Oasis Services in East Yorkshire is branching out into used car sales following the acquisition of a plot of land adjacent to the forecourt.
Oliver Blake, operations director of the family-run firm, says the half-acre plot was purchased for parking to make it easier for non-fuel customers to visit the shop, as queues for the pumps often form on the forecourt. But with a quarter of an acre being enough for parking, the remaining land is set to host a car dealership in partnership with an established local firm.
“Hopefully we’ll get everything through planning and sorted by December”, Blake told Forecourt Trader, adding that roughly one vehicle was sold every day when he put a handful of cars on the land to test the water.
This was despite there being no salesperson on site, just a sign telling customers to call a number.
“We’re called Oasis because we’re nigh on in the middle of nowhere, and we get around 1,500 customers a day come onto site”, Blake explains. “Based on the research I’ve done something like 60 to 100 of those customers are likely to be in the market for a new car, and conversion rates mean one or two should buy.”
The car dealership will feature an on-site office and will only sell relatively new cars, he adds. “They’ll be mid-range cars, so £10,000 to £25,000 or so, and still in manufacturer warranty. Everything needs to be pristine, with no dents or scratches, and they’ll be lined up perfectly so they will look just right.”
The move into car sales clearly makes sense, but it’s not the only change afoot at Oasis.
“I’m always asking how we can you make the most of the asset – what can we add on? One step was to be the destination for sending and receiving parcels – there are that many companies wanting to do it, and pay to be on, and it does bring in extra trade – I’ve seen it with Amazon who I’ve had in for years.”
Hardly surprising, then, that the forecourt now also plays host to Royal Mail lockers, with units from InPost and Parcel Pending being added soon, too.
Not content with parcels, car sales and the long-established car wash, Blake has also found success with on-site washing machines, which have been in situ since July this year.
“They’re paying us well,” he says, adding that customers using the machines often buy a coffee or other goods from the Spar forecourt shop, or wash their cars while they’re waiting for their laundry to be done.
Jet wash bays are also on Blake’s radar, while an EV chargepoint should be installed by the end of the year – though he’s aware that connections can take longer than sometimes hoped, and the main road will have to be dug up so fresh cables can be laid for the points.
The forecourt was the brainchild of Blake’s father, who built it almost 40 years ago when the portion of the A165 it sits on was added to bypass the village of Long Riston. ”We seem to attract most of the people that go past on the road,” Blake says, adding that the business has been “expanding expanding and expanding over time.”
