Jim Bonham set up his small business at the foot of the 28-storey tower in 1984. He employed five staff selling papers and sweets to the 4,000 insurance workers in the Miller Street building.
But 55-year-old Mr Bonham, from Adlington, near Macclesfield, was told he must quit his shop.
And today the Co-op was letting catering giant Sodexho, which operates in 76 countries with revenues of £7.75 billion, take over the small business he had built up from scratch.
Mr Bonham said the move was "a betrayal of the guiding spirit of the Co-operative movement" and typical of the business practices at the CIS since it became part of Co-op's Financial Services Group. "I have no idea how the family will cope with my losing everything I had," he said. "I feel utterly let down by the Co-op, which would never have behaved this way before the CIS was restructured.
"I'm afraid this is typical of the profit-at-any-price mentality of modern banking. I offered to pay them whatever rent increase they wanted - but they wouldn't discuss any of my proposals."
Realising he had no chance of staying on, Mr Bonham took legal advice and sought compensation. He asked for £75,000, which was refused.
Mr Bonham's lease expired last Tuesday, but he agreed to stay on until Friday to ensure a smooth handover to the Co-Op and Sodexho from today. He said: "All I asked for was goodwill. I built this business up from nothing and they just wanted to take over this ready-made business. Yes, my lease had expired and I hadn't a leg to stand on, but I thought they could have shown goodwill to me."
Last week he and his wife Julia handed 150 posters to customers of the Co-operative Bank in Corporation Street protesting at their treatment.
A company spokesman said Sodexho was ideally placed as it ran the adjoining restaurant.
"This was a straightforward business arrangement, whereby Mr Bonham agreed to provide a service to CIS for a set period, so the issue of goodwill is irrelevant," he added.
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Jim Bonham provided excellent service during my time at CIS. It is shocking that he has been forced out and Sodexho will only run the service down.
You only need to look at the way they operate in the rest of the country
Another ethically sound decision ? the CIS goes from strength to strength. I think the word loyalty has been deleted from their dictionary.
Whos next?...........
As a current employee of CIS I can only say that this non principled underhand treatment is symptomatic of the new CFS management style that is now endemic throughout CIS and the Bank.
I understand that the modern day business environment requires effective and efficient working practices, however, this should not be to the detriment of the current workforce.
On a personal level I am saddened by the abject disillusionment I see in my good friends and colleagues on a daily basis, unfortunately co-operative principles are no longer in evidence in our workplace.
I can no longer hold my head up high and say that I work for CIS, which is a real shame because up until a year or so ago I could.
(I choose to stay anonymous as CIS staff have been warned that any comments made to the media could result in dismissal if deemed inappropriate)
The co-operative principles made the CIS stand out as a company to both employees and customers. It's a shame that these principles have to be abandoned for the 'profit at any cost' mentality.