North East Convenience Stores (NECS) is to be acquired by James Hall & Co, the Spar wholesaler for the north of England.

NECS operates 30 stores in the area around Newcastle and Northumberland with Nisa as its current main supplier, although the store chain and the distributor had already agreed to cut ties with effect from next month. The stores will be rebranded as Spar during the coming weeks.

NECS is run by brothers Naveen and Sanjeev Vadhera who will remain with the company as executive management, with NECS becoming a subsidiary of the James Hall Group. Each of the 30 outlets has a convenience range of products along with a wide range of services including ATMs, Paypoint, Payzone, National Lottery and several Post Offices.

James Hall currently owns 112 Spar stores under the G&E Murgatroyd division, and services over 600 Spar stores as the wholesaler for the north of England.

Andrew Hall, managing director of James Hall & Co commented: “We are delighted to have acquired such a successful and fast moving business and we welcome Naveen, Sanjeev and the 400 employees of NECS into the James Hall Group.”

Naveen Vadhera, managing director of NECS, said: “We are happy to have sold the business to James Hall & Co who completely understand the aspirations and ethos of NECS. We believe the synergies between the two companies will assist NECS as it continues to develop and grow over the next few years. Being fit for the future is the challenge for all retail groups at the moment and we believe that with the support and experience of the James Hall team and the strength of the Spar brand, NECS will be at the forefront of convenience retailing in the years to come.”

Sanjeev Vadhera, financial director of NECS, added: “Both Naveen and I are committed to convenience retailing and we look forward to seeing the NECS business thrive as part of the James Hall family under our continued management. We will be rebranding our convenience stores to Spar over the coming weeks and have an identified pipeline of new stores to open later in the year. Although there is a change of ownership, it’s strictly business as usual at NECS.”

Topics