The supermarket reportedly placed the winning offer to secure the local convenience chain, which will see Morrisons buy McColl’s immediately after it enters insolvency proceedings, according to Sky News.

Morrisons already has a partnership with McColl’s through its Morrisons Daily convenience shops and this was reportedly an influential factor, as it saw off competition from petrol giant EG Group and Asda.

An announcement on the move is expected to be made later today by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PWC) which was called in as administrator on Friday, following McColl’s group admission it was on the brink of collapse.

A spokesperson for McColl’s declined to comment.