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It has been a busy few days. In addition to celebrating our teams at Alton Towers, we successfully opened two new Pret units. Both Rownhams on the M27 and Chester on the M56 have now opened their doors to customers.
Caring, Uncomplicated, and Positively Obsessive are more than just our values; they are the behaviors that shape our daily actions. They set the tone for how we operate, how we make our customers' visits enjoyable, and what makes Roadchef an IIP Platinum and Best Companies employer. Last week, we celebrated our Everyday Hero Awards at our annual conference at Alton Towers, recognizing both individual and site achievements. It was an amazing event filled with celebration, pride, and fun. Well done to all of our nominees and winners.
A message from our CEO, Tim Gittins. I am delighted to announce that we have maintained our 3 Star Best Companies rating following our recent employee engagement survey. This is fantastic news, demonstrating that Roadchef remains one of the best places to work in the UK, thanks to the daily efforts of all our teams. Thank you to the 2200 employees who participated and shared valuable feedback on what we do well and how we can improve. We will now review this feedback to create and communicate new Company and team engagement action plans for 2026. I look forward to sharing the Company plan soon.
A big Roadchef welcome to our latest brand to join the Roadchef family. Strensham South on the M5 near Worcester opened our first Chopstix unit. Some of us were lucky enough to be there on the Team training day and sampled many of the dishes and the food was amazing. Definitely going to be a favorite with our Customers and Team.
It’s been a busy few weeks at Roadchef. The team at Clacket Lane on the eastbound M25 have worked tirelessly to open our eighth McDonald’s Drive Thru, just in time for the “Driving Home for Christmas” rush. Despite a few challenges along the way, they handled everything with their usual professionalism and positivity. Well done, everyone.
We’re delighted to announce that Pret A Manger has officially joined our brand line-up at Roadchef Strensham, with the Southbound shop opening last week and Northbound set to open this Friday. The project to open our pair of Pret shops is a fantastic example of how our teams and partners work collaboratively to deliver best-in-class facilities, food and service for our customers as we continue to grow our portfolio of leading brands. Just in time for the colder weather and the run-up to Christmas, motorists can now enjoy Pret’s freshly prepared food, made daily. Whilst choosing to visit Pret is easy, choosing what dish to have is the difficult bit, with a wide range of options available at all times of day. These new openings highlight our commitment to offering motorists more quality food choices from the UK's biggest brands whilst aligning ourselves with businesses that share our values. A huge well done to all colleagues involved in bringing the first Pret store at Strensham Southbound to life. We’re looking forward to cutting the ribbon on the Northbound store this week!
We're excited to share that Roadchef has once again been recognised as one of the best places to work in the UK in the latest Best Companies big reveal, Across the UK, we've kept the momentum going and are thrilled to now rank as 3rd Best Big Company to work for and 2nd Best Leisure and Hospitality Company to work for. And on top of that, for the second year running we've been named the Number 1 Best Company to work for in Scotland, a reflection of the positive, supportive and high performing culture our teams bring to life every day. This comes off the back of our 3-star world class accreditation for 2025, marking an incredible journey from 1-Star status in 2021 to the highest level of recognition in just four years. Laura Bunn, HR Director at Roadchef, said: "Seeing Roadchef ranked among the top employers across so many regions and catergories is incredibley rewarding. We've spent years building initiatives that truly make a difference to our teams, from wellbeing support to leadership development, and the feedback through Best Companies shows the impact of that work. "I'm immensely proud of the culture we've created together. Our people are our greatest asset, and our culture is the bedrock of our success" These results are powered by the passion, energy and commitment of our 4,000 team members across 31 sites. Thank you to every single one of you, achievements like this only happen because of the incredible people behind them.
Part of the Roadchef strategy is to continue delivering excellent facilities across all of our brands. This time of year is always busy, and one of our most recent developments is the newly updated McDonald's at Clacket Lane. The team has worked tirelessly to bring this new restaurant style to life.
It goes without saying that Roadchef is a Great Place to Work - just ask our 4,000+ staff and we’re proud to announce an award nomination to prove it! We’ve been shortlisted for the ‘Great Place to Work’ category in the 2025 Engage Business Media Awards. The winner will be announced the 11th November in a ceremony at Old Billingsgate, London, chosen from a shortlist of 17 outstanding businesses Our appearance on the shortlist follows a series of achievements in 2024, where Roadchef scooped a Special Award for Wellbeing and Best Place to Work in Scotland from Best Companies alongside the Best Company Culture prize at The Investors in People Award. Laura Bunn, HR Director, said: “At Roadchef people are at the heart of everything we do. Without our team members we wouldn’t be able to deliver the exceptional experiences enjoyed by almost 50 million road users that visit our sites each year. This recognition reflects our ongoing commitment and dedication to creating a supportive, rewarding workplace where everyone can thrive.” The nomination is the culmination of multiple initiatives that have improved colleagues' experience of working for the UK’s best motorway services brand; including a new HRMS system, improved training systems across all levels and much more. These improvements have seen growth across Roadchef’s Glassdoor and Indeed scores, rising to 4.2, with nearly 9 out of 10 employees recommending us as a great place to work.
Whilst the sun starts to shine again in the UK, we’re taking motorists to India for a culinary holiday with our new addition to Watford Gap Northbound. Now the roadworks have cleared on the M1 motorway, there’s something new to tantalise your taste buds! On your next journey, indulge in the Indian street food flavours of Chaiiwala – the newest addition to the Roadchef family, exclusively at Watford Gap Northbound. Enjoy delicious, freshly prepared Indian street food from the UK's leading Indian street food café, and savour the flavours and aromas of the iconic breakfast, lunch, and dinner offering thats stealing the hearts of Brits across their 100+ UK stores! Sip on Chaiiwala’s signature Karak Chaii, tuck into their mouth-watering toasties, and try their famous naan wala wraps as we celebrate this exciting new partnership on your next journey. We can’t wait to welcome you to Watford Gap Northbound!
