SAFEWAY supermarket at Vallée des Vaux could become a Checkers next year with more jobs created rather than lost.

Sandpiper, the company that bought CI Traders for £260 million last month, has announced that the move is likely to happen over the next 12 months. Sandpiper CI chief executive Tony O’Neill said that no plans have been formalised yet but if the conversion does go ahead, it will not be like Checkers as it is today. ‘The layout and food range will be completely different and there will be more of a selection for customers. ‘We are planning to convert Safeway into a Checkers but we are still not clear what we want to do to the stores in both Jersey and Guernsey. We will be having a lot of discussion with our customers over the next year to find out what they want and we will take local views into account.’ The company, which is the Channel Islands biggest employer with 3,500 staff, said that the move was likely to create jobs and said there were no plans to cut jobs at the supermarket.