The Co-operative Group. The Group's roots are traced back to the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, established in 1844.[5] The Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers was based on the Rochdale Principles – which notably introduced the idea of distributing a share of profits according to purchases through a scheme which became known as the dividend or "Divi".

The business's core for much of its history were its wholesale operations. This began in 1863 when the North of England Co-operative Wholesale Industrial and Provident Society Limited was launched in Manchester by 300 individual co-operatives in Yorkshire and Lancashire. By 1872, it was known as the 'Co-operative Wholesale Society' (CWS) and it was wholly owned by the co-operatives which traded with it.In an attempt to drive down the significant cost of transportation for produce the CWS even began its own shipping line One of the CWS' steamships, the Pioneer, was the first commercial vessel to use the Manchester Ship Canal.

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