Co-operative staff record charity single
Staff from the The Co-operative Group including group chief executive Peter Marks have released a charity single in aid of Mencap.
The eight-piece band named Angel Square, has recorded its own version of the Take That hit “Greatest Day” to help young people with learning disabilities.
Featuring Peter Marks on drums the band includes Trevor Ashworth, director of Food Retail Logistics, on keys; Lee Braddock who is responsible for the Food Supply Chain, on bass; Eivind Brown in Food IS and Planning on rhythm guitar and; Dan Zambas from the group finance department who plays lead guitar and snyths.
In addition, vocals are provided by Kat Harper who works in Food Media and Communications, Caroline McCann from the group’s legal department and, Dan Harley, a category merchandiser within Food, who is the band’s musical director and lead vocalist.
The song is available for download and proceeds will raise money for the The Co-operative’s charity of the year Mencap and its sister charity ENABLE Scotland, to develop “Inspire Me” – a programme designed to give up to 20,000 young people with a learning disability opportunities to change their futures.
The group members all gave up their spare time to rehearse and, as well as launching the single, played a live gig in the heart of Manchester last Friday.
Angel Square, which is also the address of the Group’s new head office in Manchester, played a full set including hits by Maroon 5, The Black Eyed Peas and The Rolling Stones, to a sell-out crowd at the city’s Band on the Wall venue.
Keen drummer Marks, said: “I was once quoted as saying that if I wasn’t at The Co-operative, the only other job I would be interested in would be drumming for The Rolling Stones!
“I knew that the idea of a band formed entirely from co-operative colleagues had the potential to support our charity of the year. Given the great talent I see day in and day out in our business, I believed that we could form a really good band, but even my own high expectations have been surpassed by the talent in Angel Square.”
Laura Gammage, corporate development manager at Mencap, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the support shown by everyone in The Co-operative Group and are delighted that this charity single will be raising even more money for Mencap and ENABLE Scotland to help support young people with a learning disability.”
The single was recorded at Manchester’s School of Sound Recording (SSR) in November and released for digital download by record label Revolver which in its 30-year history has worked with a diverse array of artists including The Stone Roses.
The song is available for download from Friday, 9 December, from iTunes and all good digital music stores, priced 79p or go to www.angelsquareband.com
