 This was also retained when the subsequent Ipswich and Norwich Co-operative Society merged with the Colchester and East Essex Co-operative Society 2005 to form the East of England Co-operative Society (EECS).Thus the EECS celebrated its 150 birthday in 2018.Attempts had been previously made to found a co-operative society in Ipswich in the 1840s and again in 1858, which lasted for five years before collapsing.