Martin McColl, the convenience store and newsagent operator, has reached an agreement with Nisa to supply its larger convenience stores.

Under the new arrangements about 330 out of the total 670 McColls convenience stores will see supply switch from Palmer & Harvey to Nisa over the next six months. All other Martin McColl stores will continue to be supplied by Palmer & Harvey under a new contract.

Martin McColl said the change would help to accelerate the rollout of the new McColls format.

James Lancaster, chairman and CEO of Martin McColl, said: “We believe that Nisa’s emphasis on quality fresh and chilled food, together with their wide ranges of ambient and chilled own label products, will enhance our convenience store offering to existing customers, attract new customers and significantly grow sales.

“As the business continues to grow with the development of convenience as the key part of our strategy, we believe this is the right time to review our supply arrangements and take this step forward.

“We see this as an exciting opportunity to take McColl’s to a new level in satisfying our customers’ every day shopping needs. We look forward to working with Nisa to further improve and develop our customer offer.”

James Roberts, Nisa’s head of commercial operations and member service, added: “We are delighted to welcome Martin McColl as a member of Nisa and very much look forward to developing our service to the stores covered under this agreement.

“Our extensive product range and well established Heritage own label means we are well placed to provide an unrivalled service to McColl’s larger convenience store estate. It is clear there is synergy between the two businesses, with Nisa’s business model ideally suited to the convenience format store and McColl’s keen to develop this area of its business.”