In the week that Top 50 Indie Penny on the Move celebrates 30 years in forecourt retailing, the fast expanding group confirms that it has a total of 21 developments in the pipeline. Seven of these are acquisitions, three are new to industry sites, and 11 will be knockdown rebuilds.
The company is also continuing to build its green credentials, with more solar panels and electric vehicle charging locations, as well as the introduction of wind turbines at its Barmoor Services in Croxdale, County Durham. And it continues to develop, food to go, and valeting, alongside drive-thrus when planning allows.
The Alnwick, Northumberland-based forecourt operator, founded by its managing director David Penny, currently has a network of 94 sites across the North of England, Scotland, and Wales, making it the fifth biggest independent forecourt operator in the UK.
It also owns a couple of standalone car wash businesses, a farm shop, and two hotels – including a boutique styled establishment, with the total business turning over close to £400m a year, with over 1,000 employees. And it is in the process of buying a bakery, with three shops.
One of the three planned new greenfield developments for which Penny on the Move is seeking planning permission will be a new flagship site in North Yorkshire, which the company hopes to start work on next spring.
This property will have a 3,000 sq ft convenience store, electric vehicle charging, and substantial vehicle washing. Food to go will likely include national concessions, and locally-supplied ranges, possibly including products from Barry’s Bakery, which is being acquired by the business.
The site also has room for a drive-thru to be added later. This is something that the business, which currently has no drive-thrus, hopes to introduce at other sites too, seeing potential with the model for click and collect orders, alongside a food offer.
Currently, the company says it is proving difficult to get drive-thrus sanctioned by planning departments so it has put the idea on ice and will consider retrofitting forecourts in the future.
The new flagship store will be fitted with solar panels, as part of a roll-out across its estate. Currently 28 of its forecourts are fitted with solar panels, and it has plans for another 22 this year to help reduce electricity costs. It is converting 10 sites at a time with the technology in the hope that most outlets will be able to bolster their power supply with the equipment by 2026.
Electric vehicle charging is also being expanded by Penny on the Move, which currently has chargepoints at 10 locations, with another 20 earmarked for development in the next six to 12 months.
“We don’t see a compelling reason for EV yet at all of our sites. We are planning it out carefully and cautiously and will install where we have space and believe there will be a market,” said Keith Jewers, group general manager for Penny on the Move.
Other technology the company is considering includes self-service checkouts at some sites, enabled by the introduction of the CBE EPOS system which has just completed across its estate.
Pay at pump too might be used at its 24-hour sites, said Jewers, following its success at its supermarket outlet at Fort Augustus, Scotland. “We will be looking at pay at pump at certain strategic locations. This would be mainly at rural locations that don’t justify a full 24 hours operation where we can switch to pay at pump at some point in the evening,” said Jewers.
The proposed expansion follows a busy 18 months, with six new locations added so far this year, including two sites in Wales, and a car wash centre at Blackpool, following the success of a similar format site it operates in Newcastle. Last year Penny on the Move acquired 14 new forecourts.
As the business has matured Keith Jewers says it is looking more to expand by building new to industry sites which it can more easily put its stamp on.
The new sites have also been chosen to fill geographic gaps. “It allows you to share resources more effectively, which isn’t so easy when we move into new areas,” said Jewers.
Once Penny On the Move has the new sites onboard, continued growth is likely to be a little slower, said Jewers. “We have a fair bit to be getting on with for now to develop and safeguard the business for another 30 years,” he said.
