Alfred Jones raised £7m from Spar sales

ALFRED Jones, a Warrington-based business with a network of Spar franchises, raised £7m by selling nearly half of its shops and a number of petrol stations last year.

The group agreed to sell 33 of its 70 Spar shops to Tesco-owned One Stop in July and sold some Chesterfield fuel sites to West Midlands-based AF Blakemore in October.

In newly-filed accounts for the year to the end of April 2013 the group said the disposals followed a strategic review prompted by increasing competition from larger groups.

In his statement chairman Jonathan Jones said the deals have allowed it to reduce debts and invest in the remaining shops.

He said: “As a business we are being more targeted in our approach and the markets in which we operate, as we look forward to the future with our remodelled business.”

During the period the company reported a fall in sales from £103.9m to £98.6m. The group made a pre-tax loss of £2.1m, down from a small £14,000 profit last time.