EET Retail has signed a flagship forecourt in Liverpool onto its 15-year lease model, as part of its long-term plans to expand to 600 Essar-branded sites.
The Stanlow-based business currently supplies fuel to more than 150 forecourts, 17 of which it operates on lease in an agreement giving the site owner an income without the hassle of running the petrol station.
The initiative, which was launched in February 2024, has had slower take-up than hoped, with EET Retail’s chief executive at the time telling Forecourt Trader 17 months ago that he had ambitions to have 100 Essar-branded leased forecourts by October last year.
But the timing coincided with massive interest in operators expanding their networks and great demand for sites coming to market.
This former BP garage will however be seen as a coup for the company. It is at a prime location, on a key arterial route into Liverpool’s city centre at Sefton Street.
EET Retail says that it is a ”high-throughput urban location”, from which it expects to serve hundreds of customers a day.
The 0.85 acre plot, has a 3,000sq ft Spar shop with instore bakery, and eight fuelling bays. It has two jet washes, a rollover car wash, a vacuum facility, and a post office. There is also an ATM, and parcel lockers.
EET Retail says that the Liverpool opening represents a milestone in its “ongoing rollout of high-quality, strategically located forecourts”, with a vision to have more than two-thirds of its network as company-owned/leased.
