Transport Focus
Transport Focus is a watchdog for transport users in the UK, sponsored by the Department for Transport. In 2015, they branched out from just covering public transport to covering roads too, and in 2017 they started their first of what could be a regular investigation into motorway services.
2018 Survey
The second survey was conducted in Spring 2018. It worked much like the previous survey (below), with modest improvements across the board.
It also looked at brand identity, and found that Moto, Euro Garages, McDonald's and Costa were some of the most recognisable brand names.
Results
Moto appeared to have a rough ride, with several poorly-performing sites and a poor total score. Westmorland and Euro Garages came joint top, with Roadchef responsible for the two top service stations.
If you compare each individual site with 2017's score, you'll see a lot of wild fluctuations. This is the risk of using a small dataset, and asking a public who aren't that fussed. Even so, the general trends are still interesting.
2017 Survey
The first survey was conducted in Spring 2017, with the results presented at Beaconsfield in October 2017.
Although it analysed various aspects of how people use services, the main product was an individual customer satisfaction rating for every service station in England. The assessment covered road safety, pedestrian safety, wifi, and the quality of the exterior and interior.
Following the results, the Department for Transport pledged to investigate concerns with a shortage of HGV parking spaces.
Results
Perhaps surprisingly for what promised to be a rigorous review, the overall conclusion was that most services were already meeting customer's needs fine. Of the 112 services visited, only two scored less than 75%. Many received more than 90% satisfaction, and 97% of people polled said they would happily visit the same service station again.
Heston received the lowest score, while Reading and Rivington both scored 100%.
Within the operators, Extra came top, while Westmorland came second. The big three were all very close together, but with Welcome Break third, Roadchef fourth and Moto fifth.
Value for money on parking, availability of parking and value for money on food were the three biggest concerns raised.
The full results are included below.