Top 50 Indie MPK Garages has confirmed that eight free-of-tie filling stations, recently purchased from Rontec Investments, will be supplied by GB Oils under the Total brand. MPK currently has 38 sites, situated predominantly within the East and West Midlands. By reinvesting in its operation, the Leicester-based business has been able to expand its network and achieve strong growth, particularly in shop sales, despite the testing economic climate.

Paul Kershaw, director, MPK Garages, said: "We continue to raise the profile of our sites and improve the retail offering through development of our forecourt shops. Two years ago we took the decision to work in partnership with Londis, which has proved to be good for the business. It is unlocking the potential within our shops; we’ve enjoyed double-digit growth year-on-year and are now poised to embark on the next phase of the programme.

"Sometimes, we do kid ourselves in petrol retailing that we are all shop experts, but our experiences support our decision to recognise who the experts are and let them take the lead. In doing so we have improved the retail experience for the customer, increased profits by 20% and secured much healthier fuel-to-shop sales ratios."

The new agreement brings the MPK annual throughput supplied by GB Oils to approximately 68mlpa.