Convenience store veteran David Sands and his father Lindsay have gone into business with former Bellevue Cash & Carry owner Graham Benson and Colin Smith, the former regional manager for Bestway Direct in Scotland, to launch a new c-store in Musselburgh, Scotland.

The Pinkie Farm Convenience Store is being built on the site of a former farm on the outskirts of the East Lothian town, and will open in May.

Trading under the Pinkie name and supplied by Nisa, the 6,000sq ft store will retain the character, heritage and values of the existing adjacent Pinkie store, a traditional farm shop which has been sold alongside some of the farmland to the Pinkie directors.

The store will carry the strapline ‘Honest Local Value’ and will have a strong focus on fresh and chilled, including meat from a local butcher, fresh fish and locally-supplied fruit and veg.

It will also feature a food to go area, and in-store bakery and a café.

“It’s a true convenience store in every sense but much bigger and with a fresh and food-to-go offer that few c-stores are able to provide because of space restrictions,” said Smith, who will manage the store and is managing director of parent company Lothian Stores.

David Sands, who sold his David Sands business to The Co-operative Food in 2012 and has already revealed plans to open a new store in Glenrothes, Fife in March, added: “I’m confident that Pinkie will make a big impact on the Musselburgh retail scene and set a benchmark for the future direction of the convenience store sector in Scotland.”