SANDPIPER is definitely not selling supermarket chain Checkers. Rumours are rife that the private equity firm, which bought parent company CI Traders in August, might be doing so, but chief executive Tony O’Neill yesterday set the record straight.

‘I can say definitively that we will not be selling Checkers, so we can kill that off straight away,’ he said.

‘I have rumours going round about every entity of my business and if I took notice of each one, I would have nothing left.

‘Whoever put this one around is totally misinformed. It simply isn’t true and that’s the end of it.’

There has been mounting speculation about Sandpiper sell-offs of CI Traders interests.

Just recently it announced it was putting the St Pierre Park and Le Trelade hotels on the market because they did not represent its core interests.

Rumours have been circulating that the Total Convenience Store and Island Shopper at Ville Au Roi will be the next to go.

Mr O’Neill admitted the latter did not have the same investment opportunities as some of the other Sandpiper businesses, but would not confirm whether or not it was to be sold.

‘We are looking at all areas of the business and considering which ones need to be developed,’ he said.

‘We are in the process of submitting planning applications and have already carried out work on some premises.

‘While Ville au Roi may not offer the same kind of potential as other sites, there is as yet no indication of what we will do with it.’