England’s Motorway Services show star quality 9 March 2015: Top 5* star ratings have been awarded to seven Motorway Service Stations from across the country as part of VisitEngland’s Motorway Service Area Quality Scheme. Whether travelling for business or leisure, Service Stations provide important stopping points for people visiting an area and this experience can add to the overall enjoyment of the trip. As National Tourist Board for England, VisitEngland assesses the quality of service and customer experience at service stations across the country to help encourage a high quality experience for all travellers. Five leading operators took part in this year’s quality scheme - Extra, Moto, Welcome Break, Roadchef and Westmorland, who collectively own 107 sites across England. A further 42 services will received a 4 Star rating and the remaining 58 services are rated as 3 Star. As part of the Scheme, VisitEngland Assessors anonymously visited all the operators’ individual sites twice over the last 12 months and completed a thorough quality report. On each visit, the Assessor looks at the whole of the customer journey, from initial arrival right through to the use of facilities, retail and catering outlets, to departure. The sites’ service stations are assessed on the quality of catering, cleanliness, staff, food, forecourt, retail, service, toilet facilities and overall site – which can include anything from the baby changing, coach parking space or facilities for dogs. Top 5* ratings have been awarded to the following Motorway Service stations: Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, Beaconsfield achieved an overall score of 90 per cent which means that Junction 2 of M40, Extra the services has now progressed from 4* to 5* in the last 12 months. The management has improved the levels of quality throughout the customer journey through new initiatives. The Assessor was particularly impressed with the quality of Beaconsfield’s coffee shops, food retail and its spacious forecourt area. Blackburn with Darwen, Lancashire, The standard of facilities, service, food, drink and merchandise provided Junction 64 off the M65, Extra by Costa Coffee and the Co-operative shop achieved a very high 5* scoring. Other aspects of the service area which also impressed include the Forecourt which displayed excellent quality standards across all its facilities from being spacious to having clear signs and pricing. Staff performed well across the site and levels of cleanliness were notably high. Charnock Richard North, Lancashire, The standard of facilities, service, food, drink and merchandise provided M6 between J27 and J28, Welcome by Starbucks, Waitrose and WH Smith was high with 5* scoring Break deservedly achieved. Other aspects of the service area performed well with Toilets, Staff and Forecourt sections also achieving 5* standards. Individual highlights included the cleanliness and overall presentation of the Waitrose shop and the levels of service and knowledge experienced from most of the staff encountered during the visit. Cobham, Surrey, M25 between J9 and Excellent provision of key facilities, a well-presented and spacious site J10, Extra and an excellent range of food and retail outlets including WH Smith, Marks & Spencer’s, Starbucks and Eat In. Gloucester, M5 inbound between This fabulous new Motorway Service station is operating at 5-star J11a and J12, Westmorland standards across the site. The quality of the facilities is to a very high standard in all areas and it has been designed and customers will be impressed by the extensive range and quality of the produce offered in the shop. The quality of the food served in the kitchen is also to a very high standard. Tebay South, Cumbria, M6 between Tebay South was praised for its helpful and friendly staff in the shop and J38 and J39, Westmorland café area (soon to be rebranded as the Farm Kitchen) which offers customers a wide range of easily accessible merchandise. The services also offer include a spacious lounge for families and an outside pond. Tebay North, Cumbria, M6 between The quality of the produce on sale, both in the shop and in the Café and J38 and J39, Westmorland Kitchen at Tebay North are excellent and the services are in a wonderful location with far reaching views from the public seating and eating areas in the service station. The lounge provides a dining area for customers who may have made their purchases from Made To Go are much enjoyed by customers. Their high standards of cleanliness are to be commended. James Berresford, Chief Executive of VisitEngland said: “The quality of Motorway Services in England has improved dramatically over the last few years. A quality service for visitors makes an enormous difference to people taking a much needed break on their journey – whether their trip is for business or pleasure. There are some true examples of these businesses going above and beyond to meet the needs of customers. What’s also fantastic