Interior of the BP forecourt at Pevensey services, on the A27 near Eastbourne. As with most BP stations, M&S Simply Food provides the food in the shop & there’s also a Wild Bean Cafe concession. When the site opened in 1993, Esso provided fuel here. This forecourt, structurally, hasn’t changed much since opening, but being sold to BP in 2016 created many changes. The shop was fully refurbished & the “On the Run” was replaced with M&S. As per usual with these M&S stores, it’s neatly arranged and very clean. It’s also quite a nice garage to visit in hot weather as it’s well air conditioned. Sometimes with garage “mini-markets”, the isles can feel claustrophobic with everything being squashed into a relatively small space. This forecourt felt nice & spacious. The BP name is one with strong associations to Britains busiest roads. Going from their original title “British Petroleum” to a new era where they are putting a strong focus on their electric vehicle brand “BP pulse”, BP has changed lots over the years & is now perceived by customers as a more “upmarket” fuel brand, largely due to the M&S food stores being available. BPs success on the UKs major roads is largely by chance. BP have acquired several Mobil and Total garages (two former fuel providers) as well as some Essos & Texacos. Shell have attempted to mimic the success of BP using M&S by adding Little Waitrose stores to many of their refurbished forecourts. These Shell forecourts feel similar to BP ones. Funnily enough, a similar story could be said with motorway services and how Welcome Break using Waitrose was influenced through Moto’s increased popularity with introducing M&S simply food. Fuel is expensive here, but that’s to be expected as there’s lots of passing trade using the facilities from the A27. The use of “upmarket” grocery stores in forecourts does come with its drawbacks. M&S products are very expensive & as with all M&S stores around the country, they mostly just sell own-brand goods. Some customers will just want a bog standard shop with cheaper products! This BP garage was quiet during my visit as I stopped here early in the morning. During the day, it’s likely a lot more stressful and busy. Pevensey services is signposted at several points on the A27 so customers know exactly how to access the facilities from the roundabout they are situated on.

Photo taken on 12/08/2024 by Tom Moon.

Assigned to galleries: Pevensey, bp, M&S Simply Food, A27