Warwick services
M40 between J12 and J13
Signposted from the road.
CV35 0AA
map and directions
Two sites located between junctions, with no public connection between them.
This is the Welcome Break service area on the M40. For the smaller services on the A46, see Budbrooke.
Once quite an open and spacious site, it has now been extended considerably to provide a wider range of facilities.
Facilities
Catering: on both sides: Burger King, Chopstix Noodle Bar, KFC, Starbucks, Subway, The Good Breakfast, f'real Milkshakes, Jolly Rancher Slush, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks on the Go, Starbucks Drive Thru
and southbound only: Pret A Manger
Shops: on both sides: Waitrose & Partners, WHSmith
and southbound only: Top Gift
Amenities: Days Inn, Game Zone, Meeting Room, Showers
Outdoor Space: northbound only: Small grass area by hotel. Larger area across entry road but extreme caution needed
and southbound only: Large grass area by hotel
Charging Points: on both sides: GRIDSERVE Electric Highway 50kW CCS, 50kW CHAdeMO & 22kW Type 2; Tesla Supercharger 150kW CCS
and southbound only: Applegreen Electric 150kW CCS & 100kW CHAdeMO
Forecourt: BP, Shop, The Phat Pasty Co., Rollover, Starbucks on the Go
Parking Prices
First 2 hours free for all vehicles, after which cars must pay £15 for a further 24 hours and HGVs, caravans and coaches must pay £34 for up to 24 hours (or £36 to include a £12 meal voucher).
Prices can be paid in the shop, with instructions in each car park. They are strictly enforced by ParkingEye.
This information is provided to us by third parties. You should always check with staff on site.
Contact Details
🏢 Address:
Welcome Break Ltd
Warwick Services M40
Banbury Road
Ashorne
Warwick
CV35 0AA
- 🌍 Official Welcome Break/Warwick Northbound Website
- Official Welcome Break/Warwick Southbound Website
- Facebook Page
- Foursquare Page
- 📞 Telephone number: 01926 650168 (northbound)
01926 652080 (southbound)
Trivia and History
Welcome Break's old logo above the service area, pictured in 2006.
The two sides of Warwick have always been treated as separate on Welcome Break's website. This appears to come down to the way their first website described the road layout at J13 (which has no signs when travelling south), and they have copied it ever since. The two sides are able to operate fully independently, and were officially split in 2021, when each side received their own site manager.
A swan made of quartz chips was put in place in at the entrance to the southbound service area in 2000, with a flowerbed reading 'Welcome to Warwick'. The swan was based on (but different to that of) the old Welcome Break logo. It was removed after a few years.
The northbound Days Inn hotel was closed for a few months in 2007 after the ground floor flooded.
The service area made the news in May 2020, after a volunteer started offering free food to HGV drivers in the northbound parking area, while the main food franchises were closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown. The volunteer was eventually asked to leave by Welcome Break, who claimed that there had been complaints about the safety risk.
Opening
See also: M40 Service Area Planning
Documents as far back as 1974 talk about possible places "near Fosse Way" where a motorway service area could be provided on the then-unbuilt M40. The location wasn't confirmed until 1986, as other locations near Gaydon were being examined too. They eventually called Barn Hill "perfect", with the main factor seeming to be the distance from the planned Black Firs services on the M42.
As was common in the late 1980s, once the Department of Transport had made their intentions public, it attracted commercial rivals. Mobil registered a planning application in the exact same location, showing a similar layout but with a footbridge (the DoT had ruled out building a footbridge). These were both known as Barn Hill services. Meanwhile Blue Boar proposed building a site at M40 J12, and Esso pushed for one at M40 J15.
The proposals faced a public inquiry, where the Action Committee Against Service Stations and Stratford-upon-Avon District Council fought the Barn Hill plan, with the latter arguing that it would "spoil a beautiful place". The Department of Transport secured planning permission, but then decided to award the contract to build it to Mobil, under their new single tender policy. It was built by Bovis Construction at a cost of £11million, across 55 acres of land, with the new name 'Warwick services'.
Both sides opened in two stages, with Mobil opening their forecourts first in June 1994, and Welcome Break opening the amenity buildings in around September. An official opening ceremony was held on 18 January 1995, attended by Dr. Brian Mawhinney, Secretary of State for Transport.
Upon opening, the facilities advertised were The Granary food court, La Baguette, food hall, news stand, galleria, sweet shop, Customer Services and a 40-bed Forte Travelodge. The Travelodge was built on the northbound side only, with a second hotel opening on the other side at a later date. Little Chef restaurants were added too.
For a service area from the 1990s, the exit slip roads are still surprisingly short.
Brand Changes
The food court was given units from KFC and Burger King. The Granary became Food Connection and Coffee Primo, then Eat In and Starbucks, before being broken up into more fast food units. The Little Chefs became Red Hen, before becoming further Coffee Primo and then Starbucks units.
A Starbucks Drive Thru was opened on the southbound side on 20 December 2013. It was built on the grass area at the far end of the car park.
Upper Crust units opened in both filling station shops in June 2018; one of three sites to gain this new brand at the time. These were rebranded to The Pasty Shop in 2022. The Pasty Shop units were removed at the end of May 2023, with Welcome Break's The Good Bakery offering replacing them.
The southbound Tossed store closed in February 2020 as part of a nationwide shutdown of their motorway sites. A Chopstix Noodle Bar replaced the Tossed unit later in 2020.
Both toilet facilities in the amenity buildings were refurbished during summer 2022. The northbound Days Inn hotel also received a major refurbishment during June 2022, reopening in August.
Both The Good Breakfast units were turned into hybrid units in May 2023, with Chopstix Noodle Bar being available on the northbound side for the first time. The southbound existing units were combined to make way for a new Pret A Manger store, which opened on 22 June 2023. Eight Applegreen Electric charging points were also installed in October 2023, adding a third charging option for EV drivers to the southbound side.
Alternatives
| Previous: | Next: | |
| Hopwood Park (M42 west, 22 miles) Tamworth (M42 north, 35 miles) Hilton Park (M6 north, 48 miles) Corley (M6 south, 26 miles) Telford (M54, 64 miles) Norton Canes (M6 Toll, 47 miles) | Services on the M40 | Cherwell Valley (23 miles) |
| Hopwood Park (M42 west, 22 miles) Corley (M6 south, 26 miles) Telford (M54, 53 miles) | Welcome Break services | Oxford (M40, 53 miles) Peartree (A34, 35 miles) |
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