scotland: up to 2.5mlpa

Penny Petroleum achieved a hat-trick of wins for the Auld Brig Services, with the third successive victory in this category since it was opened in January 2012.

The site is situated on a busy main route between Alloa and Stirling and the forecourt provides a wide range of services including unleaded, super unleaded, diesel, high-speed HGV diesel pumps, gas oil and LPG.

The service station is open 24 hours a day and provides hot food and beverages. There is a seating area where customers can take advantage of free wifi, or they can use the outdoor seating with views across to the surrounding mountains.

Tony Bailey, head of operations at Penny Petroleum, says: "The manager, Cheryl Hudson, and her team deserve so much credit for keeping the store to the standard we aspire to."

The Londis-branded convenience store has a full range of chilled and ambient products supported by a three-weekly promotional programme, and there is a full range of £1 products and Super Value lines.

scotland: 2.5mlpa plus

Kanagasingam Kamalaseelan (left), manager of the Murco Avon site at Linlithgow in West Lothian, is a two-time winner having picked up the same award, but for a different site, in 2013.
Judges described the Linlithgow site as an excellent forecourt, featuring two jet wash bays, valeting area and a small but perfectly formed Costcutter store.
They said the 24-hour forecourt and store were immaculately clean and tidy throughout, and the shelves were well stocked and featured plenty of promotional activity to interest and attract customers. Kanagasingam says his formula for success is simple. "I make sure the shop is clean and tidy and well merchandised, and we have all the categories that customers expect in stock all the time. Also, the staff are experienced and do a really good job, plus we all put in a lot of hard work."

northern ireland: up to 2.5mlpa

The family-owned Mulkearns Eurospar at Newry has been holding its own despite the arrival of a multinational giant just down the road.
When they heard about the proposed Tesco Extra, the family decided to invest in a redevelopment of the store to expand its offer.
Ciaran Mulkerns (right) says the Eurospar store was expanded by 1,000sq ft to 7,000sq ft and the additional space was used to add around 500 new ambient lines to the offer as well as increasing the store’s fresh offer.
Another addition was the installation of an in-store bakery and Kiaran says sales have grown week-on-week. The promotional package that the store runs has also been complemented by price matching 750 core lines against Tesco.
But he says that the most important element of the store is the commitment of the family and their staff to serving the local community.

northern ireland: 2.5mlpa plus

Judges were impressed by the design of Henderson Retail’s forecourt at Knock Road, Belfast, which was knocked down and redeveloped in early 2013.
Manager Danielle Hamilton (left) says the site was designed to be aesthetically pleasing, but also to be cost-efficient and environmentally-friendly.
She puts the site’s success down to its look and offer allied to good customer service.
She says: "I have a superb team who are all very customer focused. They are all local so they know many of the customers by name."
The 4,000sq ft Spar store serves a mixture of local and transient customers. Danielle explains it is on a main dual carriageway into the centre of Belfast, but it is also surroundeded by two housing estates, so it caters to a wide range of needs.

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