Hawtree & Sons Riverside Garage is cleaning up after a £350,000 investment in a three-bay jet wash six months ago.
The family-owned Murco/Spar business – which also recently installed a dog wash – spent the money on equipment, groundworks, and resurfacing, and says between 500 and 600 vehicles are using the service each week.
The outlet, on the A30 in West Stour, near Gillingham, Dorset, says its reputation for being half the price of its nearest competitors is a factor in its success.
Director Seb Hawtree, one of three sons of Graham and Mary Hawtree, who set up the business, says the family has been surprised by the amount of heavy goods vehicles using the self-service jet washes – around 20 to 30 a week. However, it is already a popular site for trucks, with an HGV fuel lane with pay at pump, and HGV parking already in place.
He says a decision has paid off to only have a canopy for two of the three bays to allow high-sided vehicles access, as well as investing in the Adriateh washers which use hot as well as cold water. They also use a process called reverse osmosis in the final rinse to remove minerals from the water and leave a streak-free finish.
The dog wash, which was fitted in the middle of last year next to two laundry machines, may be less lucrative but it attracts extra spin-off business. Customers travel from outside the area, as well as the units having the advantage of bringing in a rental income of £1,000 from the supplier Polygon Pets, says Seb Hawtree.
“While not earning directly an awful lot of money it is driving footfall and people are travelling far and wide to use it. One particular lady, who wasn’t our customer before, drives 15 miles every other week – and she does a trolley shop at the same time,” he says.
“It takes up no more space than an InPost locker we have just installed, and it is nice to have as a freebie, which adds to the destination offer we are trying to build.”
Installing The Paddock-branded jet wash hub came after plenty research into this area, including talking to other forecourt operators, adds Hawtree.
“We met N&S Services, the UK distributor at The Forecourt Show last year, and then we spoke to Tom Highland and his dad at the forecourt awards last year and they assured us that we would not regret going with Adriateh,” says Hawtree. “We also visited the Fraser’s Brize Norton valeting centre before committing.”
The contactless payment jet washes have done so well that Hawtree says the family may look at increasing prices from the current launch offer of £1 for two minutes, as well as the current options for four, six, and eight minutes.
“We’re half the price of local alternatives and while we are in the introductory phase that has been fine, but in the next three months we will look at a modest increase,” says Hawtree.
The family may introduce 10-20% more time on the jet washes deals at quieter periods – typically Monday to Wednesday 9am to 3pm – via the Ready2Wash app.
