The success of valeting has meant that forecourt operators – including Penny on the Move, the Hockenhulls and the Pricewatch Group – are identifying standalone car wash hubs for possible expansion. But what are the challenges of operating these sites we ask the owners of Aquatec Ramsgate.
But do not assume that opening a standalone valeting hub without petrol, will be an easy option to get planning permission.
That is one of the takeaways from a visit to Aquatec Ramsgate – a pioneering combination of six jet wash bays and a 90sq m (969sq ft) food to go/grocery store which took two years to get the go ahead. And that was without the site being greenfield.
For while planners do not have to trouble themselves with the safety implications around fuel, the issue is possible noise pollution from the jet wash equipment, and the potential disturbance from ‘boy racers’ meeting there, playing loud music and revving their engines.
In the case of the business set up by petrol station visionaries David Charman and John Ryeland 18 months ago, in a busy commuter belt with a growing number of thousands of residential properties on its doorstep, these possibilities are likely to be the reason that its opening hours are restricted to 7am to 8pm. The business partners also had to sound-proof the site with fencing, to avoid annoying local residents and a school nearby.
The family friends, who have known each other for 40 years, believe that now that the business is bedded in – turning over £9,000 on the jet wash side alone – they may apply for an extension to its trading hours. This, they believe, will help them boost the daily 200 to 300 jet wash transactions.
They already have measures in place to prevent any nuisance from customers over staying their welcome at the site which is on the A256, a road Ryeland says has over 18,000 vehicle movements a day. They operate a queuing system which takes cars behind the shop, beside a picnic area of three tables; and there is a barrier which comes down when the site is closed, while staff in the shop generally keep an eye on things while it is open.
Longer opening hours is not the only thing that the business partners are looking at. They may introduce external laundrette machines, a natural fit with the jet washes and also the do-it-yourself dog wash unit which is also on the three quarter of an acre plot, as well as four Adriateh four-in-one units with vacuum, fragrance, air blower and tyre lubricant, and separate air and Turtle Wax Pro screen wash equipment.
Also, they are considering expanding onto a 0.3 acre piece of land that they own next to the development, with perhaps EV charging and jet washes for taller vehicles.
The pair expect that their £800,000 investment so far, which does not include the cost of the land, will be repaid within six years – perhaps within three or four if its turnover continues to grow at its current pace.
“We have doubled the figures of the first year, and we want to double that again as we are still increasing,” says Charman, who also operates a scaled down four-bay version of the valeting hub at his Parkfoot Garage forecourt in West Malling, Kent.
The level of investment reflects incorporating environmental solutions. The pair have installed 39 solar panels on the shop roof, which provide 10-15% of the site’s electricity use. Also, they run the jet washes from a 70 metre (229ft) deep bore hole, providing 100% of the water needed for the jet washes, and protecting them against water shortages during a drought.
They have also bought high end Adriateh jet washes, which benefit from hot and cold water, the ‘snow foam’ option, and reverse osmosis to prevent streaking on cars. The bays also have underfloor heating so that they can be operational throughout winter and without the worry of customers slipping on ice.
Generally, customers spend £5 to £6 a wash, via contactless payment at the machine or the Adriateh Ready2Wash app. This might be a factor in no more than 10% of jet wash customers visiting the Parkfoot Eats-branded shop.
But the business partners are working on this, developing the store offer, which is supplied by the local Spar wholesaler on general groceries. Also its food to go range, will increasingly be supplied by Charman’s inhouse kitchen at West Malling, which uses the Parkfoot Eats branding.
Most of the range is food to go, with hot food sold from 7am to 4pm, and two Lavazza coffee machines. But there are grocery, household and toiletry essentials, as well as an Auto Glym car care section.
The offer has a premium feel with items including veggie chilli, chicken curry, ribcap burger, a hummus veggie stack bagel, poke bowls including caesar salad and pasta, and Subway-style ingredients for customers to choose bespoke fillings.
But prices are fair with a £5 meal deal available for a sandwich, crisps and coffee, and there is parking for half a dozen vehicles outside of the main site for motorists just wanting to pop into the store to shop.
There is also window perch seating and table area, and there is space to include further seats around a stylish island taking up a lot of space in the centre of the store.
The store, with its exposed ceiling and its decorative ceramic navy tiles, is also high end, with a bank of doored chillers. Great attention to detail has been given throughout, including free tampons for customers using the unisex toilet.
Charman says the ambition for the retail unit – a stylish black metal construction – was to generate enough income to pay for up to two staff on shift at any one time, from a pool of eight to operate the site. Also, the range is a work in progress as the business develops, he adds.
Despite the costs of the operation – including £6,000 to £7,000 a year to dispose of the jet wash waste – it is hitting an annual half a million gross profit.
The British public is now well on board with jet washing their own vehicles, recognising the benefits, says Ryeland.
“It’s a lot cheaper than a hand car wash or rollover where you can spend around £12 a wash and your car still comes out not completely clean,” he says.
He says that a great feature of the Adriateh concept is that the units are modular, meaning that later further units can be added. Half a dozen is the optimum number of jet wash bays, he argues.
“With six bays the site becomes a destination,” says Ryeland, who explains that people travel up to 20 miles to use the site. Ryeland, once a director of his family’s George Hammond forecourt business, which had 15 forecourts in its heyday and sold up to MFG in 2021, is no longer in petrol retailing.
He was the first forecourt operator to introduce the Adriateh ‘turnkey jet wash concept’ to the UK in 2012 on the Isle of Sheppey, an island on the north coast of Kent, after a visit to meet the Croatian supplier earlier that year.
Since the family left forecourt retailing he has set up Infinite Spirit, an import business for high strength alcohol to be used in food production. However, he is clearly on the market to replicate the valeting model he has created with Charman elsewhere.
“Having more than one site is when you can benefit from economies of scale,” he explains.
Asked what advice they would give to others following their path. “Sell your sites to us,” they laugh.
