£18m invested by Henderson

Ulster-based Henderson Group has announced that it will invest £18m in its company-owned estate of Spar, Eurospar and Vivo stores across Northern Ireland in 2006, compared with a £6.3m investment last year.

The money will be spent on more than 20 individual projects including new build stores and knock-down and rebuild projects.

In addition, the company will invest £3m directly with its retail partners to help develop their independent businesses and £6.4m in marketing its retail brands - made up of £5m from Spar UK directly and £1.4m dedicated to the group's Northern Ireland marketing campaign.

Paddy Doody, sales and marketing director for Henderson Wholesale, commented: "We plan to open 28 new stores in the year ahead and we are confident that this investment, coupled with our award-winning business model, will make this figure achievable."