On Monday 4th August, the Cooperative announced the sale of its farming operations to the Wellcome Trust, a charity that primarily funds medical and social sciences research, with the aim of improving human and animal health.

The Coop announced in February that its farming operations, which have a history stretching back over 120 years, would go under the hammer as part of a desperate bid to revitalise its business; the group posted losses of £2.5 billion in April, following what it described as a "disastrous year" in 2013.

As a result, the Co-operative will be focusing on its core Retail and Consumer Services divisions, including Food, Funeralcare, Insurance and Legal Services, and will float of other 'non-core' interests such as farming and pharmacies.  
Sale of the entire farm business, totalling almost 16,000 hectares of freehold and third party owned land, and including 15 farms, 100 residential properties and three packhouses, went ahead this week for £249 million. The group said it is pleased that the Wellcome Trust will continue to invest in and develop the farms business, while maintaining existing services for local communities, such as its educational programme.

Although the first Cooperative farms were intended to grow produce for its stores, now only two percent of farm production ends up in Cooperative Supermarkets; the farms are mostly arable operations.

Following the Trust's purchase of Cooperative Farms, the business will begin trading as Farmcare. All 250 employees will transfer with immediate effect, the Trust said on Monday.

The Coop was criticised in May for selling off its entire farming portfolio in one go, making community buyouts of certain farms impossible.

Richard Pennycook, Interim Group Chief Executive of The Co-operative Group, commented on Monday, "The sale proceeds will enable us to further reduce our debt and progress with the delivery of the clear strategic plans we have in place for our core retail and consumer services’ divisions.

"In the Wellcome Trust we have a buyer whose values are closely aligned to those of The Co-operative.  They have a proven track record in managing a sustainable investment portfolio, the proceeds of which are used to fund improvements in biomedical science and learning. I expect the farming business to continue to thrive under their committed long-term ownership."

Danny Truell, Chief Investment Officer of the Wellcome Trust, added that the Trust already has interests in UK property and farmland, and assured that it will remain a "long-term investor which values responsible stewardship over quick profits." Truell said, "We believe that we are ideally placed to develop and grow The Co-operative Group's farms and farm business while providing continuity, and are delighted to have acquired them in what will be one of the largest global deals of its kind."