Ambitious forecourt operator Seevaratnam Muresh is poised to join Forecourt Trader’s Top 50 Indies listing of the UK’s largest independents in the sector. His acquisition of Ambassador Service Station this summer brings his network to seven operational sites, and he has four more forecourts in the pipeline to open.
The London-based qualified accountant bought his latest business, Ambassador Service Station in Bristol, for £950,000 from Ascona. He was keen to add it to his rapidly growing portfolio as it was so close to a forecourt that he had purchased in January, 20 minutes drive away at Backwell. Muresh had spent £600,000 on developing the Backwell site, before its relaunch in May, and recognised the operational benefits of having two sites so close to one another.
Ambassador Service Station, which was on the market with Christie & Co, joins Muresh’s network spanning north London, Hampshire, Wales, and the southwest.
It is a compact 24-hour site with three islands of pumps with 12 nozzles in total, selling unleaded and diesel, and supplied by Texaco in a contract concluding in January 2026. At this point Muresh plans to move the business to his Harvest Energy group account, to join his other six trading sites.
When he took over Ambassador Service Station last month it had an annual fuel volume of 1.2 million. Within weeks this increased to 1.8 million, which he attributes to mapping prices to a nearby Sainsbury’s, ensuring that he is either cheaper or in line with the supermarket – with his unleaded petrol currently at 133.7p per litre, and diesel at 137.7p per litre. He says that he is optimistic of increasing volume further to 2.5 million annual litres by the end of the year.
The 24-hour business, with an off-licence, was also attractive to Muresh because it has a hand car wash next door, which complements his petrol station. The site also benefits from being in an industrial area with caravan factories on its doorstep. While most trade is Monday to Friday, its location between a train station and nearby football and rugby stadium keeps things busy at weekends too, he says.
Muresh, who bought his first forecourt in 2005 in Edgware, north London, is giving the Ambassador Service Station shop a small facelift. He also plans to switch from the current Lifestyle fascia, to an as yet undisclosed brand.
It is a small shop of little more than 450sq ft, but could be extended sideways, work which Muresh might embark upon when he switches fuel brand in January 2026. He is considering making the shop a third larger, and moving the till closer to the roadside exit so that staff can keep an eye on the pumps. The flooring, ceiling, shelving and fridges will also be replaced.
He also plans to develop food to go by introducing Rollover hotdogs and nachos, and a Calippo Slush machine, as well as keeping the Costa coffee offer. He expects these changes, together with new branding for the forecourt, will help to boost the shop’s £10,000 a week turnover on non-fuel items, to £14,000 to £15,000.
Muresh also purchased Overbrook Garage in Drybrook in June. He is spending around £250,000 on redeveloping the Gloucestershire site. He hopes to re-open the 1,600 sq ft shop and garage, rebranded as Harvest Energy, before this Christmas, with new pumps and a relining of existing tanks.
Muresh has also exchanged contracts and expects to complete on the purchase of another forecourt in October. This site is on the A38 near Gloucester, and will undergo a £1 million knockdown rebuild, with plans for a drive-thru Costa or Starbucks.
Not stopping here, Muresh says that he has two other locations in his sights: one near London which he hopes to complete on in October, and is freehold like his other outlets, and the other a leasehold business.
He also has plans to develop his petrol station at Ebbw Vale in south Wales, with £200,000 of work which is due to start later this month.
For the future, Muresh is in no hurry to purchase other sites which might come to his attention. He says that he will expand as and when potentially lucrative sites, which are up to half an hour from his existing outlets, come on the market. “I am not buying for numbers, I’m only purchasing when I can get the advantages of operating sites close together,” he says.
- Forecourt Trader’s Top 50 Indies report will next be updated in February 2025.
