Alexandra Copeland, regional operations manager for Applegreen, told the Power Mobility and Convenience conference that forecourts are increasingly “not seen as petrol stations but as convenience stores”.
Copeland predicted that in future forecourts would offer many more services, including prescription collections, laundry services and a range of cafes and restaurants. She said that even roof gardens were possible, in order to provide somewhere people could relax rather than hurry through.
She said: “Fuel retailing will continue to decline while non-fuel will increase.” Copeland said that the increase in size and scope of forecourt stores had gone alongside the decline in the number of petrol forecourts.
She said: “There are now 8,380 forecourts and 7,398 of those have shops.” Copeland added that these figures needed to be seen in the context of a loss of 30,000 forecourts between 1970 and 2012.
She also noted the proportion of fuel and other retail sales on forecourts. Fuel once made up 90% of sales, but that is now down to 50% and Copeland predicted it would fall to 20% in the next few years.
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