Amenity building at Warwick Southbound in June 2024, complete with a blue canopy & several brand advertisements. Warwick opened in 1995 by Welcome Break and is positioned between J12 & J13. Southbound will pick up traffic from as far as the North of Birmingham, meaning it gets rather busy and is typically busier than Northbound. Originally the site was going to be named “Barn Hill”. When Warwick first opened, it was considered very open & spacious. Since 1995, the site has experienced lots of refurbs & extensions, adding new facilities in, making it feel more cramped. Both sides of Warwick now hold the title of oldest motorway buildings on the M40 (this would’ve been Cherwell Valley, but the previous building was fire damaged and rebuilt). This is evident as the place feels much smaller than any of the other M40 services, which all have full glass frontages & larger food courts. Despite the changes, Warwick still has a 90s feel. The two sides of Warwick have no public connection between them and both have different site managers, being why they have always been classified separately. Warwick South is a nice tidy site to visit. Welcome Break seem to take good care of the place. There’s lots of EV charging points and greenspace around the site, ideal for dog walkers. Warwick South also sports a Days Inn motel, offering customers an overnight stay. There used to be a large David Fisher art piece displayed outside the amenity building, & as with all Welcome Break sites, it was painted over and brand advertisements now dominate. Additionally, a swan made of quartz chips used to be present at Warwick South. Apparently, this swan didn’t represent Welcome Break’s old logo directly, but was based off it. This has also now been removed. Warwick South is neatly arranged inside, with the Starbucks lounge & two grocery stores located off the main concourse (as with the toilets), and the food units & customer seating area located left. Warwick services also seems to be used lots by coach companies due to it’s location directly between the South and North. This was evident during my visit, as several coaches had stopped, making Warwick South a rather manic place to be. It copes well with larger crowds, but made photo taking difficult. Typically, it’s a busy place. Warwick South is clearly signposted from the M40 Southbound, so customers know when to leave the motorway to access it. Warwick is also an online site, meaning customers don’t have to negotiate a junction to reach the services, making Warwick easier to access than the other M40 sites, which are all off junctions.

Photo taken on 24/06/2024 by Tom Moon.

Assigned to galleries: Warwick, Welcome Break, M40