Roadchef

Roadchef is a company which operates 30 motorway service areas in 21 locations in the UK. It is the third largest motorway service area operator, behind Moto and Welcome Break and followed by Extra.[4]

Roadchef Motorways Ltd [1]
Private
IndustryHospitality
FoundedJuly 1973 (July 1973)
HeadquartersNorton Canes services, UK
Area served
United Kingdom except Northern Ireland
Key people
Simon Turl (Chairman)
Mark Fox (CEO)
Revenue
  • £191.8m (2018) [2]
  • £188.8m (2017)[3]
£6.3m
Total assets£401m
Number of employees
3000+
ParentAntin Infrastructure Partners
Websitewww.roadchef.com

In September 2014, it was announced that owners Delek Group were selling Roadchef to Antin Infrastructure Partners for £153 million.[5]

History

Roadchef was founded in July 1973 by Lindley Catering Investments and Galleon World Travel.[1][4] The company was originally family owned but in November 1995 was sold to a management team. In May 1998, the company was sold to Japanese investors. It was later found that £29 million of shares that should have been distributed to ordinary workers through the employee ownership scheme (REBTL) had been transferred to Tim Ingram Hill, one of the management team. A prolonged legal battle ensued, the courts declaring the transaction void and ordering Mr Ingram Hill to repay the profit he made from the shares he appropriated.[6] As of June 2020, due to a dispute with HMRC, the money has still not been distributed to the staff who should have received it. An Early Day Motion was tabled in Parliament in September 2019 by Neil Gray MP, who has campaigned extensively on behalf of the staff, criticising HMRC for failing to resolve the dispute.[7][8] It was reported in July 2019 by the Emloyee Benefit Trust's trustee that a dispute with HMRC is the only remaining obstacle to the distribution of the money, and that the current Roadchef management have been fully supportive of the process.[9] Neil Gray raised the issue once again during Prime Minister's Questions in Parliament in January 2020, in response to which, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated that he would ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to "discuss the matter." [10]

Over the years Roadchef have acquired a portfolio of 21 sites. A large expansion occurred in 1998 when Roadchef agreed to purchase Blue Boar Group and Take A Break for £80 million and thus proceeded to integrate these acquisitions into an enlarged Roadchef Group. At the time, Blue Boar was the fourth largest operator of motorway services areas in the UK with three operational sites and one development site. The acquired Watford Gap site was the first motorway service area to be opened in the UK in 1959 and is one of the UK's best known sites. A few years ago (according to Google Finance), "Roadchef Motorways was one of the largest Motorway Services Area (MSA) operators in the UK, with 21 sites representing 24% of the market and serving some 60 million visitors each year."[11]

Facilities

Roadchef motorway service areas have varying facilities but despite this all sites provide two hours free parking, toilets and food 24 hours a day, seven days a week.[12]

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References
  1. User, Super. "About Us - Roadchef Motorway Service Areas". www.roadchef.com.
  2. Annual accounts for 31.Dec.2018 at Companies House https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/01123082/filing-history
  3. https://www.insidermedia.com/news/midlands/revenue-passes-190m-at-motorway-service-station-firm
  4. "Operators - motorway services".
  5. "Delek Group to sell Britain's Roadchef for $250 million". Reuters. Thomson Reuters. 14 September 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2016.
  6. "Roadchef workers win legal fight for shares after 20 years". independent.co.uk.
  7. "Conduct of HMRC and the Roadchef Employee Benefits Trust". www.parliament.uk.
  8. "Roadchef workers closer to shares payout after legal battl". bbc.co.uk.
  9. http://www.esopcentre.com/wp-content/uploads/dlm_uploads/2019/06/newspad-July-2019-1.pdf
  10. https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2020-01-08/debates/4DC6A35D-548A-46EF-AAB0-B8C7A857C46A/OralAnswersToQuestions
  11. "finance - Google Search". finance.google.com.
  12. "MSA Policy - motorway services".
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