Supermarket chain Morrisons is gearing up to transform hundreds of corner shops throughout England into its own branded convenience stores.

The supermarket is set to launch 250 new “Morrisons Daily” convenience stores next year by allowing corner shop owners to turn their shops into Morrisons franchises, The Telegraph reported. 

The rollout will focus on locations where Morrisons is under-represented, such as cities in the south and the Midlands.

The move would represent a major acceleration of the grocer’s expansion plans, with Morrisons on track to launch roughly 160 of its c-stores this year.

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A Morrisons spokesman said: “We’re excited about the opportunity to expand further in this large and fragmented market.

“Over the last few years we’ve built a significant business of over 1,700 stores and we have ambitious plans in place to bring Morrisons Daily to more customers across the UK with a franchise model that enables us to add new stores faster, in a capital light way.”

Last month, Morrisons appointed former Nisa boss Peter Batt as its new operations director for convenience stores.

In July, the grocery giant also brought in enhanced terms for its independent retail partners as it continued to grow its convenience business.

Morrisons has been approached for comment.