Co-op Members took part in a series of workshops to help develop ideas related to their membership at our first-ever Co-op Member Hackathon and got to see Paul McCartney live at Co-op Live for free!

Joining us from as far afield as Wigan, Leeds, Pontefract, and London, members spent the day at our Support Centre in Manchester helping to shape a variety of projects from a member perspective.

Our hackathon was a unique opportunity for Co-op colleagues and teams to work directly with members.

Members gave our Digital Discovery team an insight into how they connect in their communities and explored our member wine events with our Beers, Wines, and Spirits team. They explored and designing app games with Co-op Insurance, looked at membership perks at festivals and Co-op Live with our Partnerships team, and helped our Membership colleagues understand a bit more about the kind of membership we could offer young people.

As a thank you for sharing their thoughts, lending us their time, and engaging with the sessions, members were rewarded with free tickets to see Paul McCartney at Co-op Live that same evening.

What our members said
Members really enjoyed being a part of our hackathon (or Maccathon!) and said the chance to see Paul McCartney perform live was ‘an absolute dream come true’.

Here are just a few of their comments:

“I loved getting involved in this and seeing behind the scenes of what teams get involved in and how we can make improvements.”

“It’s not every day that you get to do something like this. The people we worked with, the topics we covered, it’s helping me as a consumer and the communities we live in.”

“The more I find out about the Co-op, the more excited I get about engaging more and more with it as a business.”

“It was nice to have an input into everyday things that we see and how that can shape our communities as well.”

Watch the video below to find out more about our hackathon and hear from Co-op Members on what they thought of getting involved.

What our colleagues said
As a Co-op, we’re owned by our members so it’s only right that we involve you in helping to shape your membership.

Here’s what our colleagues had to say about how working with Co-op Members at our hackathon event is helping them.

“It was really powerful to see members sharing their thoughts and ideas with us for a whole day to help shape the business they own. It was also a lot of fun!

“We had some insightful discussions with members on how we can make membership better for all young people.

“It was interesting to hear not just commercial benefits talked about, but also how young members connect to our social value purpose and how ownership can help teach life lessons and values. I’m excited to see how these learnings are taken on board!

Rebecca Blakesley, Community & Member Participation

“The hackathon was a great way for us listen to our members and use their insight to help create better experiences for them. We are proud to already co-create products with our members so it’s great to enhance this and listen to members for how we can raise awareness.

“The feedback from the hackathon led to our first-ever pet insurance game – ‘Match the purrfect pairs’ – in the app.

“From the hackathon, we were able to listen to what members wanted and create a game and prize experience that members want. And we’ve got a great backlog of ideas for future games and campaigns too!”

Azra Keely, Co-op Insurance

“Being able to show our members our end-to-end journey for our monthly online wine events and ask them to critique and give feedback on each touch point was invaluable. There have been some changes we’ve been able to make instantly.

“We’re now going to play back what we’ve heard to members who attend our online wine events to sense-check some of the bigger suggestions and ensure we’re still hitting the mark for them.

“Overall, the members who attended our hackathon have sparked some really exciting changes for our online wine events for 2025.”

Sarah Benson, Wine Buyer

There are always ways for Co-op Members to get involved in their Co-op. Head to your online membership account to find out what opportunities are available now.