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Co-operative Group is looking to dispose of 126 local stores, in order to gain approval from the Office of Fair Trading for the £1.6bn acquisition of Somerfield. 21-Oct-2008 Co-operative Group is to acquire Somerfield, the Bristol-based chain of 880 supermarkets, for £1.6bn, and up to 120 stores are expected to be sold on to other retailers. 17-Jul-2008 Somerfield is to sell seven supermarkets to Tesco for about £100m, and is still seeking a buyer for the remainder of the 900 stores. 31-Mar-2008 Somerfield is to close its supermarket in Stirling in February with the loss of up to 68 jobs. 24-Jan-2008 Somerfield is planning to expand its chain of 900 supermarkets with 250 new stores over the next three years. 17-Dec-2007 Somerfield has acquired the leases of five former Fopp music stores in Reading, Eastbourne, Brighton, Lincoln and Camden. 03-Sep-2007 Somerfield is planning to rebuild 60 of its 140 forecourt stores by April 2008, in order to convert them into small convenience stores. 01-May-2007 Wincanton is to close distribution depots operated on behalf of Somerfield in Ross-on-Wye and Tewkesbury, with the possible loss of up to 510 jobs. 01-Feb-2007 Somerfield is planning to outsource its IT department to India, with the loss of up to 120 jobs in Bristol. 15-Nov-2006 Sainsbury's has bought four supermarkets in Bodmin, Sleaford, Canvey Island and Northallerton from Somerfield, with the transfer of 300 staff. 04-Aug-2006 Somerfield is to sell nine convenience stores in Aberdeenshire to the Lothian Borders & Angus Co-operative Society for undisclosed terms, with the transfer of 190 staff. 07-Jul-2006 Somerfield is planning to reformat 94 recently-acquired forecourt stores under the Somerfield Essentials brand. 15-Jun-2006 Somerfield is planning to shed at least 500 of the 1,800 jobs at its headquarters in Bristol. 02-Mar-2006 Somerfield is to sell 19 Kwik Save supermarkets to Netto, 20 to Aldi, seven to Lidl and 171 to the Back to the Future consortium, while the remaining 102 will be converted to the Somerfield format. 27-Feb-2006 Somerfield has confirmed plans to close its Exel-operated distribution centre in Rainham, Essex, in April, with the loss of up to 160 jobs. 12-Jan-2006 Somerfield, the chain of 1,300 supermarkets, is to be acquired by a consortium led by Apax Partners for £1.1bn. 17-Oct-2005 Somerfield has sold its Mace wholesale operations in Scotland to Palmer & Harvey McLane, which is expected to lead to the closure of the Aberness Service Centre in Aberdeen with the loss of 75 jobs. 30-May-2005 Somerfield is planning to roll out a further 50 Market Fresh convenience stores by next year. 23-May-2005 Somerfield is to acquire 22 forecourt convenience stores from Fuelforce for £1.5m, and will invest £20m in the redevelopment of its total chain of 184 forecourt stores over the next two years. 09-May-2005 Somerfield is planning to expand its chain of 48 Essentials convenience stores with a further 23 sites over the next year. 14-Mar-2005 Somerfield is planning a sale and leaseback deal with Palmer Capital Partners and Deutsche Property Asset Management for the 140 forecourt convenience stores acquired last week from Texaco. 24-Feb-2005 Somerfield has agreed to acquire about 140 forecourt convenience stores from ChevronTexaco for an estimated £90m. 17-Feb-2005 Somerfield, the chain of 1,250 supermarkets, has received a £1.03bn takeover approach from Baugur. 10-Feb-2005 Morrisons is to sell 114 Safeway stores and a distribution centre in Welwyn to Somerfield and Northwharf Investments, in two deals worth £260m. 26-Oct-2004 Morrisons is planning to sell up to 120 smaller Safeway stores to Somerfield for about £250m. 18-Oct-2004 Somerfield is to close 22 Kwik Save stores in Scotland and a depot in East Kilbride with the loss of up to 650 jobs, and a further 29 will be converted to the Somerfield format. 06-May-2004 Somerfield is planning to covert more than 40 stores to its new Essentials and Market Fresh formats. 