A family-run Dorset business is making a significant investment in the future with a £250,000 expansion of the forecourt completed and work soon to get under way to increase the size of its Spar forecourt store.

Work at Maiden Newton Service Station has so far seen the installation of new fuel tanks, pumps, pipework and the introduction of supreme grades of diesel and unleaded Texaco petrol in a major redevelopment.

Owner Olly Andrews said the development of the forecourt was designed to safeguard the site and future-proof it for many years ahead.

“The work we’ve done also has advantages for our Spar forecourt store as it has created more parking space for customers,” he said. “We are aiming to increase the shop size even further and hope to have it completed in January/February 2020.”

The Andrews family has run the business for more than 40 years and the Spar store is a focal point of the local community providing a vital service to the local rural area. It will be the third major extension to the store in six years in a series of co-investment projects with Appleby Westward, the regional distribution company for Spar stores in the South West.

In 2013 Olly increased the size of the store by one third and three years later doubled the size still further to 2,100sq ft. Now, a further extension will incorporate an old workshop into a new-look store which will feature more chilled and frozen products including the Cook’s frozen meals range, and a dedicated extensive off licence section.

Olly and his team are regular prize winners at the annual Appleby Westward Retail Awards, currently holding the Community Retailer of the Year and Best Neighbourhood Forecourt Store awards, while Abi James holds the Best Store Manager title.

“These latest developments to our thriving country store and busy forecourt and service station enhance the full convenience offer we are able to provide to the local community,” said Olly, who took over the business from his mother Melodie seven years ago after 15 years in business management. The store has been trading under the Spar fascia for more than 20 years.

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