Appleby Westward, the South West Spar distributor, has added to its portfolio of company-owned stores after acquiring four stores in the Portsmouth area.

It has bought the stores from the Sattari family, who have been operating Spar stores in Hampshire for the last 30 years. Two are in Portsmouth and the other two in Southsea.

The acquisition brings Appleby Westward’s company-owned estate to 67 stores, following its purchase of Gillett’s Callington last year. Sales in the Gillett’s company-owned stores have been growing by 3% on average on a like-for-like basis since Appleby bought the business last July.

Mike Boardman, Appleby Westward managing director, said: “We are very pleased with the performance of the business so far, and we are delighted to add these four new stores to our estate. They have been very well run and we are very grateful to the Sattari family for its contribution to the Spar business over so many years.”

Phil Darch, Gillett’s operations director, said: “This is a very positive step that clearly indicates the confidence our shareholders have in the business and the desire to expand.”