With its array of local produce – from pastries and pork chops to jams to craft beers – Tebay Services on the M6 is a motorway services like none other. An upmarket destination outlet for motorists and coach parties, independent operator Westmorland Family has been winning fans for the site since it opened in 1972. Supporters include the Princess Royal and comedian Frank Skinner.
Founders John and Barbara Dunning, now in their early 90s and still running a nearby livestock farm, still turn up for a daily coffee amid the hundreds of daily visitors who appreciate its homemade food and spectacular views framed by the hills of the Lake District and North Yorkshire Moors. Ducks even frequent a large pond outside the panoramic windows of the northbound restaurant.
Forecourt Trader made an extensive visit to the northbound services, which includes a hotel, on a recent journey to Scotland, to see what other forecourt operators might learn from the business, which for the past 20 years has been run by the Dunnings’ daughter Sarah. Here are our 10 takeaways:
1. Know your market: Tebay is not cheap, but judging by the cars parked at the 13 electric vehicle charging bays, the business’s customers are not stopping to find the cheapest fare on the motorway. Instead, they are attracted by the quality and variety of the food and the ambience of the surroundings. It is just as well, with a gluten-free apple and cinnamon overnight oats priced at £3.95 or a lamb roast at £14.25.
Tebay goes by its tagline of providing ”proper food on the motorway”, with an emporium of foodie treats such as honey still on the comb, orange cheese curd, chocolate rum, berry and beetroot brownies, and venison steak from the in-store butcher’s counter. Meanwhile, for those wanting a sit down meal or takeaway, there is the choice of sandwiches, soups and fruit pots in the Quick Kitchen, a soup station with homemade soup and artisan rolls, or a new range of flatbreads and salad bowls, and traditional meals such as lasagne, roasts and fish and chips in the main canteen.
2. Support local producers: The business works with more than 70 local suppliers – a message it ensures customers do not miss with signage. Local produce includes duck eggs, English wine displayed in a wooden cabinet, craft beer, meat, and honey. It does not get more local than its butcher’s counter that uses lamb and beef from the Westmorland family’s farm a mile away. It practises ”whole-animal butchery” which it describes again on signs as an ”endangered craft skill’”, ensuring as much as possible of the carcass is consumed. Throughout the farm shop there is evidence of its links with the region’s producers with, for instance, Kimi’s Gelato from Staveley 10 miles away, using locally sourced free-range milk, and exclusive Eden River Brew Co beers from Penrith, 16 miles up the road.
3. Cater for all the family: At Tebay, children aged 10 and under eat for £1 in the canteen for every adult-sized hot meal purchased, and there are special kids picnic boxes, with a sandwich, drink, and snack, such as a small pot of raisins, grapes, or baby tomatoes, or a finger of cheese, for £6.
4. Don’t forget fur babies: A bowl of fresh, clean water for dogs always goes down well with motorists with four-legged friends. But Tebay goes a step further, signposting dog walks with views overlooking the Howgill Fells, and a carefully curated pet section with Lily’s Kitchen food and treats. Also, dogs are allowed in the foyer of the services – a thoughtful concession for solo drivers who won’t want to leave their pets alone in the car. Its adjacent hotel also sets the tone with a bowl of water at its entrance and guests allowed to take pets into a specially designated lower level area of the restaurant, at breakfast and dinner.
5. Promote sustainability: There are a couple of cup recycling stations outside and inside the property, with the latter having a display of used coffee grounds for customers to take away for free and repurpose as mulch and fertiliser. There is also a compost centre on the grounds for food waste. All of the food waste from the farmshop and kitchen ends up in these hot aerobic compost bins for two to three months before being used as fertiliser.
6. Support the local community: Tebay Services is working with the mental health charity Growing Well on a kitchen garden enterprise on site which provides local produce for its farm shop and kitchen. Participants volunteer one day per week to help sow salads and vegetables, learning new horticultural skills, and helping with their recovery.
7. Celebrate seasonal events: When we visited at the end of March, the store was in full Easter mode, with a prominent display of spring flowers, and own-brand ‘made by hand’ Easter eggs from The Cocoabrah Co, hot chocolate bombs, and a hot cross bun loaf from The Artisan Bakery, Staveley, Kendal.
8. If you are catering for EVs become a champion at it: A totem pole clearly displays the electric per kilowatt prices available from the hub of 12 chargers, and there is one standalone chargepoint with wheelchair access.
9. Do more than food and essentials: Want to buy a tasteful gift or personal treat? In the farm shop there are unusual spirits, and a lifestyle section with luxury toiletries and pottery, baby toys and clothes, and other upmarket housewares such as sheepskin rugs for £95.
10. Merchandise imaginatively: Tebay Services is a master of presenting how its aspirational products would fit into customers’ homes. Pottery is displayed next to fine tea blends such as Turmeric & Cinnamon Blend. And plants are placed beside cakes stands of bakery goodies.
