´óÏó´«Ã½

Food from the supermarket chain Iceland is to be sold in home and garden store The Range.

The new "strategic alliance" will initially be introduced in three stores in the Midlands and Liverpool areas.

In a joint statement the companies said plans for a further roll-out of the "store-in-stores" concept will follow.

Iceland, which is based in Wales, said the two chains were "natural partners" while The Range said the alliance was "unique".

The frozen food store, which employs more than 700 people at its Deeside base in Flintshire, saw sales rise 8% to more than £3bn last year.

It was also named the UK's top supermarket for customer satisfaction for the first time this year.

Iceland chairman Sir Malcolm Walker said: "The ethos of The Range - to bring our customers great quality products at the most competitive prices - is absolutely identical to Iceland's.

"So I feel that we make natural partners in this new alliance. We look forward to make our unique food range available to more customers in a new type of location, where we hope that we can extend our appeal by reaching people who have not shopped at Iceland before."

The Range, a Devon-based company which opened its first store in 1989, has 150 stores across the UK.

It said the partnership would offer customers "a one stop shop and access to over 80,000 different products under one roof".

"This alliance is so exciting," founder Chris Dawson added.