Akhtar

Thanks so far for the replies, I am fully aware that the project will have to be researched fully. I am not about to risk the best part of a million pounds without being fairly certain that the business will not flourish. It is not the business I am in. I plan to take our motor home to France in the new year and tour round the country having a look at the regions aswell as the towns and villages located within these regions. I aslo need to look at transport links, routes from ferry ports etc. This idea is obviously in it's infancy currently. It will also be some months before I have access to the sort of money needed for this project thus giving me and my staff time to look at everything in more detail. Keep the replies coming. Happy Holiday

I have been browsing this forum with eagerness over the past few weeks. I have  been on holiday in France many times over the past few years with my wife and children and couldn't help but notice the lack of convenience stores in small villages throughout the areas I visited. There seemed to be lots of small shops in villages which had been closed down. From the number of posters on this forum and other forums who are English or should I say British there must be a growing demand for UK type convenience stores in France. I am about to close a property deal in East London which will net me a considerable amount of working capitol to re invest in another business venture. My thoughts were that I could buy up say a hundred retail properties with accomodation attached throughout rural France, have them refitted and lease them to shop keepers from the UK. I have already done some research on this and have approached some of the convenience store publications in the UK with a view to advertising with them. Plan B is to set up a company to supply these retail outlets with the merchandise they sell. If a large number of retail outlets were to be stocked on a regular basis then the transportation would prove to be cost effective. This could include third party shop keepers who required stock on a regular basis. I would like to gauge peoples interest in such a venture and take on board any comments or suggestions you may have however negative or positive. Regards