AROUND 1,600 jobs will be created by Co-op which plans to open 100 new grocery stores in the coming year.

The retailer will invest more than £160 million in the new shops, as well as giving “major makeovers” to a further 150 outlets.

More than 20 new stores will open in London, up to 18 in Scotland, 10 in Wales and others in English cities including York, Plymouth and Bristol.

The news follows the announcement of an agreement for the Co-op to become the exclusive wholesale supplier to the 2,200 Costcutter Group stores, and the deal to buy Nisa Retail, which is conditional on Competition and Markets Authority approval.

Co-op Food chief executive Jo Whitfield said the business was going from “strength to strength.”

She said: “We have the ambition for our stores to be at the heart of local life, bringing communities together and offering our members and customers great quality products when and where they need them.”