Burtonwood services
M62 at J8
(also accessible to traffic on the A5280, A5281 and the A5282)
Signposted from the road? As Starbucks/KFC
WA5 3AX
map and directions
Single site located at a junction..
Now just a shadow of the two buildings it once was, this has made Burtonwood more manageable and more pleasant, if not a little harder to find.
Facilities
Catering: KFC, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks on the Go, Yorkshire Tea Shops: WHSmith Amenities: Showers, Welcome Break Gaming : none Template:Charging points Forecourt: Shell, Select, Template:The Deli, Rollover, Starbucks on the Go, Air1 AdBlue
Parking Prices
First 2 hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £15 for a further 24 hours and HGVs, caravans and coaches must pay £26 (or £28 to include a £10 meal voucher).
Prices can be paid in the shop, with instructions in each car park. They are strictly enforced by ParkingEye.
This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.
Contact Details
🏢 Address:
Welcome Break Group Ltd
Burtonwood Motorway Services Area
M62
Great Sankey
Warrington
Cheshire
WA5 3AX
- 🌍 Official Welcome Break Website
- Facebook Page
- Foursquare Page
- 📞 Telephone number: 01925 651656
- 📌 what3words: ///resettle.circular.overt
- more map options
Trivia and Design
The eastbound side in 1983.
For westbound traffic, the route to get in the service area involves U-turning at the complicated J8 roundabout. When exiting, a long road back to the roundabout is used, which at night is extremely popular with rabbits.
The road between the roundabout and the service area, despite only being a few hundred yards and not touching the main M62, is under motorway regulations. This creates a curious legal situation where traffic has to leave the motorway, rejoin it, and then leave it again, while non-motorway traffic is unable to use the service area purely because of that short road.
The then-Prime Minister David Cameron visited Burtonwood in July 2014.
A Starbucks Drive Thru is planned to be built at the back of the car park.
History
See also: M62 Service Area Planning
The service area originally consisted of two small, octagonal, pagoda-style buildings which were both clearly visible from the motorway. Both were connected by a pedestrian subway, and both had their entry and exit feed directly onto the M62, with no junctions involved.
The design was supposed to make the most of the simple landscape at this large and exposed location, allowing the buildings to be clearly visible from the road. The roof would have been red, as an early attempt to advertise the owner's branding, but planning permission was refused and instead it was copper - soon colouring to its distinctive green.
Forte should not have been allowed the contract to build Burtonwood as they already owned Charnock Richard. However, due to the low traffic levels forecast, an exception was made to that rule.
In 1977, Egon Ronay called it "pleasantly decorated", "comfortable" and "clean".
A hotel was built on the westbound side in 1987, branded Travelodge. At the time each building had a The Granary restaurant and The Shop.
Partial Closure
Burtonwood had slowly become a very neglected service area. From day one its trade was described as "disappointing". During the winter, the westbound building would be closed and pedestrians would be directed through the subway under the road.
It suffered a decline in quality like any service station, but the disappointing custom meant improvements didn't follow. Burtonwood was further hurt when M62 J8 was built right next door in 2003. J8 was built to serve the upcoming Omega development and Gemini Retail Park, which both provided customers with alternative places to visit.
Welcome Break took the position that the new junction would be bad for their business, unless they were allowed to use it to close one half of Burtonwood. They made this suggestion to the Highways Agency as early as 2000, but it didn't take place until 2008; in the meantime, the westbound exit was modified to feed into the new junction. The quieter westbound side, with its valuable land that was close to the retail parks, was the obvious candidate for closure.
As the buildings at Burtonwood are relatively small - they hadn't been extended like most other service areas - halving the site meant only limited facilities could be provided. Initially, and unusually for a Welcome Break at the time, there was no Burger King or Coffee Primo coffee lounge. Closing the westbound side also meant there was no hotel, which had been rebranded Days Inn.
The old westbound side was demolished in 2009 by Marshall and proposed for development. This included a Travelodge, Starbucks and a Harvester pub/restaurant, but the majority of it was set to become offices. The shape of Charon Way still shows us where the old service area boundary was.
During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, Welcome Break were under pressure to respond quickly, and accidentally published several documents which referred to the only remaining Burtonwood building as "Burtonwood North". In some cases they would even list the non-existent "Burtonwood South", prompting one to wonder just how out of date their internal records are.
Eastbound Refurbishment
After the eastbound building became the only surviving side, it was thoroughly refurbished and its condition has been considerably better ever since. It doubles-up as a coach interchange too.
The Starbucks and KFC operate from the centre of the round building, with seating all around the side and toilets and WHSmith at the back.
The four flagpoles next to the car park are the remains of a Welcome Break idea from 1991. These were originally intended to carry the Union Flag, the Welcome Break logo, the Queen's Award For Export and the Forte logo. The poles are currently bare; Welcome Break is no longer part of the Forte Group, which held the Queen's Award.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| none | Services on the M62 | Birch (20 miles) Lymm (M6 south, 10 miles) Knutsford (M6 south, 15 miles) Charnock Richard (M6 north, 20 miles) |
| none | Welcome Break services | Hartshead Moor (44 miles) Charnock Richard (M6 north, 20 miles) |
Visitor Feedback
Visitors can leave public feedback on their experience by logging into the CommentBox app. You can do so quickly below:
Views expressed in these comments are those of the individual contributor. User accounts are managed by CommentBox.io. Registration helps prevent automated spam.
We ask the companies named to check here, but we can't force them to do so.