Sainsbury's buys another five Somerfield stores

Sainsbury's has bought five stores from Somerfield, all of which will open as Sainsbury's by Christmas. This is in addition to the four stores Sainsbury's bought from Somerfield in August.

The stores are an average size of 11,000 sq ft (1,020 sq m) and have a gross asset value of£5.6 million. The 305 Somerfield staff will be given the opportunity to join Sainsbury's.

'We are actively seeking new sites to accelerate our store development programme under the leadership of our property director Peter Baguley,' said Sainsbury's chief financial officer Darren Shapland.

The stores are located at Littlehampton, West Sussex, Peebles, Scottish Borders, Pocklington, North Yorkshire, Yarm, North Yorkshire, South Shields and Tyne & Wear. This acquisition takes Sainsbury's total to 756 stores (455 supermarkets and 301 convenience stores).