This is your last chance to vote for one of five industry personalities who have been shortlisted for our Special Recognition Award, which will be announced at the Forecourt Trader Awards on October 10.
You have until this Friday August 30 to choose who you particularly admire, someone who has made a genuine difference in the sector, and who you respect and feel is deserving of public recognition.
The contenders in alphabetical order are:
Clive Gardner
After more than 53 years in petrol retailing, Clive Gardner, chairman of Gardner Garages, still has a passion for the industry. His two children – Emma and Ashton – are at the helm of the business these days but he is still involved and continues to innovate and invest in his six forecourts in the southwest of England.
This July his first site, which he opened 30 years ago in Huntley, Gloucestershire, relaunched with a £1.1 million refurbishment, including a walk-in beer cave, electric vehicle charging and an internal laundry.
Clive joined the industry aged 16 as an Esso management trainee. His sites have won many awards over the years for customer service and retailing targets.
Toddington Harper
Toddington Harper, founder and chief executive of Gridserve, has been a major innovator in the electric vehicle charging space – introducing the concept of electric only forecourts, and installing 1,400 bays at over 190 other UK locations as part of his ambition to ‘move the needle on climate change’.
Currently Toddington, named after the M1 service station of the same name, operates three all-electric sites at Braintree, Norwich and Gatwick, with the latter generating interest as a cashless store using Amazon’s Just Walk Out technology. He has two more all-electric sites at Stevenage and Markham Vale in construction.
Education is at the heart of what Toddington does, with motorists at the sites having the opportunity to learn more about electric cars, leasing options and to organise test drives. He has recently introduced a charging app, and a test lab to make charging as seamless as possible for customers.
Toddington is also leading a £100 million government backed consortium, in preparation for all heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) to be zero emission by 2040, by laying the foundation for the Electric Freightway, one of the biggest charging networks for HGVs.
Tom Highland
Tom Highland, aged 32, is one for the future. He joined the family business full-time 12 years ago, and has most recently been putting his personal stamp on it with Childerley Gate Service Station, a standout forecourt in Dry Drayton, Cambridgeshire. The £1.8 million rebuild, which includes a 4,500 sq ft shop complete with in-store butcher’s counter, has been turning heads in the forecourt world, with the feel of both a farm shop and upmarket supermarket. The site is on its way to becoming a community hub with plans for a food hall for takeaway food businesses, a beauty salon and barber’s shop, and three offices to rent out, to complement the existing bay of three covered jet washes.
Having taken the reins of the company from his father, Tom is a regular face at industry events where he has started to share his insights on the stage. He has ambitions to increase from three sites to 10 by the time he is 40. The flagship Childerley Gate Service Station will be his template.
Zuber Issa
Zuber Issa, who is selling his shares in Asda to build his own forecourt empire, has become the latest operator to watch during 2024 with his impressive EG On The Move format rolling out across the country. He has ambitious plans to increase from 40 sites to more than 50 by the end of the year.
Zuber is notable in the industry for his vision of genuinely 24-hour forecourts, with electric vehicle charging and a strong emphasis on food to go with Greggs and Subway among his partners. His seven new builds being introduced with the Co-op franchise are a sign of what to expect of the future.
The entrepreneur is showing confidence in the sector by appointing a real estate business to find him another 120 sites – mainly forecourt locations, but some dedicated EV hubs and foodservice-only outlets.
Jamie Wood
Jamie Wood, who runs four forecourts in Scotland, prides himself on giving back to the community – from providing free fuel to help a local boxer to get to his bouts to introducing a post office at his Moffat location when the original site was set to close, and advertising local fundraising activities on his in-store media screens.
Jamie bought his first petrol station 26 years ago, after a stint at his parents’ lorry park and café, and has changed fuel and wholesalers several times, but what has remained consistent is his support of the neighbourhoods his stores serve.
Examples of Jamie’s generosity include loaning his jet washing facilities for fundraising activities, sponsoring the Moffat Sheep Races, donating all of the fuel used annually by the Nith Inshore Rescue’s large craft, and gifting a motorcycle worth over £4,500 to the Dumfries and Galloway Blood Bikes. Also, all four sites – in Newton Stewart, Dailly, Dumfries, and Moffat – have been involved in the Macmillan Coffee Morning initiative.
Jamie has also been investing in his sites to meet neighbourhood needs, introducing overnight payment terminals, which was particularly useful during the pandemic when other businesses closed early.
You can vote for your favourite nominee here:
https://forecourttraderawards.co.uk/live/en/page/special-recognition
The person who receives the highest number of votes will be announced at the Forecourt Trader Awards, which are being held on October 10, 2024, at Park Plaza, Westminster Bridge, London.
Buy your tickets to the Forecourt Trader Awards evening here
