Convenience retailer Martin McColl has made buying a rival store chain its top priority by the end of the year - but warned it will only open its wallet if the price is right.

Having rebranded the fascias on the company's 1,302 stores, and started internal rebranding following a management buyout in September 2005, the focus was now on expansion, said trading director Tony Start.

He refused to give details of individual chains the group was looking to buy, but said size was not a worry for the group, which has a turnover of £680m. Nor would it be constrained by geographical boundaries as its distribution network covered all of mainland UK.

Start admitted Martin McColl had been looking for a suitable purchase for a year but that reaching agreement on price had proved difficult.

"We haven't agreed with some people's valuations of their businesses," he said. "We will not overpay. We want to expand, and we want to buy a chain this year, but we don't have to."

Start said that if the company was unable to do a deal it could increase the individual store purchases it makes. "We have our property team working on finding new sites. We are looking to buy two stores a week, but if necessary we can speed this up."

The chain revealed last May that it had a £50m budget for single store acquisitions to cover the next two years. Start said money was not a barrier to making a much bigger acquisition.

He also identified small market towns as a prime target for expansion. "These are areas which may not be big enough to accommodate a Tesco Express, but would be perfect for us," he said.

Start denied the group was phasing out its CTN arm, despite selling off 76 CTNs last year and replacing them with 48 better-performing c-stores.

"We have a cut-off point for under-performing stores which is raised every year, but we are still committed to CTNs. News and home delivery are still massive parts of our business."promo campaign under way

Martin McColl is rolling out a massive promotional campaign across its 1,302-strong estate, a move that has required the installation of 15,000 promotional devices, such as shelf barkers, gondola ends and dump bins.

Trading director Tony

Start said the company

had worked closely with suppliers to relaunch the chain's promotional activity and explained that the majority of deals would be value-added promotions focusing on grocery and chilled lines.

There would also be a number of £1 special offers on temporary lines.

Last week the company rolled out a series of promotions through its tie-up with Wine Cellar's Booze Buster brand. The deals have also been made available in stores that have yet to receive the Booze Buster branding.

Following a successful trial last year, which resulted in a 17% sales boost in test stores, the retailer is to kick off a roll-out of the Booze Buster branding to 350 sites this month.