Morrisons opened nine new convenience stores last week, taking it past the 100 mark and hitting its target for the latest financial year.

Five of the latest M Local c-stores were in London and the South East (Chelmsford, Croydon, Enfield, Brixton and Leyton) and four in the North (Harrogate, Wigan, Preston and Levenshulme).

This week, it also opened a new £15m 48,000 sq ft store in East Swindon, the first of 12 new full-format stores scheduled to open this year, including another store in Swindon.

Morrisons plans to double the size of its c-store estate to 200 by the end of the 2014/15 financial year.

Group property director Terry Hartwell said the retailer was on the lookout for a wide variety of new sites.

“The opening of 102 M Locals within the first 12 months of launching the new format was a significant achievement,” he said. “As we push into multichannel, we have property requirements for full-format stores, c-stores and distribution facilities. We are keen to hear from partners who can help us achieve the growth and sustain the impressive momentum we are setting.”