29-Mar-2004 Somerfield has acquired Aberness, the operator of 36 convenience stores in Scotland with net assets of £4.8m. 19-Mar-2004 Somerfield is considering plans to create a network of franchised supermarkets, in order to accelerate expansion and reduce costs. 22-Jan-2004 Somerfield and TM Retail are considering plans to expand their joint Somerfield Martin's convenience store format to 200 TM sites. 17-Nov-2003 Somerfield is to shed 50 jobs at its headquarters in Bristol, in order to transfer invoice processing work to India. 22-Sep-2003 Somerfield is looking to acquire about 100 forecourt sites over the next three years, and also wants to downsize about 50 supermarkets and sub-let the surplus space to complementary retailers. 07-Jul-2003 Somerfield has received a £500m bid approach from a consortium that could be interested in the break up of its store estate. 16-Apr-2003 Somerfield and TM Retail are forming a joint venture to open six convenience stores under the Somerfield fascia. 10-Feb-2003 Somerfield is forming a partnership with Margram to operate convenience stores on petrol station forecourts, starting with 12 sites in the south-east. 27-Jan-2003 Somerfield is to increase capital expenditure to £170m this year, and 100 stores have been selected for refurbishment. 04-Jul-2002 Somerfield is to close the Kwik Save distribution centre in Newport in October with the loss of 202 jobs, and the work will transfer to its Ross-on-Wye depot. 28-Jun-2002 Somerfield has won permission from St Helens Council to build a 600,000 sq ft regional distribution centre at Lea Green Industrial Estate, with the creation of 500 jobs. 12-Mar-2002 Somerfield is to invest £6.5m converting six London-based Kwik Save outlets into the Somerfield convenience format. 11-Mar-2002 Somerfield is to further separate its Somerfield and Kwik Save supermarket chains by making both divisions responsible for their own marketing. 05-Feb-2002 Somerfield is in talks with the North West Development Agency and the London Development Agency about the possibility of setting up new distribution centres in Crewe and east London. 16-Jul-2001 Somerfield is to double capital expenditure to £140m this year, in order to refurbish 330 stores. 04-Jul-2001 Somerfield is planning to invest up to £800m in the refurbishment of its stores over the next five years, in order to improve layout, shelving and merchandising. 22-Jan-2001 Somerfield is planning to develop a new distribution site in St Helens, and up to 780 employees will relocate from existing sites in nearby Sutton and Ashton. 01-Aug-2000 Somerfield is planning to close its 24-7 home shopping business due to a lack of demand. 15-Jun-2000 Somerfield has dropped plans to sell its 305 Kwik Save stores, having failed to attract high enough bids from venture capitalists. 19-Apr-2000 Somerfield is to open distribution centres in London, Croydon, Manchester, Chelmsford and Basingstoke this year, as part of a nationwide expansion of its 24-7 home delivery service. 03-Apr-2000 Somerfield is to use its delivery fleet to provide a food distribution service for small stores throughout the country, as part of a strategy to focus more on neighbourhood retailing. 14-Mar-2000 Somerfield, the food retailer, has received a takeover approach from an unnamed company. 07-Mar-2000 Somerfield has invited all 1,800 staff at its Bristol head office to apply for voluntary redundancy, and aims to cut several hundred jobs as part of a sell-off of about 140 larger Somerfield and 370 Kwik Save stores. 22-Feb-2000 Somerfield has agreed the sale of 45 of its large stores for £305m, with Waitrose and the Co-operative Wholesale Society taking 11 each and the rest going to the other leading supermarket chains. 27-Jan-2000 Somerfield is planning to sell about 500 of its 1,422 stores due to problems with the integration of the former Kwik Save outlets, and now aims to focus on neighbourhood food retailing. 