Forecourt Trader award winner Ledbury Road Services has had to temporarily close, most likely until mid-June, after a lightning strike took out its electrics.
In the latest in a series of bad luck to befall owners Oliver Arnold and Susannah Moffat, the incident caused around £30,000 damage to the fuel tank gauge, pumps, and epos system, plus £5,000 to £6,000 chilled and frozen food had to be disposed of or given to charity.
Fortunately, insurance will cover those costs as well as having to pay two members of staff while business is disrupted. Arnold and Moffat also run four cafes, income from which as the businesses approach peak season will provide an income.
The couple have been beset with challenges since opening the former disused petrol station on the A438 at Bushley, Gloucestershire in November 2024.
Most recently they were hit by the collapse of the Prax oil refinery, and were forced to source fuel supplies elsewhere, prompting a move from Total Energies to Essar branding last month.
Before that, as they were completing the purchase Covid hit, driving down their revenue predictions. Then Arnold broke both feet jumping from a wall, which scuppered his plans to do much of the building work himself. A rise in borrowing costs around that time did not help the couple, who had just had a baby. They also had a 14-month wait for planning permission.
But they remain resilient and stoical. “As a business we will be fine,” says Arnold, who saw the lightning bolt that hit the site’s workshop at 4.30pm on Wednesday, April 15. “We were lucky that nobody was hurt, and that the structure of the building was not damaged, but anything computerised was fried,” he says.
“There was an almighty bang like I’ve never heard before, and the lights went out. An hour later when the power came back on and we went to reset the pumps we realised that something was wrong.
“The whole area was affected. It was a big storm and a couple of horses got hit on a local farm, and a lot of people’s property got struck.
“We have lightning cover on our insurance and the money should start feeding through soon so that we can start getting things sorted.”
Arnold and Moffat are working with contractor MDM Services in Newport in Wales to get everything up and running as quickly as possible.
The pair, who won two Forecourt Trader awards last October – innovation and best site up to 4mlpa in the Midlands and East of England – are now busily improving the shop ready for another entry in this year’s awards. Judges commended the site for creating a well-stocked, aspirational village store with a strong local produce offering: a challenge considering its 400sq ft footprint.
“We are are using the time to make things look better, adding bits and bobs,” says Arnold. “We are far from giving up, but it would be nice to sit down and watch the business go well.”
