Costa Coffee kiosk at Knutsford Southbound, situated on the ground floor opposite WHSmith and next to the customer seating area. Due to its proximity to seating, this Costa has never required its own seating area. After the refurb of the Northbound Costa kiosk is complete, Moto intend to refurb this kiosk. This is due to Knutsford loosing its main Costa formerly situated on the footbridge. It’s a small Costa, which has always received too many customers for its size. Its location means this Costa kiosk is obvious for customers walking between the main entrance & the toilets. This Costa kiosk would’ve opened around 2009 and seems to have not been refurbished at all since opening. They were well stocked as I visited. Nationwide, Costa have been rapidly inflating their prices. A basic coffee from a High street Costa could cost up to £5. This seems to be more extreme at motorway services as Costa knows they have higher customer demand. This creates a situation where Costa are limited in popularity, and at most Moto sites, customers quickly discover that Greggs, another breakfast brand, are much better value for money, so more people use Greggs instead of Costa. Despite this, Costa is a well known name to the British motorway network and all customers should expect to find a Costa or Starbucks at a services. Unsure what this kiosk replaced. Likely just replaced part of the existing seating area, or could’ve been a takeaway Cafe Ritazza. Before Knutsford had coffee shops, their buffet restaurant used to make coffee for customers to ensure they were not tired, especially if calling at an uncivilised hour. This is similar to most older motorway services, where own-brand coffee shops were introduced in the 90s, and high street names then replaced these as early as 2000. This pic evidences the small, cramped nature of the lower level areas at Knutsford. I always prefer services with high ceilings as they feel more spacious, but most older (1960s) buildings obtain low ceilings. This Costa is open 24 hours so customers can use this facility any time of day, which is particularly beneficial for long-distance drivers who need coffee throughout the night. Costa at Knutsford South was fairly busy during my visit due to the time of day being lunch time. Typically, Costa is busiest in the morning. Costa is signposted from the M6 South so customers can expect to find it here. Costa is also advertised at several points around the site.

Photo taken on 10/02/2024 by Tom Moon.

Assigned to galleries: Knutsford, Costa, M6 (England), Moto