12-Nov-1999 Somerfield is looking to sell more than 200 of its largest stores in order to raise up to £500m to invest in convenience retailing. 09-Oct-1999 Somerfield is planning to relocate its team of fruit and vegetable buyers from Rainham to its Bristol headquarters. 18-Sep-1999 Somerfield is to build five new regional depots over the next three years at a cost of £100m, and sites are being considered in St Helens and Bridgewater. 11-Sep-1999 Somerfield is planning to offer additional services when it launches its home shopping business later this year, and possibilities include dry cleaning, ticket booking, and shoe repairs. 28-Aug-1999 Somerfield has awarded a £25m contract to Tilbury Douglas for the construction of a distribution depot at Sherburn-in-Elmet in Leeds. 22-Jul-1999 Somerfield has announced the creation of four separate trading divisions - Somerfield, Somerfield Convenience, home shopping and Kwik Save. 16-Jul-1999 Somerfield is to roll out its home shopping business nationwide from September, under the Somerfield 24-7 brand, and has also announced plans to open another 50 mini-stores at Elf petrol stations over the next 18 months. 02-Jul-1999 Somerfield is set to award a £25m contract for the construction of a distribution depot in Leeds. 20-May-1999 Somerfield has acquired Flanagans, the London-based grocery delivery business, for £3.2m, as part of an expansion of Somerfield Direct that will also include two new warehouses and 300 delivery vans. 23-Mar-1999 Somerfield is to build a distribution depot near Selby in North Yorkshire with the creation of 600 jobs, as part of a plan to set up four such facilities throughout the UK. 12-Mar-1999 Somerfield is to start a home shopping service on British Interactive Broadcasting's shopping channel in the autumn. 13-Feb-1999 Somerfield has announced plans to expand its petrol forecourt retailing business in partnership with Elf, as part of a £25m investment programme that will create 1,500 jobs over the next 18 months. 19-Jan-1999 Somerfield has introduced a Wines Direct service, in which customers use a freephone number and the goods are delivered within two days. 12-Dec-1998 Somerfield has agreed a £25m deal to open up to 50 grocery stores on Elf petrol station forecourts over the next 18 months, creating 1,500 jobs. 19-Nov-1998 Somerfield is preparing to launch a home shopping service though a nationwide network of dedicated warehouses, and it is currently looking for suitable sites. 02-Oct-1998 Somerfield is to introduce home entertainment centres at 180 of its supermarkets, offering music and videos. 26-Sep-1998 Somerfield is to recruit a further 100 staff for its computer department in Bristol. 12-Sep-1998 Somerfield has withdrawn from discussions on a possible takeover of the Booker food distribution group, due to concerns over the possible commercial risks of such a deal. 29-Aug-1998 Somerfield is in merger discussions with Booker, which would create a food distribution and retailing business with sales of more than £11bn. 18-Aug-1998 Somerfield is planning a £1bn investment programme, that will involve the creation of 5,000 jobs and the conversion of more than 800 recently-acquired Kwik Save stores to the Somerfield format. 10-Jul-1998 Dairy Farm International has placed its 11% stake in the merged Somerfield/Kwik Save food retailing business with institutional investors for £180m. 25-Mar-1998 Somerfield and Kwik Save have agreed a £1.4bn merger that will lead to the creation of a £6bn food retailing business, but job losses could result from the closure of a number of Kwik Save stores and the Prestatyn head office. 20-Feb-1998 Somerfield is said to have received a bid approach from a rival supermarket chain, possibly Safeway or Asda. 21-Jan-1998 Somerfield, the supermarket chain, may be floated soon so that bankers can get back some of the money they lent. 22-Jan-1996 Somerfield is cutting prices on 1,000 lines, prompting concern over a new price war. 12-Sep-1995
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