Where convenience is growing in the UK
21,090 convenience outlets across 22 brands are in the h3hex Data Store in the November 2026 release. In the local-area tables Birmingham has the most, with 275, or 2.3 per 10,000 residents; the top 25 local areas together hold 4,286 (20% of outlets with a mapped local area). The largest like-for-like net gain since the previous release is in Bury (+6).
Outlet and brand counts are the Data Store's: every brand on sale, with every outlet in its file. The local-area and growth tables count the trading outlets in h3hex's master dataset that map to a local area, so their totals can be lower.
Which local areas have the most convenience outlets?
| # | Local area | Outlets | Brands present | Per 10,000 residents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Birmingham | 275 | 16: Premier, Costcutter, Tesco Express, One Stop, Londis | 2.3 |
| 2 | Cornwall | 261 | 11: Spar, Premier, Co-op, Londis, Costcutter | 4.5 |
| 3 | Leeds | 245 | 16: Premier, Tesco Express, Co-op, Londis, One Stop | 2.9 |
| 4 | County Durham | 229 | 15: Premier, Spar, Co-op, Morrisons Daily, Costcutter | 4.3 |
| 5 | Glasgow City | 220 | 14: U-Save, Premier, Tesco Express, Londis, Co-op | - |
| 6 | Wiltshire | 192 | 13: Londis, Premier, Costcutter, Co-op, Tesco Express | 3.7 |
| 7 | Fife | 189 | 15: Premier, Co-op, Spar, Morrisons Daily, Nisa | - |
| 8 | ONS area E06000066 | 187 | 15: Premier, Co-op, One Stop, Londis, Spar | 3.2 |
| 9 | ONS area E06000065 | 183 | 16: Co-op, Spar, Premier, Costcutter, Londis | 2.9 |
| 10 | North Lanarkshire | 158 | 15: Premier, U-Save, Spar, Londis, Scotmid | - |
| 11 | Sheffield | 157 | 16: Premier, Co-op, Tesco Express, Spar, Costcutter | 2.7 |
| 12 | Bristol, City of | 151 | 13: Premier, Tesco Express, Co-op, Costcutter, Morrisons Daily | 3.1 |
| 13 | Dorset | 150 | 12: Spar, Premier, Co-op, Londis, Tesco Express | 3.8 |
| 14 | Manchester | 148 | 15: Premier, Tesco Express, Co-op, Londis, Spar | 2.5 |
| 15 | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 146 | 15: Premier, Tesco Express, Co-op, Londis, Costcutter | 3.6 |
| 16 | Buckinghamshire | 145 | 13: Tesco Express, Londis, Premier, Co-op, Costcutter | 2.5 |
| 17 | City of Edinburgh | 145 | 13: Scotmid, Premier, Tesco Express, U-Save, Londis | - |
| 18 | Cardiff | 143 | 13: Premier, Tesco Express, Co-op, Spar, One Stop | 3.7 |
| 19 | North Northamptonshire | 141 | 16: Premier, Central Co-op, Tesco Express, Londis, One Stop | 3.8 |
| 20 | South Lanarkshire | 140 | 14: Premier, U-Save, Spar, Scotmid, Co-op | - |
| 21 | Highland | 138 | 12: Co-op, Spar, Premier, Costcutter, Scotmid | - |
| 22 | Northumberland | 137 | 15: Premier, Co-op, Londis, Spar, Costcutter | 4.1 |
| 23 | Rhondda Cynon Taf | 137 | 12: Premier, Family Shopper, Co-op, Spar, Londis | 5.6 |
| 24 | West Northamptonshire | 135 | 15: Premier, Londis, Co-op, Tesco Express, One Stop | 3.1 |
| 25 | Sunderland | 134 | 13: Premier, Family Shopper, Heron Foods, Best-one, One Stop | 4.6 |
Local areas are local authority districts. Brands present shows how many brands have an outlet there and the five with the most.
Which local areas added the most convenience outlets?
| # | Local area | Net change | Previous release | This release | All outlets now |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bury | +6 | 55 | 61 | 61 |
| 2 | County Durham | +4 | 225 | 229 | 229 |
| 3 | Wirral | +4 | 92 | 96 | 96 |
| 4 | Croydon | +4 | 70 | 74 | 74 |
| 5 | Rochdale | +4 | 58 | 62 | 62 |
| 6 | Northumberland | +3 | 134 | 137 | 137 |
| 7 | West Northamptonshire | +3 | 132 | 135 | 135 |
| 8 | Sunderland | +3 | 131 | 134 | 134 |
| 9 | Kirklees | +3 | 121 | 124 | 124 |
| 10 | Liverpool | +3 | 107 | 110 | 110 |
| 11 | Barnsley | +3 | 102 | 105 | 105 |
| 12 | Bromley | +3 | 90 | 93 | 93 |
| 13 | Wolverhampton | +3 | 84 | 87 | 87 |
| 14 | West Lothian | +3 | 80 | 83 | 83 |
| 15 | Falkirk | +3 | 78 | 81 | 81 |
Net change in outlets for brands present in both releases, for local areas with at least 5 outlets in the sector. No brand in this sector is new to this release.
How these figures are made
Counts are h3hex's own store-by-store record of each brand's published UK locations for the brands listed in the Convenience sector of the h3hex data store, November 2026 release (scrape window 30 Oct - 3 Nov 2026), page built 2026-11-12. Closed, pre-opening and head-office records are left out. 102 outlets with no mappable postcode are counted in the totals but not in the local-area tables. 4 districts created in 2023 are shown by their ONS code because the postcode lookup used here carries no name for them. Net change compares this release with the 29 October 2026 edition of the same dataset and reflects openings and closures as well as improved coverage of each brand's own locator. Resident population is Census 2021 usual-resident population by output area, summed to local authority district through the ONS postcode-to-output-area lookup (May 2024). The population table does not join to the lookup for districts in Northern Ireland and Scotland, so outlets per 10,000 residents is shown as - for them.
Use the data
Prospect site reports assess a single address against these brands, and the data store sells the convenience store lists brand by brand or as a sector bundle.
Convenience by sector
- Mainstream convenience10,556 outlets · 13 brands
- Value convenience8,984 outlets · 4 brands
- Discount convenience972 outlets · 3 brands
How many convenience outlets are there in the UK?
h3hex tracks 21,090 branded convenience outlets from 22 brands in the UK as at the November 2026 release. In the local-area tables, Birmingham has the most, with 275.
Which convenience brands are growing?
Between the previous release and the November 2026 release, the brands adding the most outlets were Family Shopper (+21), Best-one (+16) and Nisa (+15).
Which convenience brands have the most UK outlets?
Premier (5,120), Co-op (2,389) and Tesco Express (2,165), as at the November 2026 release.