Budgens is to experiment with a railway concourse offer in a joint pilot project with Anglian Convenience at Norwich. Budgens franchise operations director Norman Kears said the station format was likely to be a one-off, operated by Budgens Local retail group Anglian Convenience. The store, at the front of Norwich station concourse, is due to open on May 17. It will be branded Budgens rather than Budgens Local. Kears said: "This particular site was too good an opportunity to miss. "Budgens is not specifically targeting railway stations, although we are watching Marks and Spencer as it moves onto the station forecourt." Anglian Convenience operations director Peter Head said the focus of the 2,000 sq ft store would be on fresh food and impulse lines. He said: "We expect two main peaks in trade ­ commuters in the early morning picking up cigarettes, snacks and sandwiches, and homeward commuters doing a small top-up shop. Around 14,000 commuters pass through Norwich every day." Budgens signed up Anglian Convenience to its franchise scheme for independent retailers last March and the chain now runs 23 of Budgens' Local stores. Budgens had planned to open 50 Locals by August this year, but is still only on a total of 28. Kears said: "We are not hitting the numbers we'd like to hit with Local, because we have to protect our brand by licensing it for use only at the right sort of site. "We hope to be near 50 by August, however, because we have a number of stores in the pipeline." l Anglian Convenience, a former Alldays franchisee, was rated number 43 in The Grocer's Top 50 survey of independent grocery retailers. See page 34 for more details. {{NEWS }}

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