Co-operative Group’s overall performance has been hailed as stellar by the group’s chairman, Allan Leighton. Speaking on the figures the company have reported in the last week, he noted that despite having to write off its financial arm, other areas of the business reported pleasing results. The core food stores, funeral homes and insurance businesses all made gains in customer numbers and market share. Last month, the company reported having a number of credible buyers to buy out the Co-Operative Bank.