M&S Simply Food grocery store at Exeter, situated towards the front of the amenity building, opposite the food court, near WHSmith and the toilets. It's a fairly large M&S, which was redecorated earlier in 2023. M&S has traded at Exeter since roughly 2007 & has always been a popular facility at the site due to its strong fanbase of customers. Moto's partnership with M&S began in the Granada days. In 1998, Granada committed to turning many of their sites into "mini shopping centres" whereby large quantities of shops were available, such as The Sock Shop & BHS Express. Granada wanted a simple brand which could be used to accommodate sudden influxes of customers with high quality, takeaway food. M&S was considered, but never properly rolled out by Granada. Granada became Moto in 2001, & Moto was a Compass Group brand. SSP was also Compass Group, & they had already begun opening new M&S Simply Food stores at railway stations. This meant that opening M&S food shops at Moto sites had become much easier. The first was officially opened at Toddington North in 2003, as part of a 6-month trial. The brand proved profitable at Toddington, so Moto began opening more. Now, virtually all Moto sites come equipped with an M&S grocery shop. It was said that Moto's M&S stores made their sites more like destinations, and since Moto's partnership with M&S begun, Welcome Break have teamed up with Waitrose and Roadchef have teamed up with SPAR. This M&S store at Exeter takes some trade away from WHSmith, but the two shops have very different target audiences. M&S has a strong focus on travel snacks, whereas WHSmith provides books & travel essentials in addition to food. This store is well air conditioned & has spacious isles, meaning it can accommodate more customers during peak times. M&S do tend to inflate their product prices at motorway services due to higher demand. The fact their products are already quite expensive & the inflation isn't significant means many people don't actually notice they are paying slightly more. This M&S store at Exeter provides M&S Coffee to Go. When M&S was first introduced to Moto sites, the government had a strict ban on brand advertisements at motorway services. This meant Moto weren't initially able to advertise their new M&S stores. However, they found a loophole in the law. By creating their own subsidiary "Moto M&S", customers driving on motorways would know their sites now have M&S stores. Moto later dropped their own name for Costa, creating the subsidiary "Costa M&S". This government ban was short lived & now most Moto sites are covered in M&S branding. This pic evidences the large array of flowers M&S sell. These flowers make this corner of Exeter smell really nice! They also look pretty. Additionally, Moto's 2017-18 flooring scheme can be witnessed in my photo. I'm surprised this flooring hasn't been upgraded as it's looking worn, with several pieces of tape covering damage (which looks scruffy). Again, M&S is a brand which highlights just how much motorway services have changed since the 1960s. Shops used to only be found at the largest sites, & food shops were nowhere to be seen as these services already provided sit-down, buffet style dining. Modern motorists seem much less bothered about quality, and value fast service more. M&S actually provides both. M&S was fairly quiet during my visit as I stopped during the night, when the whole of Exeter was quieter. During the day, & especially during holiday periods, this M&S would be busy. M&S is signposted from both sides of the M5, so customers stopping are aware of its presence at the site. M&S is also advertised lots around Exeter, showing that Moto deeply value the brand and understand its profitable.

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

Assigned to galleries: Exeter, M5, Moto, M&S Simply Food