Seevaratnam Muresh adds three sites to take tally to 10

Rising forecourt operator Seevaratnam Muresh has doubled his estate to 10 sites in a year, with three acquired since August.

The former accountant, who entered petrol retailing in 2005 with a site in Edgware, north London, has purchased Overbrook Service Station in Drybrook, and Stone Garage in Stone near Berkeley, both in Gloucestershire, as well as Stone Service Station in Stone, south-west of Aylesbury in Oxfordshire.

And he says he has another couple of acquisitions in the pipeline which he expects to go through by February. At that point he says that he will take a break to develop the businesses he already has in his portfolio, which span London, Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Wales, and the southwest.

His latest three sites were introduced to him by Harvest Energy, the fuel supplier he has a group buying deal with. “I wasn’t intending to buy so many so quickly, but they were good sites near to where I already operated,” explains Muresh.

Yesterday, Muresh opened Stone Service Station, which he acquired on November 20. He has already switched from Texaco supplying the fuel to Harvest Energy, and has plans to extend the shop. He has spent £45,000 on refitting the store, including installing a new till system, and he has invested £25,000 on the forecourt with a new canopy, lights and branding.

The former owner Yvonne Delany was the guest of honour at the ribbon cutting. She wanted to be the first customer of the new-look store, says Muresh.

Muresh has also been busy developing his other recent acquisitions. Overbrook Service Station was closed for around six years before the purchase went through three months ago. Muresh has spent around £400,000 on the site, relining tanks, refurbishing the shop, with a new roof and fitting tills, and switching fuel brands from Power to Harvest Energy.

He plans to re-open the forecourt in mid-January, taking Parfetts’ newly-launched Shop & Go fascia – the second of his forecourts to have the new impulse-led format, after his Ambassador Service Station in Bristol. That location was one of two forecourts to launch the fascia last week. Muresh says that villagers have asked him to apply for an off-licence and urged him to choose “something different” with the store fascia.

Also, Muresh is seeking planning permission for Stone Garage, on the A38, near the M5, where he plans to install electric charging, an HGV lane and a 2,500sq ft convenience store with the Co-op’s Welcome fascia. He purchased the forecourt on November 29, and is optimistic that it will become a “very high volume” operation, also taking the Harvest Energy brand when it is knocked down and rebuilt. The previous owners had run the site with an MOT and service station for 40 years,