Top 50 Indie Karan Retail has acquired its 43rd site – Braunton Service Station near Barnstaple in north Devon – building on its presence in the southwest of England.
It is the third forecourt that the Coventry-based operator has purchased in the region, having already taken on two sites at Barnstaple –Chivenor Service Station and Sticklepath Filling Station – in the past six months.
The operator, now 11th place in the Top 50 Indies ranking of the largest independent forecourt businesses, bought the Esso site from the Squire family. The family is well-known in the area for owning multiple businesses including a fish and chip shop, two pubs, and a bar and restaurant.
After 24 years of owning the forecourt, on the main road from Barnstaple to the north Devon coast, the Squire family wish to reinvest, and to focus on their other business interests, says WT Estates which brokered the deal.
WT Estates’ managing director William Trott says that “this is a fantastic site” ready for further development, having been fitted with new pumps and faster dispensing nozzles, and an InstaVolt electric vehicle charger in recent years.
There are also two jet wash bays, and parking for around half a dozen vehicles.
The business is currently turning over just under 3 million litres per annum in fuel and the 1,600sq ft shop, which had the now defunct Nearbuy fascia, averaging £14,000 to £15,000 in sales a week.
With the Exeter Road site benefiting from tourist trade travelling to beaches at Croyde, Woolacombe and Saunton in the summer, Karan Retail was keen to get moving with its purchase. It is already working with Londis on the grocery side, replacing the previous branding, and also cash and carry depot visits with grocery deliveries.
Karan Retail is also planning to introduce food to go, says Trott, and he believes there is also scope to reintroduce 24-hour trading which the site moved away from in the early 2000s.
With only a small Tesco on a commercial industrial location, and a Co-op with no parking nearby, together with a school on its doorstep, the site has a role to play as a “convenience hub”, says Trott.
“It’s going to be a case of getting on with the first season, which is nearing with Easter on the horizon, and then seeing what needs doing,” says Trott. “The site is about half a mile from the Chivenor Service Station that Karan Retail bought on the same road in September – so it is that site’s first season too,” he adds.
Trott is now helping Karan Retail look for further acquisitions in the region, with several in sight. The latest deal was years in the making, with Trott having worked with the owner for over a decade.
Richard Squire, now at retirement age, says that selling the business was a difficult decision to make. “It was a sensitive deal which took time to overcome. However, the support from William Trott over the years made the deal as smooth as it could have been. I wish all the best to Karan Retail in the future and the continuing success of their investments”
