ONE of the region's biggest employer will announce record sales figures and a big hike in profits on Monday.

North-Eastern and Cumbrian Co-op, which employs about 13,000 people, increased its turnover by just over £13m last year to £533.9m.

Trading profits before dividend leapt from £6.1m to £10.3.

The Co-op said £4.3m was handed back to customers through its dividend card scheme.

The healthy bottom line figure survived the closure in 1999 of superstores in Darlington, Benton on North Tyneside and Whitehaven in Cumbria.

Chief executive Neil Arnold said: "The disposals were part of a strategy to move away from the volatile superstore and hypermarket sector and to develop our strength in local community retailing.

"Our balance sheet was strengthened as a direct result and the move has enabled us to step up the number of extensions and upgrades at our stores throughout the region."

The Co-op remains the only supermarket chain which still has stores in the villages. Where some big names still steer clear of rural areas and even many town centres in favour of bigger and bigger out of town sites, the Co-op still prides itself on its role in the countryside, where the number of shoppers is small and distribution costs are high.

Sales at the Co-op's 113 North-East food stores between Whitby and Eyemouth in Scotland amounted to nearly £250m of the sales with the rest from the 32 stores on the other side of the Pennines.

The last few years has seen the North-East giant move more into community retailing with a string of smaller stores being opened.

Co-op Welcome stores, as they are known, are now trading in Newton Aycliffe, Bearpark, Sacriston, Wheatley Hill, Cockfied and Ashington.

The Co-op is also the region's largest undertaker, with 80 funeral homes conducting 12,000 funerals a year. And it has 25 dairies employing 1,300 people to deliver 1.5m pints of milk every morning.

It also has a part to play in the Co-operative Bank, the Co-op Insurance Services (CIS), chemists, the Shoefayre chain, the Priory Motor Group, 11 post offices, nine fishing co-ops, 14 agricultural co-ops, 80 credit unions and 30 housing corporations.