Mutual retailer triples boss’s pay to £2.2m despite fall in profits
OurCoop raised chief executive Deborah Robinson’s pay to £2.16m even as sales, profit and debt worsened, prompting member criticism.
Intelligence analysis by GPT-5.4 Mini
OurCoop, the mutual retailer created from a series of mergers, has come under fire for sharply increasing executive pay while trading performance weakened and members lost their profit-share payment.
OurCoop is a shop business owned in a more shared way than a normal company. It paid its boss a lot more money this year, even though the business made less profit and sold less stuff.
That made many members upset. They expected the company to act like a team where everyone benefits together, but the boss got a very big raise while members did not get the usual profit-share payment.
It is a bit like a school group project where the team score goes down, but the group leader still gets a giant prize. Some people would say that feels unfair, even if the leader says the job got much harder after big changes.
Analysis
Pay rises during a weak year
OurCoop reported a sharp rise in executive pay at the same time its financial results deteriorated. Chief executive Deborah Robinson’s total package climbed to £2.16m, more than triple the previous level, helped by higher basic pay, an incentive award and a one-off discretionary payment. The group’s finance, technology and property officer, Selina Butterfield-Mashoofi, also saw pay rise steeply to £1.13m.
Weaker trading and member backlash
The retailer said sales fell 4.4% to £844.6m, trading profit almost halved to £4.3m, and net debt rose to £36m in the year to 24 January. Members have been frustrated that no annual profit-share payment was approved this year, even though shopping discounts were still offered. One member told the Guardian that the annual meeting did not clearly spell out the figures, and questioned whether accountability and co-operative values were being applied fairly at the top.
The company’s defence
OurCoop said the pay policy was changed because the old system no longer fit a period of rapid change, including mergers that created the larger group. It argued that it faced a real risk of losing senior leaders to headhunters during a critical transition. The company also said the executive team’s pay was approved by a democratically elected board and remuneration committee, and that members voted 85% in favour of the annual report and accounts on 20 May 2026.
The retailer also pointed to broader staff spending, saying it had put in an extra £8.5m to lift wages above the national living wage and improve benefits such as paid breaks, health checks, counselling and access to a virtual GP. Even so, the central tension remains: the business is asking members to accept heavy executive rewards while its core trading figures have weakened and some staff have been made redundant.
Key points
- OurCoop increased chief executive Deborah Robinson’s pay to £2.16m.
- Sales fell 4.4% to £844.6m and trading profit almost halved to £4.3m.
- The group said it faced major merger-related change and risked losing senior talent.
- Members criticised the lack of a profit-share payment this year.
- The company said members approved the annual report and accounts on 20 May 2026.
