FIFE-based convenience store business Eros Retail is expanding its chain of shops after securing a £945,000 funding package from HSBC Bank.

The family-owned business, which operates the Greens chain in locations including Alloa and Kirkcaldy, has already used some of the cash to open a Greens Local branch in the Fife town of Cardenden. It plans to open a further two stores by April.

Currently the business, which was founded in Markinch 1982, employs 145 people across its nine shops, but the intention is to grow that to 200 as part of the expansion.

Susan Rowand, head of business banking for HSBC UK in Scotland, said the bank was “thrilled” to be supporting the firm “as it continues to meet an increasing demand for accessibility to quality products and customer service in local communities despite a challenging market for retailers”.

Eros Retail director Harris Aslam added that the firm had turned to HSBC because it “wanted to work with a bank that understood our business ambitions”.

The latest expansion comes after Eros Retail increased its footprint with the addition of stores in Dundee and the Fife village Coaltown of Balgonie at the end of 2017.

The Coaltown shop operates under the Little Greens banner, which offers a paired down range of goods and has a particular focus on food-to-go items such as hot rolls. As with the other Greens-branded shops, the stores in Coaltowm and Dundee operate in partnership with Nisa, a subsidiary of the Co-operative Group that supplies thousands of retailers across the UK.