is that seven individual sites have now achieved the top 5* rating, with all of the services received a rating of 3 stars and up – a sure sign of their commitment to providing this first rate service in the years to come.” Julie Prince, Senior Policy Advisor, Highways Agency, said: “When we approached VisitEngland about developing a star rating Scheme for Motorway Service stations we hoped that operators would embrace this self-funded initiative. We’re incredibly pleased that so many sites are now on the Scheme and that the country’s Motorway Services have achieved high ratings during the last assessment period. It real showcases how far MSAs have come in providing visitors with a quality customer experience through not only their cleanliness but also their range of food and drink, family facilities, open spaces and places for dogs in recent years. We’d encourage MSAs to keep up the great work over the next 12 months.” ENDS Angelah Sparg, Head of Corporate Communications Tel: 02075781482, Email [email protected] or Sarah Rabbitts, Corporate Communications Manager Tel: 020 7578 1452, Email [email protected] www.visitengland.org Full list of star ratings from the annual Motorway Service Area Quality Scheme February 2015 MSA Group 2015 star rating Baldock Extra 4 Beaconsfield Extra 5 Birch East Moto 3 Birch West Moto 3 Birchanger Green Welcome Break 4 Blackburn with Darwen Extra 5 Bridgwater Moto 3 Burton in Kendal Moto 3 Burtonwood Welcome Break 3 Cambridge Extra 4 Charnock Richard South Welcome Break 3 Charnock Richard North Welcome Break 5 Cherwell Valley Moto 4 Chester Roadchef 4 Chieveley Moto 3 Clacket Lane East Roadchef 4 Clacket Lane West Roadchef 4 Cobham Extra 5 Corley East/South Welcome Break 3 Corley West/North Welcome Break 3 Cullompton Extra 3 Doncaster North Moto 4 Donington Park Moto 4 Durham Roadchef 3 Exeter Moto 3 Ferrybridge Moto 4 Fleet North Welcome Break 4 Fleet South Welcome Break 4 Frankley North Moto 3 Frankley South Moto 4 Gloucester Westmorland 5 Gordano Welcome Break 4 Hartshead Moor East Welcome Break 3 Hartshead Moor West Welcome Break 3 Heston East Moto 3 Heston West Moto 3 Hilton Park North Moto 3 Hilton Park South Moto 3 Hopwood Park Welcome Break 4 Keele North Welcome Break 3 Keele South Welcome Break 4 Killington Lake Roadchef 3 Knutsford North Moto 4 Knutsford South Moto 4 Lancaster Forton North Moto 4 Lancaster Forton South Moto 4 Leicester Forest East North Welcome Break 3 Leicester Forest East South Welcome Break 3 Leigh Delamere East Moto 4 Leigh Delamere West Moto 4 London Gateway Welcome Break 4 Maidstone Roadchef 4 Medway Moto 3 Membury East Welcome Break 3 Membury West Welcome Break 4 Michaelwood North Welcome Break 4 Michaelwood South Welcome Break 4 Newport Pagnell North Welcome Break 3 Newport Pagnell South Welcome Break 3 Northampton North Roadchef 3 Northampton South Roadchef 3 Norton Canes Roadchef 4 Oxford Welcome Break 4 Pease Pottage Moto 3 Peterborough Extra 4 Reading East Moto 4 Reading West Moto 3 Rownhams North Roadchef 3 Rownhams South Roadchef 3 Sandbach North Roadchef 3 Sandbach South Roadchef 3 Sedgemoor North Welcome Break 3 Sedgemoor South Roadchef 3 Severn View Moto 3 South Mimms Welcome Break 4 Southwaite North Moto 3 Southwaite South Moto 4 Stafford North Moto 4 Stafford South Roadchef 3 Strensham North Roadchef 3 Strensham South Roadchef 3 Tamworth Moto 3 Taunton Deane North Roadchef 3 Taunton Deane South Roadchef 3 Tebay North Westmorland 5 Tebay South Westmorland 5 Telford Welcome Break 3 Thurrock Moto 4 Tibshelf North Roadchef 3 Tibshelf South Roadchef 3 Toddington North Moto 4 Toddington South Moto 4 Trowell North Moto 3 Trowell South Moto 3 Warwick North Welcome Break 3 Warwick South Welcome Break 4 Washington North Moto 3 Washington South Moto 3 Watford Gap North Roadchef 3 Watford Gap South Roadchef 3 Wetherby Moto 4 Winchester North Moto 4 Winchester South Moto 4 Woodall North Welcome Break 3 Woodall South Welcome Break 3 Woolley Edge North Moto 4 Woolley Edge South Moto 4 About VisitEngland VisitEngland is the country’s national tourist board. We work in partnership with the industry to develop the visitor experience across England, plan national tourism strategy, grow the value of tourism in England and provide advocacy for the industry and our visitors. Our work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights. You can access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics on www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics. England is a unique destination and a real powerhouse in global tourism. It represents 84 per cent of the total UK visitor economy, is worth £106 billion, and supports 2.6 million jobs. For corporate information see www.visitengland.org and for consumer information see www.visitengland.com. About the Motorway Service Area Quality Scheme The quality Scheme was originally commissioned by the Highways Agency in and has been devised to cover service areas which are of key importance to customers.