Fledgling south west convenience store chain Conveco is racing against time to trial and roll out a new branding strategy for the group beforeits licence to trade under the Alldays name expires in April. Conveco comprises three former joint ventures representing 53 stores currently under the Alldays fascia. The new chain bought out Alldays' interest in the companies earlier this year. MD Allen Hutchby said the group would pilot a new fascia at three stores in November, with "varying levels of spend" depending on its location and maturity. The format and range will be tailored to demographics although broadly speaking, the portfolio will be divided into three groups ­ the traditional village store, the neighbourhood store and the city centre store. The style of the city centre stores might be slightly different, although the core brand will remain the same. While the focus will be on the refurbishment and rebranding of the estate, expansion plans are already progressing, said Hutchby. The group has already made its first acquisition of four Spar stores in Cornwall. Until the new brand is finalised, they will retain the Spar fascia and continue to be supplied by Spar wholesaler Appleby Westward. Conveco has now completely disentangled itself from Alldays' scanning and accounting systems, said Hutchby, who has been working on strengthening the management team. The latest addition is Budgens Stores finance director Lawrence Wilson, who joined Conveco in the same role about 10 weeks ago. The company hopes to appoint a trading director from "one of the multiples" as Conveco buying director in "days" said Hutchby. Goods are currently sourced via Nisa Central Distribution and delivered direct to stores, but the group is considering building its own warehousing facilities for ambient further down the line, he added. {{NEWS }}