Morrisons’ new ‘My Local’ stores threaten the independent sector

o an investment firm, Greybull Capital, for approximately a seventh of what they generate – £350m.

It is believed that Mike Greene, a current ACS board member and who has held senior roles at Spar and McColl’s, will front the convenience store deal with Greybull Capital. It is also understood that the chain will be rebranded from “M Local” to “My Local”.

The potential rebranding of the multiple has worried independent retailers. Kamal Thaker of Stop Shop News in Middlesex has five Morrisons stores in a five-mile radius, including one M Local. He said: “Greene, who’s behind the deal, has been in the game for a long time. He knows what he’s doing. ‘My Local’ seems to muscle in on the family value that independents provide and detract from the supermarket image.

They were dangerous anyway and now they seem even more so.”

But Morrisons posted a record £792m loss earlier this year, and has been criticised for being too slow in joining the convenience channel, lagging behind Tesco and Sainsbury’s, who muscled in on the convenience sector far earlier.

Earlier this year Morrisons hired a new CEO, David Potts, following its gigantic losses. From the beginning of his Morrisons career the CEO has focused on the traditional supermarket estate by closing 23 M Local stores and pledging to target price cuts rather than expansion.