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Case study > Partnership power
Co-op and Water Plus
delivering greater impact together
The Challenge
Transforming water management and community outcomes
The Co-op, which operates the largest number of convenience stores in the UK, needed a trusted partner, with the experience and skills to transform its portfolio management and take its actions with water use and efficiencies to the next level.
Cherry Lawn, Co-op Supplier Relationship and Contract Compliance Manager, said: “At the Co-op, we also believe investing in water security – sustainable, resilient water resources and services – is the best way to address climate vulnerability and inequalities and reduce the effects of climate change.”
Co-op Academies Trust Community Development Managers also needed a proactive team to help deliver their ambitions to open up outside learning spaces, to help children to grow their knowledge, skills and build awareness around the environment.
The solution
Delivering savings, resilience and community impact
There has been a number of stages in the collaborative customer partnership.
Data loggers installed on water meters at Co-op sites, through services Water Plus can provide, have helped find savings and reduce risks, building operational resilience.
The collaboration with the Co-op has already saved 15 of their sites an estimated 755 litres a day, from water efficiency improvements, along with improvements to processes around leak identifications. The water-saving could fill 15,100 teacups in 5 days.*
In community actions together, volunteers from Water Plus helped get two school environmental gardens ready, opening up green spaces so more young people can learn about climate actions to help communities and the planet. They got the gardens ready to be learning spaces in 2026, at the Co-op Academies.
Lisa Moore, a Key Account Manager working with Co-op, said: “In our partnership with Co-op we’ve looked at higher consuming sites and ways of working together to save time, reduce costs and make managing their broad portfolio of sites easy.”
Cherry Lawn, Co-op Supplier Relationship and Contract Compliance Manager, said: “We are founding supporters of WRAP’s Roadmap towards Water Security for Food & Drink Supply, which gives us a way of working collaboratively with peers, suppliers and local delivery bodies to help achieve sustainable water management in some of the most water-stressed food sourcing areas in the UK and overseas.”
Lisa Moore, Water Plus Key Account Manager, with Frazer Guderre, another Water Plus Key Account Manager at a Co-op suppliers event in 2026.
Photo credit and copyright: Water Plus.
The results
Driving efficiency, savings and social value
Water-savings and efficiencies have been delivered for the Co-op, with the partnership work continuing to build progress and results.
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The work together, insight and industry knowledge provided through the Water Plus team has found a £415,000 reduction in wholesaler charges, following a portfolio review.
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Reduced administrative workload at the Co-op by approximately 10%, through actions by Water Plus team.
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Water Plus volunteers helped to get green learning spaces ready for schools.
Cherry Lawn, Co-op Supplier Relationship and Contract Compliance Manager, said: “Our Water Plus Account Manager has delivered a step change in how our national water portfolio is managed. They quickly established control, reducing operational noise and bringing clarity through the introduction of robust reporting and intuitive dashboards, which have significantly improved visibility across our sites and portfolio churn.”
Water Plus’s customer work, in the last year, was also recognised in The Co-op Difference Awards 2026, as they were named finalists in the Co-operation Champions category.
Lisa Moore, a Key Account Manager working with Co-op, added: “We’re carrying out further work together to find more efficiency opportunities across the 3,000+ full portfolio the Co-op has. It’s great to team-up with a customer that’s so passionate about managing water resources in an efficient and responsible way.”
Water Plus provides the opportunity for its staff to volunteer for a day each year and its actions to help communities include gathering foodbank donations, supporting a girls and ladies football league and raising money for the Teenage Cancer Trust.
The Co-op, which grew its number of food stores in 2025, and Water Plus are also Great Big Green Week Partners, including in 2026, to help communities to take greater steps around climate action, to help the environment and to care for natural resources we all rely on.
More details on ways to save water and actions in the community by Water Plus, at: https://www.water-plus.co.uk/about-us/corporate-social-responsibility-sustainability/
Additional information
* 15,100 teacups holding 250ml each could be filled with water saved in 5 days from the actions at 15 sites.
Volunteering by Water Plus employees took place at Co-op Academy Grove and Co-op Academy Friarswood, in 2026.
15 Co-op sites were helped by Water Plus to save water between September 2024, to February 2025, saving an estimated 755 litres a day. Sites included a Co-op Academy, Co-op Food stores and Co-op Funeralcare sites. Visits and water efficiency kit funded by United Utilities, as part of a large-scale water efficiency approach.
The Co-op is the fifth biggest food retailer in the UK and the world’s largest consumer co-operatives, owned by more than 5 million members. The Co-op is also the largest grocery chain in the UK (as of 2026) with 2,400 locations. More about the Co-op at: www.co-operative.coop/who-we-are
