If you’re a Manchester resident, you’ll be familiar with the all-singing, all-dancing, brand-spanking-new Co-op headquarters. In much the same way that London’s City Hall squats on the banks of the Thames, One Angel Square looms over Victoria Station, its solid glass bulk in stark contrast to the company’s iconic 1960s CIS Tower just over the way.
The UK’s largest building when it was completed in 1962 (this title was later claimed by the capital’s Millbank Tower), the former home of The Co-operative Group is a relic of a bygone age. To step inside is be transported back to the grey vision of mid-20th century town planners. Once a jewel in Manchester’s architectural crown, it is now a depressing reminder of the Co-op’s fall from grace.
Pity the Co-op. From the disastrous tie-up with Britannia Building Society in 2009 and the millions set aside for payment protection insurance mis-selling to the scandal surrounding its former chairman Paul Flowers and its woeful financial strength, today’s Co-op is a far cry from the The Co-operative Wholesale Society.
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