The business is owned and democratically controlled by its members who can stand for election to the board and who also share in the society's profits.

Approved by members on 4 and 18 November, legal completion of the merger took place on 1 December, with the Anglia Society transferring engagements to Midlands Co-operative.

Headquartered in Peterborough, the Society principally traded in the eastern counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, although it had gained wider outreach through the acquisition of co-operative department stores in Yorkshire and the South East of England.

Following divestment of the Westgate department store and AHF businesses to J E Beale and the UKs largest worker co-operative, Anglia Home Furnishings Holdings, in 2011,[7] Anglia Co-operative operated 27 retail stores, eight petrol stations, 21 travel agents, three opticians, a hair salon and 29 funeral homes.

[8] The Society's principal activities are grocery retail, petrol stations and funeral services, although it also has interests in coffin manufacture, florists and manages a significant investment property portfolio.

A distribution centre in Leicester supplies 235 supermarkets and convenience stores and also provides a service to neighbouring Heart of England and Tamworth co-operative branches.

[12] On 29 July 2022, the Society opened its food store in the newly refurbished Wolverhampton railway station.

Trading as Westgate Opticians, it carried out more than 200 eye examinations each week until the closure of the Beale's Department Store in Peterborough in 2020.

[23] Because of its co-operative structure, the Society has a set of values and principles which require the business to operate responsibly and to share its profits with its members and their communities.

[25] Previous organisations which have received grant have included the Chesterfield Sea Cadets, the East Anglian Air Ambulance and a Cambridgeshire project to rehabilitate injured firefighters.

[26] Research by Co-operative News showed that in 2013 the amount given to the communities in which it trades in grants, donations and fund-raising by staff and members was equivalent to 8.7% of its pre-tax profits for the year.

The charity aims to provide specialist equipment for disabled and terminally ill children in the Midlands and East Anglia.

The society also has food-sourcing commitments including the responsible sourcing of fish, free-range eggs and clear food-labelling.

[34] The co-op ran its first online and postal election using the new system in April 2014, with all members who have held a £1 share for six months being eligible to vote.

Meetings are held at a number of locations across the trading region of the society including Leicester, Stafford, Kettering and Birmingham.

Conversely members of other societies can earn points whilst trading with Central England Co-operative as long as they present their membership card.

Table contents correct as of July 2015 [35] The Society supports a number of charities and invests a percentage of its trading profit in local communities.

Members can apply for a grant to a local cause or charity that would benefit under the Making a Difference community dividend scheme.

[37] The following local party councils are funded by Central England Co-operative to organise political activity: