Waitrose is going back to the future and introducing a new convenience store format based on the traditional high street grocer.

In a direct challenge to Marks & Spencer and its Simply Food business, the supermarket chain plans to roll out hundreds of small stores in town centres, railway stations and at airports across Britain. The first will open in Nottingham in December, complete with a greengrocer, fishmonger, meat counter and cheese-dresser as well as the usual range of ready meals.

Mark Price, Waitrose managing director, said: “The only premium food offer in a convenience store format so far has been Marks & Spencer. Now you are going to get a Waitrose.”

He added: “We are going to have our first one in Nottingham and a second one is very close to being signed off.

“They will have the feel of a real old-fashioned grocer and will bring quality food back to the high street. If they work there are opportunities for hundreds and hundreds.”

Waitrose wants to double the size of its business over the next nine years and will open its first international store in Dubai in the coming weeks.

The convenience sector is worth £27 billion and is the fastest growing part of Britain's grocery market as more supermarkets, frustrated by out-of-town planning regulations, venture back to the high street.

The Institute of Grocery Distribution believes that the convenience market will be worth nearly £38 billion by 2013.

Mr Price said that he was not concerned about introducing the new concept at a time when shoppers are increasingly thought to be trading down to more value-focused rivals.

Tesco conceded on Tuesday that it had lost “a few customers” to Asda, Wm Morrison, Aldi and Lidl in recent months.

Mr Price said: “We will be able to make money as people are going to shop in it. We think this model will work. The point people haven't got is that we have a fantastic price position. We have invested £30 million in it and match Tesco on a number of products.” He added that he was confident that the new Waitrose format, based around 5,000 sq ft to 7,000 sq ft sites, would be able to lure customers away from Simply Food.

“We will offer a wide range of branded goods. We are 10 per cent cheaper than M&S in general and in terms of quality our products outperform the market,” he said.

Marks & Spencer introduced Simply Food seven years ago and it now runs 338 branches across Britain. Despite the format's success, M&S's food business has been losing customers to almost all of its competitors over the summer.

Industry figures seen by The Times show that most of the defectors have switched to Tesco and J Sainsbury. However, over the three months to September 15, M&S also lost sales to Asda, Iceland, Aldi and the Co-op.

M&S is expected to reveal heavy falls in both food and clothing sales in an eagerly anticipated second-quarter trading update today. Nick Bubb, analyst at Pali International, said: “Clothing sales have picked up in the first two weeks of September on the back of the autumnal weather but that won't last and we still expect a very gloomy update and more downgrades.”

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