Alfred Jones (Warrington) Ltd’s last remaining Spar stores are set to be absorbed into Spar distributor James Hall’s G&E Murgatroyd estate following the retirement of chairman Jonathan Jones.

The firm has been considerably downsized in recent years to trade through 23 stores, eight of which are on petrol forecourts. One Stop acquired 33 units from the portfolio in 2013, with five stores sold to AF Blakemore, two to Lawrence Hunt Ltd and four to James Hall & Co, with a further three being closed.

The company’s last filed accounts, covering the year ending 27 April 2014, reports that the company had “been through a difficult period due to increased competition in the marketplace”. Alfred Jones chairman Jonathan Jones has a number of other business interests, including Hunters Cheshire gin.

A statement from James Hall says: “Jonathan Jones, chairman of Alfred Jones (Warrington) Ltd, has decided to retire from convenience store trading to concentrate on his property portfolio. Discussions are taking place with James Hall and Company Ltd to take over the management of the retail stores.”

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