier food packaging
across its whole range, from biodegradable onion nets to thin-but-tough whisky
bottles. I think it's also the first high street retailer to commit to only
selling A-rated electrical appliances in its stores. It does this because it
is motivated by ethics as well as dividends.
>
> As a result, the Co-operative Group food stores are outperforming
competitors in the [IGD
reports](http://www.igd.com/CIR.asp?menuid=50&cirid=2297) and winning awards
such as the [Queens Award for Enterprise in Sustainable
Development.](http://www.co-operative.co.uk/en/media/news/theco-
operativewinqueensaward/) Why do you ignore this success of green and ethical
principles in your report?"
and this morning [Sam](http://cambridgeco-operation.blogspot.com/) notes [he's
seen the Daily Mirror report that the co-operative food came top in the
original research](http://cambridgeco-operation.blogspot.com/2007/06/great-
news.html) so will there be a nice present on the end of the TV show?
2007-06-28T09:53:00Z
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