All Pitstop articles – Page 4
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Gloucestershire Gateway, Gloucester Services, M5 Northbound
LOCATION: Northbound on the M5 and wanting refreshment and to refuel, I just had to head for Gloucester Services (located between junctions 12 and 11a), the 2015 Forecourt Trader of the Year winner. I had heard so many good things about it I was determined to see it for myself. ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Chatham Road Service Station, Maidstone, Kent
LOCATION: My target, the Chatham Road Service Station, is located just south of junction six on the M20 and north of Maidstone on the A229. The site is on a service road and if travelling south, drivers must go right round a busy roundabout and come back on themselves. It ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - HKS Coalville, London Road, Coalville, Leics
LOCATION: Coalville, a former coal mining town in north west Leicestershire, lies on the A511 trunk road between Leicester and Burton upon Trent. This site is the first in the UK to be branded Essar. FORECOURT: From the main road, the forecourt is very visible with its Essar-branded pole ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Hill’s Retail Redditch Service Station, Worcestershire
LOCATION: Hill’s Retail Redditch Service Station is close to the new town estate of Winyates, in the middle of a large residential area. Situated on the B4497, it is also very close to a large Bristol Street Motors site and a Morrisons superstore that sells fuel. FORECOURT: Redditch Service ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - MRH Retail Hornsey Rise, Hornsey, London
LOCATION: The busy A103 Hornsey Rise road dissects the middle of an area bordered by Upper Holloway, Stroud Green and Crouch End. So, my stealth check target is surrounded by thousands of houses. FORECOURT: There is a 20mph speed restriction on Hornsey Rise, so the site is clearly visible ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Applegreen Swaythling Road, Southampton
LOCATION: Swaythling, to the east of Southampton, has lots and lots of households with lots of motors, but only a few superstores, service stations and convenience stores. So, great potential for the Applegreen-branded service station near West End and close to a roundabout on the busy A27 that threads through ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Micheldever Service Station, Cocksford Down, Popham, Hampshire
LOCATION: Micheldever Service Station is located on the A303 eastbound at Popham and was, until recently, an Esso ’On the Run’. It is now one of the growing numbers of Euro Garage sites in the south. There are the usual ’service station ahead’ signs on the A303, but the service ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - BP/M&S Simply Food Service Station, Wisley South, Surrey
LOCATION: It has been some time since I visited a large site with a shop operated by a national multiple and where, perhaps, the local team has little strategic autonomy its task being to run the enterprise effectively as dictated by head office. The Wisley BP/M&S Simply Food service station ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Kingsclere Service Station, Kingsclere, Hampshire
LOCATION: It is reported that the new My Local convenience store chain "will operate in the space between independents and multiples, with the emphasis on local and fresh". It could be argued that this is the same space that many Budgens operate in. But Budgens is facing possible change now ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Burnham Motors Garage, Burnham Market, Norfolk
LOCATION: A free tourist guide to North Norfolk gives a warning to motorists that they may find petrol stations tricky to find. It then gives a list of towns with a filling station so a pin in the list and I find myself off to do a stealth check in ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Grand Stand Service Station, Fairmoor, near Morpeth, Northumberland
LOCATION: Just off the A1, at the junction with the A192 to Morpeth, is the Penny Petroleum-owned Grand Stand Service Station. Last year it was refurbished and the off licence, now promoted with the theme ’Penny Black’, was extended and won the Forecourt Trader of the Year Award for the ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Shell Lymington, Hampshire
LOCATION: Shell Lymington is located on the busy A337 Christchurch-to-Lyndhurst road at the village of Pennington, just a mile or so outside Lymington. FORECOURT: The illuminated pole and the canopy with its bright red, yellow and white corporate Shell branding make the site very visible and distinctive. The forecourt ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Nantycaws Filling Station, A48, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire
In the surgery this month Nantycaws Filling Station, A48, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire LOCATION: Fuel prices in Carmarthen seem to be dictated by Morrisons and Tesco superstores they are competitive, at least 2ppl cheaper than the prices I saw on my journey to this site. It’s situated on a short dead-end slip ...
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News
In the surgery this month
LOCATION: My target is in the beautiful holiday area of North Pembrokeshire. It’s located on the B4329, at the junction of the A487 between Newport and Cardigan, and just outside the small village of Eglwyswrw.Part of the Brian Llewelyn enterprise is its ’country store’ (its yard full of gates, stock ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - High Noon Northbound Services, Symonds Yat, Hereford
LOCATION: High Noon Northbound Services is on the busy A40 between Monmouth and Ross-on-Wye at Symonds Yat. High Noon Stores won The Grocer Gold Award in 2014 as the Independent Retail Chain of the Year, so I was keen to visit this site in such a popular tourist destination. ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Portsbridge Nisa, Cosham
LOCATION: This Forecourt Trader of the Year award-winning site is located on the busy Portsmouth Road, just off the A27. It is on the edge of a dense area of housing, by Highbury College and next to a pub. FORECOURT: The Jet corporate colours ensure a distinctive site with ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Commandery Service Station, Worcester
LOCATION: The Commandery Service Station, one of four owned by Burns & Co, is located right in the city centre of Worcester. I also planned to pop into Hereford to visit another of their sites. FORECOURT: A spacious site allows for easy access to the three pump islands. A ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Falcon Garage, Burghfield Road, Tadley, Hampshire
LOCATION: The Falcon Garage at Tadley is located on the A340, where it snakes around the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) towards Aldermaston. FORECOURT: Falcon Garage is impossible to miss. It’s a large site with a tall Budgens sign, a huge Shell-branded canopy and pole. There are six pump islands ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Tile Hill Service Station, Coventry
LOCATION: Paul and Pinda Cheema are well known in the convenience store sector as award-winning retailers. Last year was a significant one for them they purchased their first service station, left Costcutter and agreed a partnership with Nisa. FORECOURT: The Texaco-branded pole and canopy are distinctive and highly visible ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Wild Goose Garage, Dursley, Gloucestershire
LOCATION: Wild Goose Garage, what an intriguing name! So, thought I would make a stealth check, then learned that the enterprise had won Best Pace Forecourt in the 2014 SuperStation Awards. Even more reason to make a visit. FORECOURT: There is no pole although the large Pace-branded canopy is ...