Co-operative bank is more trusted than most banks

Co-operative bank is more trusted than most banksLord Paul Myners, who has been tasked with the responsibility to clean up the image of the Co-operative Group, has said that the group is still more trusted than most banks, shops and finance firms.

Lord Paul Myners said that the Co-operative Group still has huge potential even as recent events affected the image of its banking unit. He will earn just £1 a year for his job to help restore the group's reputation after a scandal including disgraced former bank chairman Rev Paul Flowers and the financial crisis at its banking unit.

Lord Myners will conduct a review of the group's democratic process and also the make-up of the board and the way it is chaired. He said that he will take lessons from John Lewis and Nationwide about the Co-op's management structure.

Lord Myners said: "With 8m member customers and more than five per cent of the UK grocery market, one of the country's biggest pharmacies and a bank that is now strongly capitalised, this group has enormous potential. It has been through a very rocky period and uncomfortable lessons have had to be learned but the strength of the underlying group and the commitment of its staff is extraordinary, while the executive team is first class. I see this as a company with huge potential."

Meanwhile, The Co-operative Group is planning to sell units in its business organisation in order to bring down its £1.3 billion of debt and strengthen its financial position. Chief executive of the embattled mutual, Euan Sutherland said that food retail business was the core of the group.