Essar has expanded its retail operation into the North East with the conversion of MPK’s Chester Road station in Stanley, County Durham.

Chester Road is Essar’s 70th site in the UK, and the 13th MPK location to switch to the Essar brand.

Ramsay Macdonald, head of retail at Essar, commented: “We are delighted to be working with Top 10 Indie, MPK to progress growth of our respective businesses. This latest opening demonstrates that we now have a secure supply and logistics position in the North East, and provides a ‘lighthouse location’ to showcase our brand in this region. It’s another leap forward in driving our customer journey.

“One of the many advantages Essar has as a refiner and exporter is the ability to swiftly secure advantaged additised product anywhere in the UK, with the support of our first class flexible logistics operations.

“We can now offer the award-winning Essar brand proposition and a full range of quality products to the North East market and we would be delighted to hear from any dealers who are keen benefit from this.”

Aaron Moore, territory manager at Essar, said: “We are delighted to welcome Chester Road as the first Essar-branded station in this part of the country. This is a well-managed site with a highly engaged team serving customers. They are very excited by the clean and fresh look of the Essar brand and we look forward to working closely with the store team to offer a great customer experience.”

Wayne Harrand, MPK’s head of retail, commented: “As a UK manufacturer, Essar is best placed to service the changing energy needs of those people visiting our forecourts. We have been delighted with the customer reaction at Essar branded sites and this, together with our roll-out of Morrisons Daily and Safeway Daily, is driving footfall, growing basket size and changing the demographic of our consumer base.”

Essar entered the UK retail market with the opening of its first branded forecourt in November 2015 at Coalville in Leicestershire. The company plans to open its first company-owned flagship site opposite its Stanlow manufacturing complex at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire later this year and is the principal sponsor of the 2019 Forecourt Trader Awards.