Top 50 Indie Symonds Forecourts has acquired its ninth forecourt site and is finalising planning approval on a tenth that will be a new to industry site.
The acquisition is Malmesbury Service Station on the A249 in Wiltshire, which was purchased direct from Andrew Ings without the involvement of any agents.
Symonds chief executive Jeremy Symonds said he was delighted with the acquisition. He said: “This is a great location in a good area. The site operates under the BP fuel brand and already pumps good fuel volumes.”
He said the site currently had a modest sized, traditional style forecourt shop of about 1,000 sq ft and the intention was to redevelop the site with a new 3,000sq ft shop and other services, once planning permission was obtained.
The group already partners Budgens on some of its other sites and he said it was intended this shop, too, would be a Budgens. He said the plans for additional services on the site had not been finalised but the group has partnerships on other sites with brands including Starbucks, Costa and Subway.
The tenth site is in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and is in the final stages of the planning process.
It is a new to industry site and will include a 4,500sq ft Budgens store and the group’s first drive-thru Starbucks. Jeremy Symonds revealed the group had several more drive-thru Starbucks in the pipeline.
He said negotiations were under way with potential fuel suppliers, and it was expected that the site would open within a few months.
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