Not even a year into opening their first forecourt – a formerly derelict petrol station and car sales lot – Susannah Moffat and Oliver Arnold won not only one, but two coveted gongs at this year’s Forecourt Trader Awards.
The couple, who are in their early 40s, went away with the Midlands and East of England up to 4mlpa category prize, and best innovation for their Ledbury Road Services which they bought for £405,000 in 2022.
They went on to invest another £250,000 on the Total Energies-branded rural site, which is on the busy A438 at Bushley near to the historic market town of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, and on the tourist trail to Gloucester.
And their efforts have paid off. The tiny shop packs a punch – cleverly using its 400sq ft footprint to present an emporium of local products which wowed the Forecourt Trader Awards judges, and keeps commuters, locals and tourists engaged with the business.
The site, which opened in November 2024, has a farmshop aspirational feel and was compared to being a tiny Tebay Services by one judge, who during their visit bought a pot of local honey, a stylish dog bowl and also a homemade Apricot Almond Flapjack, a Black Pudding & Apple Sausage Roll, and a freshly ground espresso coffee.
Another judge involved in the online filtering of awards entries exclaimed: “This is just the best site I’ve seen. Proof that you don’t need a big forecourt to be an exceptional filling station.”
It was the design of the shop in fact – a masterclass in packing so much produce and personality into such a small space without feeling cramped or compromised –which clinched the best innovation category. Features included a cash desk doubling as a bakery serve-over counter for artisan bakery products; a bank of smart chillers on the perimeter, and an old-fashioned cart used as a merchandiser for local produce.
It has rustic wooden floors and stylish carpentry and lighting, set against the modern run of refrigeration, with more fresh produce, and sandwiches, drinks and snacks, completing a top end look.
Susannah explains. “We designed the interior to showcase local food producers, including our own range of Grab and Go products, with rustic shelving, copper and anthracite grey themes. This improved the site considerably; operationally, aesthetically and in overall value.”
The shop’s range – which includes products from over 30 local suppliers including free range eggs, meat, flowers, wine, plants and wreaths – clearly reflects its market with a split between everyday essentials and a mix of lifestyle products such as gardening gloves and hanging basket feed, as well as metal wall art, and a camping and travel section. Some 60% of its trade comes from villagers, and 30% from commuters and 10% tourists.
The pair, who started in business running four outdoor cafés in parks in Cheltenham supplied with food from their own commercial kitchen, had not planned on entering forecourt retailing, says Susannah. But aware of the site for years they eventually decided to take the plunge to help balance their income year-round, with their café business relying on summer trade.
“As local residents, my husband and I drove past the derelict fuel station on our way to work every day for four years and often thought it was a shame that it wasn’t open, as there were no other petrol stations nearby, and the only village shop within a five-mile radius had recently closed down,” she explains.
They managed to secure a commercial mortgage against their existing business, and the forecourt is proving a good fit. The couple love engaging with their community, living locally themselves. And the petrol station takes food from their commercial kitchen, as well as feeding in items coming to their end of life to be repurposed as food to go in the café or forecourt itself. The commercial kitchen makes its own sandwiches, soups, fruit granola pots, wraps, salads and artisan sausage rolls, as well as supplying drinks, packaging and ambient goods from the couple’s warehouse.
For the first two years under their ownership the derelict site remained closed for an upgrade. This included a new canopy, extensive re-surfacing, increasing car parking space, and the installation of kerb stones.
They replaced the existing two pump islands with six hose pumps, tested and cleaned the tanks, and introduced a tank gauge, new composite tank chamber covers, stage one vapour recovery, and ACO drainage.
With the original shop building being in a very poor state of repair, it required a significant rebuild – most of which the couple undertook themselves. It needed a new roof, doors, flooring, steel cladding and insulation, updated plumbing and a full electrical re-wire.
Oliver, or Olly as he is called, designed and built the customised counter and shop fittings, constructed a kitchen prep area, office, storeroom and customer toilet. They built a separate café building and a decked outdoor seating area for up to 30 people, which looks out onto the beautiful view of nearby fields and is complete with bike racks and a stand-up table for cyclists taking a break at the site.
Also, Olly installed CCTV, burglar alarms, and even designed and built a bespoke EPOS system for the tills.
This was all against the backdrop of having a new baby join their combined family of now three, Olly recovering from breaking both heels jumping off a wall, and the cost of borrowing soaring post Covid. “We came close to admitting defeat on more than one occasion,” admits Susannah.
“However, our other business was doing well, and eventually we raised the capital to instruct contractors for the forecourt last year, and complete the full shop renovation ourselves with Olly having sufficiently recovered from his injuries to undertake the work himself,” she adds.
From the start the acquisition had been beset with problems, explains Susannah. “The sale took an inordinate amount of time to complete, largely due to the fact that it hadn’t been sold since the 1960s and much of the documentation was missing or incomplete.
“We had to apply for a ‘stopping up’ order from Highways for site access, adverse possession for part of the land, indemnity insurance for unknown covenants, bat licences, planning permission, asbestos surveys, and many others”
Susannah adds: “Our biggest achievement in the last 12 months has quite simply been the full renovation of the previously derelict site and opening, against a rather lot of odds!”
Being a Total Energies site they were also affected by the demise of the Prax oil refinery and having to source fuel supplies elsewhere. It is an experience that has led them to think that they would be better off truly independent continuing to shop around for the best deals.
But they are embracing their new business and getting even closer to their community. “We really enjoy it,” says Olly. “It’s good fun. Suse always wanted a village shop and I’ve always been interested in how fuel works. It’s nice and completely different to what we are used to.”
And the 1.2mlpa business, which prides itself on being competitive on prices across the four grades of fuel it sells, is performing well. It generates a monthly net profit of around £10,000 per month from fuel and the shop with an 80/20 split. And the addition of the profit from Ledbury Road Services is forecast to improve the couple’s annual net profitability as a company by 300% in the first year.
“Buying the garage was a big risk, personally and professionally and we are delighted that all the hard work and sleepless nights have been worth it,” says Susannah.
“Although we knew nothing about running a petrol station, we knew a lot about coffee and food to go, and were convinced that we could make it work from a retail point of view.”
She adds: “Our small team of three full-time staff have been with us since the final renovations were being completed and are almost as emotionally invested in the site as we are.
“Rich our manager, is our most experienced member of staff, having previously managed sites for BP and Shell, and brings with him a wealth of knowledge of the forecourt industry. In fact, he’s pretty much taught us!”
The couple of course are not stopping here. They are planning to introduce a click and collect and delivery service next year, and hampers for this Christmas. Asked whether another forecourt could be in the pipeline, they are less enthusiastic as their model is based on working closely with their local community and they feel it has worked well because of its location.
“We have enough on our plate, running the forecourt and the park cafes at the moment,” says Susannah. “But never say never!”
However, don’t be surprised to see the couple at next year’s Forecourt Trader Awards. They say they are eyeing up the best forecourt loo category.
