South: The Southern Co-operative appoints BDO as its auditors

The Southern Co-operative has appointed accountancy and business advisory firm BDO LLP as its auditors. The Southern Co-operative is a successful independent co-operative, and has traded only across southern England for over 140 years. Earlier this year it announced annual sales figures of £327 million, a rise of 7.8% on last year. This is the fifth consecutive year that sales and profits have increased.

The Southern Co-operative is owned by its 147,000 members, employs over 4,000 staff and has more than 250 community stores and funeral homes across Berkshire, Bristol, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire, as well as a crematorium in SE Hampshire and a natural burial ground in West Sussex. It also runs an online home shopping business, Co-operative Independent Living.

The Southern Co-operative’s finance director Paul Rodford commented: “As a co-operative, our business has a purpose beyond profit with co-operative values to support and invest in the communities in which we trade. BDO came across as an excellent fit to The Southern Co-operative's business and way of working. They work on a local model that suits The Southern Co-operative; they had innovative ideas to help support our board and the governance of our business. Our business is expanding rapidly and we believe BDO are best placed to support us in this growth.”

Malcolm Thixton, partner and head of BDO in Southampton, added: “We are delighted to be working with The Southern Co-operative, clearly an important and successful business in our local community. We are pleased that the group recognised our sector expertise and commitment to delivering excellent client service that will ensure we provide the quality approach they require, adding value along the way.”