Top 50 Indie JP&S Services expects to invest between £500,000 to £750,000 or more on developing its latest acquisition: a prime site within the M25 which has exchanged hands for the first time in nearly 70 years.
Clark’s Garage on Chigwell Road, in the east London suburb of Woodford Green, is the 16th forecourt for the Yoganathan family. They purchased the Jet/Costcutter forecourt and the neighbouring plot of land with a body repair business on it.
They are planning on repositioning the workshop to give them space to expand the petrol station from four to six pumps, and to increase the size of the grocery store –which they will switch to Londis – from around 500sq ft now to over 2,000sq ft.
They have shut the site for what they think will be six months of work, including expanding the canopy by 20-25% to cover the extra pumps. The extra space acquired next door will provide more space for customer car parking and enable the family to introduce two jet wash bays to go alongside the rollover car wash already in place.
First they need planning permission for the changes to the site which they want to extend to 24-hours to serve the residential area, says director Priyanth Yoganathan, who works in the business with his brother Sukanth, and father Visvanathan Yoganathan, aka Yogan.
“We’re quite hopeful of getting permission for 24-hour trading as there is an Esso diagonally opposite which is already open around the clock,” says Priyanth Yoganathan. Although introducing electric vehicle is being considered, it is probably unlikely, he adds.
Christie & Co’s Lewis Last, who brokered the deal, says that there was “a swamp of interest with loads of offers, and a lot of top operators interested, largely because of the location of the site on a key arterial route from east London to Essex.
“The site attracted extremely high levels of interest, with over 100 initial enquiries received and two fully booked open days, resulting in multiple offers being received from a wide range of operators, both local and national,” says Last.
“It was a very quick process, with us going out to market in July,” he says, with the prime location site having a fuel volume of just over 3mlpa, weekly shop sales of £9,500 and being “very profitable”.
He adds: “I wouldn’t be surprised if the shop sales could increase from over £9,000 a week to £20,000.”
The business has been owned by the Clark family since 1956. Brothers Gary and Andrew Clark, who have run the site for over 30 of those years, are now retiring from the business which was originally set up by their grandfather, and then run by their father. They say that with a “heavy heart” they feel the time is right for someone new to “breathe fresh life” into the business.
Last says: “I’m looking forward to seeing the site post-development, as the team has some exciting plans.”
Gary and Andrew say: ”It is with a heavy heart that we have made the decision to sell the forecourt, but we felt the time was right for someone new to breathe fresh life into the site.
“Thank you to Lewis Last who from start to finish went over and above to assist in our selling our company. He held our hands throughout the transaction along with our great team of solicitors and accountants.
“Finally, we wish the JP&S team every success in their new venture. We take great comfort in knowing the business is now in the hands of highly professional operators who genuinely care about the wellbeing of both staff and the local community.”
JP&S Service says: ”The Clark family have for generations put their heart and soul into nurturing this business and serving the community.”
They add: ”Our team is excited to begin work on our redevelopment plans, which will focus on elevating the customer experience and ensuring the site continues to serve the community to the highest standard.”
