MRH has opened its first Hursts Grab & Go site. The new format was officially opened on August 31 at Thetford West Service station on the A11.

The BP-branded 7.6mlpa site had undergone a £1.2 million knock-down-rebuild since shutting its doors at the end of May. The new development - with on-trend grey wood-effect trim and amtico-style flooring - features state-of-the-art toilet facilities, as well as a bank of work stations/seating area with charging facilities for business customers and families wanting to sit down and have a quick break.

It has a broad food-to-go offering including a Greggs, Costa Coffee machines, as well as a range of convenience and motoring offerings targeted at a transient audience.

It is also the first of the MRH sites to feature a Stone Willys food offering, which includes hot pizza, paninis and wraps, which MRH CEO Karen Dickens believes is going to be a good offer in terms of quality of product and ease of operation. It will also fulfil satisfy customer demand for food on the go in the evening, meaning the site has fresh food-to-go offers all the way through the day.

The new opening is part of an ongoing development programme running across the MRH portfolio which will considerably raise site standards across the network. Each site is being reviewed and developed according to customer mission. The company has completed 12 KDRBs this year, and has 25 planned for next year. Work is currently being carried out on 75 sites.

“This is the 12th pilot site we’ve done, following completion of our six Co-op sites and five Spar openings,” said Karen. “We’ve designed it not just to look nice, but be of a quality that will make it easy for retailers to keep clean and looking good for a long time.

“Hursts is the umbrella brand which lends itself to a variety of offers, and means we can really target the customer mission. Thetford West is a transient site – hence the Grab & Go offer - but when we develop Thetford East for example – currently in planning - on the other side of the road, it will be a supermarket brand.”