Nisa-Today's is toasting a bumper crop of new members just two weeks after paying out a record £4.5m trading surplus.

CEO Neil Turton said 29 new members, with a total of 46 stores, had joined the buying group during July.

It had recruited 77 new members with 176 stores so far this year and was "well ahead" of 2009, when it had recruited 52 new members and 125 new stores by the end of July.

Turton added that the recent bumper trading surplus payout the largest in Nisa-Today's 32-year history had proved "massively popular" with members and would also attract new retailers.

"It is a reinforcement of the confidence within Nisa," Turton said. "It was a case of retaining it or giving it to our members, and we decided to give it back to our members. Our members rejected two bids from Bibby last year, so it was also our way of saying thank you to them." Members are now in line to receive anything from £50 to £135,000 from Nisa in two payouts at the end of this month and in December.

"It is fantastic to see that the board and executive are backing the member shareholders during this very difficult trading period," said Leo Gillen, chairman of the Nisa Retail Council and owner of Gillens in Hartlepool.

Danny Wilson, owner of Nisa Local in Scarborough, added: "This is really good news. I thought it was a shareholder payout, so I wasn't expecting anything. We already source almost all of our stock through Nisa, so this is just another reason to carry on, and some extra cash to put towards our next shop."