Certas Energy is underway with plans to be the biggest non-motorway truckstop operator in the UK, replicating the famous Hollies location on strategic road networks.
With board approval to find up to 10 new locations across the UK in the next few years, head of estate development, mobility Mike Heaton is already progressing with the acquisition of two sites: one in Scotland and the other in the south of England.
He plans to “copy and paste” many of the attributes of the award-winning Hollies truckstop bunkering location, which has parking for 220 trucks, a 15-room hotel, and a truck wash, and has itself been the subject of much investment since it was purchased by Certas Energy nearly five years ago.
“We don’t just want to buy land, maybe we will take out leases,” he says.
“We have such a loyal audience and so many services at Hollies which can be used as a template for other sites,” adds Heaton, although, he asserts, that its hotel will remain a one-off for Certas Energy.
The new chain of truckstops will be branded The Stop by Certas Energy, and are likely to include other wellbeing features at Hollies, such as a driver five star café, a bar, a laundrette, male and female washrooms with showers, and a defibrillator, and heart rate monitor to test truck drivers’ blood pressure during their breaks.
Also, a high security fenced off parking area, which drivers can pay a premium to use overnight to protect high value loads, will be introduced at the new locations, alongside standard parking bays. Heaton says that at Hollies, high security parking is always fully booked up ahead, benefiting from a 24-hour security desk, a guard patrolled parking area with high fencing, LED floodlights, ANPR cameras, movement sensor CCTVs and exit gates.
Other features likely to be replicated at other The Stop sites include installation of Spotless Water purified water machines, to attract window cleaners as another revenue stream.
“A lot of drivers are telling me that they want a one stop shop to refuel the wagon and themselves, whether that is for a tacho or overnight stop,” says Heaton, who left Roadchef five years ago as its commercial director.
“Many don’t like to use a motorway service area, even though they provide a big space,” he adds. “Truck drivers like their own space and want traditional home cooked food like all day breakfasts, rather than fast food.
“I want people to recognise The Stop brand as not just the biggest, but the best and I’m working with the Road Haulage Association to make that happen.”
With the success of Hollies, Certas Energy is looking to expand the 5.5 acre plot by purchasing neighbouring farmland.
The business is also increasing the number of unmanned HGV bunker refuelling sites it operates from 28, and it is upgrading its existing estate, including at Alconbury where work is due to start in January.
Also, Certas Energy opened its Omega bunkering site in Warrington at the end for October, and it has just completed an upgrade at Thurrock, which is now one of 19 bunker locations to have hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) on pump.
The business has also recently been awarded the Environmental Protection and Sustainability Award at the APEA Live event in Milton Keynes, for its role in accelerating the availability and adoption of HVO in the UK. This is through its contributions to the Low Carbon Truck Programme with DP World in Southampton – where it has doubled the number of HVO pumps from four to eight – and opening the UK’s first HVO-only bunker at Tyseley Energy Park in Birmingham.
But Heaton adds: “The main focus is now getting truckstops, and if there is not a bunker on the site we will put one on, subject to planning.”
