The Co-op has announced the opening of its next university franchise store at Keele University, in Staffordshire, in September.

Keele is the seventh Co-op franchise branch to open across six universities.

It already has sites in Kent, Leeds, Newcastle, Oxford Brookes and Stirling.

The new branch will be run and managed by Keele University Student’s Union and will serve students, staff and the local community.

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“As a residential campus, our retail offer is an important part of us being able to provide a quality experience for our students and wider campus community,” Keele University director of estates and development Phil Butters said.

“We continually review the services that we offer and are delighted to be forming this new partnership with the Students’ Union and the Co-op.

“As well as providing a new and refreshed retail offer on campus, we are excited to form a new relationship with a globally recognised organisation which shares many of our aspirations about Environmental Sustainability and Carbon Neutrality.”

Co-op head of channels Martin Rogers added: “Our university franchise stores are a great opportunity for us to grow our brand, share our values, and get our products into the hands of the next generation of customers and members and as the exclusive retail grocery store franchise partner for The National Union of Students (NUS) and we’re already serving c.150k students up and down the country.

“We’re delighted to add Keele to our ever-growing portfolio and are looking forward to welcoming those students and community in September.”