Learning from Las Vegas: How service stations can become more than just a pit stop

Motorway service stations in the UK have over 32 million visits annually, the equivalent of around one in every two people using the sites. In comparison, Las Vegas has marginally more visitors with 39 million tourists every year. As I navigate across the country for my work in Automotive & Roadside, I stop at the sites regularly and cannot help but think they could do with a little of Las Vegas magic to make the customer experience more appetising. Back in the 1980s, McDonald’s even had a couple of sites in East Anglia that were designed in the shape of a UFO, presumably serving food that was out of this world.

As a child I remember being excited to stop at services, especially those that had a bridge link with the other side of the motorway. Each side would have different shops and restaurants and I used to look down from the bridge at cars whizzing past below.

Today, most service stations with a bridge end up being just being twinned sites with the same brands on either carriageway and the only reason to cross being if one side is closed for refurbishment. This minimises dwell time at the services – if each side had different offers, people might stay for longer to check out both sides and have more choice.

The high street and shopping centres have adapted to offer more sensory experiences for shoppers, so too could service stations. With people having to stop and charge their EVs in addition to fuel, food and comfort breaks, are service stations missing an opportunity for higher footfall, longer dwell time and increased spend?

There are a few examples of interesting road services. Leicester Forest East on the M1 for example has a food hall on the bridge which allows customers to stare down at the very trucks that might have delivered the products for the burger, coffee or doughnut (maybe all three) that customers are consuming at that given moment.

Rugby Services, which opened in 2021, has developed a large modern site with an enticing layout and plenty of EV charging facilities. Elsewhere, there are plans for more environmentally friendly sites that will concentrate on a fully ‘green’ experience. Rapleys itself is working with a road services operator to achieve planning consent for solar farms that will support the operation of their sites in this manner.

Other innovative designs include Gloucester and Tebay which offer their own spin, with a more ‘farm shop’ experience rather than relying on coffee and fast food.

Services remain popular and busy and, whilst the UK population demands well-known brands and seems to know what services provide them, there’s surely more that can be done to innovate and offer choice. The recently opened Welcome Break services at Rotherham, which opened in January this year, could be showing the way of the future. With a single food hall, it has been designed to look like an old British high street with the shops behind a stonework façade, red post boxes and traditional phone boxes bringing together a bygone street scene feel. Hopefully this innovation will be continued into the other MSA sites planned at present.

Whilst I doubt that we will be seeing Celine Dion residencies at services anytime soon, a little more magic is certainly needed to leverage the potential of these stops and attract greater spend. As a result, everyone wins – the tenants, the landlord and the customers. It would certainly add to my road travel experience!