Exclusive Julian Hunt A new convenience store brand is being rolled out across the UK by TM Retail. The group ­ best known for its Forbuoys and Martins CTN chains ­ has opened 24 McColl's c-stores and expects to have a further 60 up and running later this year. Marketing director Paul Baxter explained that as the company converted its CTNs to a convenience format they would adopt the new brand. "We are testing whether there is any benefit in terms of a sales uplift to rebranding our existing c-stores as McColl's," Baxter added. But he said TM did want all its c-stores to eventually be trading as McColl's. TM has more than 250 c-stores trading under either a Forbuoys or a Martins Early to Late fascia. The McColl's brand had been developed on the back of a store segmentation project undertaken by TM Group, said Baxter, and was suitable for both neighbourhood stores and express outlets. The name had also tested well in consumer research, he added. "Our suppliers tell us this is the best c-store format they have ever seen," claimed Baxter, "The stores are modern and fresh. And all the lessons that have ever been learnt about c-stores have been applied to McColl's." He admitted what the company was doing was not rocket science, but said it was "very happy" with the sales performance of the first stores to be opened. The group does have a handful of c-stores trading as RS McColl, developed by Martins before it was acquired by TM Retail in 1998. However, Baxter said the new brand was radically different from RS McColl which he said was very "newsagenty". {{NEWS }}