THE Co-operative Group has bought a chain of nearly 30 Scottish supermarkets and reported "encouragingly good" festive sales figures.

The acquisition of David Sands Ltd, which is headquartered in Kinross, Perthshire, will add 700 staff to the Co-op, should it receive regulatory approval. In 2010 David Sands it made a profit of £1.7m on turnover of £40.1m.

Co-operative chief executive Peter Marks said: "This major acquisition is another important step in our plans to expand The Co-operative Food estat......for the full story register now for free or login below...