Leading Budgens retailer David Knight has bought a new 6,000sq ft store a few miles from his award-winning store in Hassocks, West Sussex.

Located in Henfield, it is the anchor store of the village but is likely to face competition from a Sainsbury’s Local in the near future. David plans to close the premises for two weeks in late January to carry out a full refurbishment and convert it into an eco store.

The changes will include replacing the old gas heating system with full heat reclaim, and installing a system to reuse waste water. The fresh food space will also be doubled.

“The store itself - aside from facing the dreaded threat of one the mults next year - is in a great location and we feel we can bring a lot of what has worked so well for us in Hassocks to this store,” he said

“We are very pleased with the initial reaction from the village as many had already used our Hassocks store and were looking forward to what changes we could make.”

David was named Convenience Retailer of the Year at the 2012 Convenience Retail Awards.