Jonathan and Zena Tout are not used to coming away from an awards ceremony without trophies. The couple, the second generation to run the family business that was begun by Jonathan’s parents, took a step away from entering Forecourt Trader’s Awards last year and turned judges instead, after coming away with the top prize as Forecourt Trader of the Year, and four others in 2023.
They dominated the competition that year, clinching best design and development, innovation, forecourt over 4mlpa in the West Country and Wales, and customer loo, for their flagship Cleeve site, near Bristol, which they had opened the year before.
Zena, the creative force behind the North Somerset business – which also has forecourts in Nailsea and Langford – admits that she found it hard attending the event knowing that they were not in contention for any categories. To say she is competitive is an understatement and there will be several awards the entrepreneurial couple are hoping to be in the running for this year.
The Touts have never been slow to innovate. Cleeve’s teal-themed forecourt shop has a focus on local produce, a 35,000 member strong loyalty programme giving savings on fuel as well as groceries, and an onsite hair salon and 78-seat restaurant. Now, the husband and wife team have big plans for the year.
Among the most significant is a stepping up of in-house food production. They are working on a prepared range where they want to replicate the quality of Pret in food-for- now, and M&S in food-for-soon. A team site visit last month to Northern Ireland, arranged by retail consultant Scott Annan, has inspired them to plan for increasing weekly prepared food sales from £12,000 to £50,000 by March 2026.
Speaking in their impressive glass fronted company boardroom at the double storey Cleeve site, Zena, known for her attention to detail as brand director, says she is keen to develop the range made by their own chefs under the Maple Kitchen brand they introduced three years ago.
It is already a modern, innovative although limited offer with top-sellers including overnight oats, cooked English breakfast pots of sausage, bacon, hash brown and baked beans, brie & bacon baguettes, and a macaroni cheese pot with a pigs in blanket or spinach and feta.
But the couple want to scale up, tapping into the evening trade with fresh alternatives competing with the frozen ready-meal Cook freezers they already have at their sites in Cleeve (which has five cabinets), Langford (four) and Nailsea (four).
“We have very high ambitions and standards, and if we do something we need to be the best and do it properly,” says Zena.
Premium Cook frozen prepared food performs well for Tout’s fitting with its tagline of “passionate about food”. The couple believe that customers are ready for a fresh alternative, with prepared vegetables, side dishes, and meals ready to heat in the oven or microwave, which could include a macro range, highlighting the amount of protein and calories in each pack.
In food-for-now the emphasis will be on a premium core offer, with a supermarket value alternative, with sandwiches and pasta salads, alongside scotch eggs, sausage rolls, and maybe eventually sushi. “We will look at the best sellers, such as a chicken salad sandwich and make the very best version of that, alongside a supermarket option,” says Jonathan.
Zena believes their customers are ready: “Shopper behaviour does seem to be different in Northern Ireland with baskets full of prepared food, but we have an inkling demand for prepared food is coming more over here. You just have to look at what M&S is doing with its Dine In range,” she says.
“Despite people being on a budget, we feel consumers are ready for an easier meal solution, whether during the week to bung in the oven, or at the weekend as more of a treat instead of going out.
“We learned a lot from our trip to Northern Ireland. All types of customers – families, young professionals, empty nesters and pensioners – had baskets with either fully or semi-prepared food, and it’s important to have something for everyone,” she adds.
The project would not be complete without Zena’s eye for branding. At our meeting, the couple were debating whether the range would remain as Maple Kitchen or switch to Tout’s Kitchen, and it was clear that Zena, after getting input from her team, would have final sign off.
As managing director Jonathan is more interested in the big picture for the business, which he has expanded over the past 13 years to include three standalone pharmacies. He is now looking to buy several more forecourts in the south west, as well as progressing with the site in Taunton which has been three years in the making so far with difficulties getting planning approval.
He jokes that Zena’s workplace mug features Little Miss Bossy – all of the head office team have a version of the Roger Hargreaves characters – with his being Mr Happy and their eldest of two daughters, Aurora, now aged three, Little Miss Tiny. It won’t be long before their youngest, one-year-old Sienna, who has born on Christmas day 2023, will have her own.
Their children have been regular visitors to the family’s forecourts, often spending time in a bouncy chair at the end of the boardroom table, while their parents dealt with business of the day.
Joking aside, Jonathan and Zena make a dynamic duo – backed by a head office staff of 14. Jonathan’s parents – Philip and Lesley Tout, who bought their first service station when they were aged just 21 – are still involved, giving the nod on big decisions, attending the monthly board meeting, and in the case of Jonathan’s father, still buying the fuel. They remain a tight-knit family who enjoy socialising with one another, and have just returned from a ski-ing holiday in Val d’Isire together.
Jonathan’s sister Buffy also continues to run her hair salon on-site at Cleeve, and the couple have just launched this month an aesthetics clinic, a spin-off from their pharmacy business – called Aurora Aesthetics – offering fillers, face peeling and treatments for skin conditions.
“It sounds quite random for forecourt retailers, but we already run pharmacies and we have an independent prescribing pharmacist who specialises in dermatology working there,” says Zena. “It is a pharmacy-led clinic, rather than beauty led with nail painting and massages.”
The pair have also started this year to rent out their training room on the same floor as their head office, aesthetics clinic, and hair salon – under the brand Tout’s Suite. There is space for up to 40 people, and the room has air conditioning, fast wifi, an 86 inch interactive touchscreen. Catering is provided. They have already hosted Greenergy’s dealer event.
Zena is also excited by the business sponsoring this summer’s Gromit Unleashed 3 tourist trail of giant sculptures from the Aardman series of Wallace & Gromit animated films. The event, which takes place from June 30 to August 31, is raising money for The Grand Appeal and the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children. Their daughter Aurora spent the first days of her life there in intensive care.
Because they are supporting the trail, which is expected to attract millions of tourists this year, they will not be holding their annual Food Fest community fair. But they are creating ideas to get involved with the community during Gromit Unleashed 3.
They are also busy devising products that they can sell during the event, with paw-shaped cookies and a children’s meal inspired by Wallace’s love of Wensleydale cheese in The Maple Restaurant, on the agenda.
Zena is also giving lots of thought to their entries for this year’s Forecourt Trader Awards. She thinks she will enter four categories. “I did not like being at the awards and not winning one. I am quite competitive,” she laughs.
