Customer seating area at Exeter services, situated opposite all the takeaway food units, at the centre of the amenity buildings interior. Due to the high custom levels and quantity of food brands this seating has to accommodate for, it's rather large. Exeter services, being situated on the M5 & on the A303/A30 route to Cornwall, means many summertime holiday makers stop here, and it becomes manic. This seating area, although large, fills up quickly & many end up taking their food away. This seating area has undergone much change over the years & now looks modern, but could do with some tlc. Moto haven't yet applied their new yellow & green seating & grey floors. Exeter officially opened in 1978 by Granada, but temporary facilities opened one year before in 1977. It started as quite a small building, initially hosting a buffet style restaurant & coffee serverys. It was a luxurious place during the 80s when standards for motorway services were much higher. By the 90s, fast foods began invading, the 1st being "Burger Express", which became Burger King in 1996. What was the "Granada Country Kitchen" restaurant was divided up into small units with a shared seating area. These units were a coffee outlet and Fresh Express. Fresh Express closed in 2008 & was refurbished into EDC (Eat & Drink Co), a very lazy attempt of Moto's to reintroduce sit-down dining to motorway services, a concept which was fading by the 2000s. Due to lack of popularity, EDC was reduced in size to have a smaller servery. This meant that space was made for a Greggs outlet to open in 2014. By 2017, EDC had shut & got replaced by Arlo's and Chow. Arlo's closed in 2017. Essentially, motorway services used to be quality over quantity, but the interest now is to fit in as many fast food takeaways as possible to give customers more options to choose from. Exeter's food court was also once home to 3 separate Costa stores. There was a Costa Lounge, Costa kiosk & 1 final Costa by the entrance. The entrance Costa was removed, in addition to West Cornwall Pasty, to make way for a large Pret. Now we have 2 Costas here, as well as a drive thru. Before 1997, toilets at Exeter were located next to the old entrance into the amenity building. This layout wasn't profitable for Granada (Moto) as customers did not pass food outlets. After a refurbishment, this entrance was sealed shut with a new entrance opening at the opposite end of the site. Now customers have to navigate the entire food court just to get to the toilets, which can be frustrating. Significant alterations in custom levels, dependent on the time of year, made it difficult for Granada to decide whether extensions were needed at Exeter. In 1993, Granada considered building a separate truck driver's wash room. They also considered building a caravan park at Exeter, with its own laundry facilities. Neither of these ideas materialised due to the lack of flat land at Exeter services. Despite my visit being late at night, this seating area was surprisingly busy. This was likely due to my visit being in December, and in close proximity to Christmas. This made my photo more difficult to take, but it gives a good idea of what the seating area at Exeter looks like (minus the Christmas decorations at the other end). Most customers using the seating came from KFC. During the day it's much brighter. I wouldn't say Exeter has the most attractive seating area at a services, mostly due to the low ceilings & small wooden fences dividing it into sections, but at least it's large enough. Frankley, further up the M5 near Birmingham, only has customer seating in Costa. Granted it's a much quieter site than Exeter, but it's always good to have more seating.

Photo taken on 22/12/2023 by Tom Moon.

Assigned to galleries: Exeter, M5, Moto