A LEADING retailer is looking for new sites in Gwent to meet its expansion plans.

Discount grocery and family goods business B & M is targeting Newport, Risca, Cwmbran and Caerphilly.

It already has two stores in the area - one in Maesglas in Newport and one on the Blackwood Retail Park.

The Lancashire-based retailer has instructed Newport agents Hutchings and Thomas to find suitable locations for new stores.

Director Haydn Thomas said they were looking for leasehold premises of between 7,000 sq ft and 15,000 sq ft.

He added that B&M would consider town or city centre locations or locations on retail parks. They are seeking to acquire sites for between eight and 10 stores by the end of the year.

Simon Arora, the retail chain's managing director, said they already had two successful sites in Gwent and four others in Wales in solicitor's hands.

"We are now keen to find more suitable sites for our stores to satisfy the demand we know that there is for B&M here in Wales.

Immediate targets are Cwmbran, a second unit for Newport, Risca and other areas in south east Wales.

B&M was formed in 1976 and prides itself on being the premier discount retailer in the north west. Stores sell a range of goods from baked beans to cushions.

It trades as B&M Bargains on 58 sites as well as B&M Homestore from 13 large DIY stores and has an annual turnover of more than £120 million.

Between ten and 12 people are employed at the shops which each attract up to 20,000 customers a week.