A member of Forecourt Trader’s Top 50 Indies has scooped the Excellence in Customer Offer award at the BP UK Oil Awards 2015.

Deal service station, part of the George Hammond plc retail group located on London Road in Deal, Kent, was recognised following its Spar store’s latest re-development, which brings a mix of forecourt brands together to serve the local market.

The store, which re-opened in September 2014, is George Hammond group’s seventh site trading with Blakemore Trade Partners and Spar, and has undergone an extensive re-development incorporating off licence, hot food to go, in-store bakery and Costa Express coffee.

John Ryeland, retail operations managing director of George Hammond, said: “With so many award winning sites in today’s retail market, it is fabulous to be recognised for this award.

“The success of our Deal service station is truly the result of joint effort, from the inception of the store’s design with our architects through to its construction and delivery with committed contractors, and finally the launch, sales development and ongoing rigorous husbandry managed by our dedicated site staff and the Blakemore Trade Partners support team.”

Blakemore Trade Partners sales director Neil Mercer said: “Deal service station is a great example of how we have developed a partnership approach, working closely with John Ryeland and his team to create a store that is proven to stand out among the competition.

“At Blakemore Trade Partners we understand that the one size fits all approach is no longer appropriate. Diversity of formats helps create stores that reflect the needs of their local community. The attention to detail that John had committed to the store design needed to be reflected in the range so we’ve complemented the Spar range with artisan products from Blakemore Fine Foods.”

BP UK sales manager Howard Nunn added: “John Ryeland and his team at Hammonds continue to develop a fantastic convenience offer which serves the needs of their local community, while at the same time appealing to BP’s high value customers. It’s great to see a site with a quality artisan food to go offer, providing a differentiated proposition in our network.”

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