United Co-operatives, the largest independent co-operative society in the UK – with a £1.9billion turnover – has bought Action Stations, which operates in the Yorkshire, north east and Nottingham areas. It has acquired seven sites – based at Wakefield, Pontefract, Ossett, Barnsley, Huddersfield, Retford and Sunderland – which form part of a business set up in 1994 by Paul Jervis. It has an annual turnover of more than £38m and employs more than 100 staff.

The acquisition will exand the Co-op’s network of c-store/service stations to 33 and boost fuel sales by 35 million litres. Tim Hurrell, general manager for United Co-operatives Food Group, said: “We are keen to expand our

business portfolio by purchasing further petrol stations with c-stores.”