IT’S a fiercely debated topic that divides families and friends on long car journeys – which is the best motorway service station to make a pit-stop?
Thankfully one Brit has all the answers, having made it his life mission to visit every one in the UK over the past seven years – a feat that’s cost him an eye-watering sum.
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Rich James Cross, 27, known as the ‘Service Stations King’, spends around £10,000 a year ticking them off, notching up 25,000 miles in his two-door Smart car.
The Bristolian‘s quest started out as a hobby but he now does it full-time after quitting his day job as a delivery driver – and admits his family and friends think he’s “crazy”.
“I have been called the most boring man in the UK but you take these things with a pinch of salt,” he tells The Sun.
“Everyone has their own favourite service station and it can turn quite heated when you discuss it. Personally I like there to be a plated, hearty meal on offer, but I’m very old-school.”
For Rich, who began his motorway mission back in 2018, the key to a successful services is “having something for everyone”.
That means catering for families, business people, lone travellers and HGV drivers, having a variety of food options, and good toilet and showering facilities.
While Rich will share his top 10, he’s reluctant to reveal his ultimate favourite, claiming he’s become so well-known within the close-knit motorway services community that he worries about offending rival sites.
Though he did previously let slip he has a particular fondness for Rugby, on the M6 in Warwickshire, due to its facilities for kids and a wide variety of top brands.
He also previously told The Sun Hartshead Moor East, located on the M62 between Huddersfield and Bradford, was the worst, down to it having two separate sites on either side of the motorway – one with Burger King, the other with KFC – accessible via a footbridge that is “open to the elements”.
“Everyone has their own favourite service station and most people are very rigid with it,” he says.
“It can turn into quite heated debates when you talk about it. I try to avoid answering as much as possible, but do offer a different perspective when they say their least favourite one.”
One of biggest ticks for Rich is a hot, hearty meal – and he especially likes the Roadchef service station operators.
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“I like the sit-down offering, the traditional plated, hearty meals with a knife and fork that were most popular 20 years ago, rather than ones nowadays with fast food chains,” he says.
“The general public looks for their favourite brands these days. Some stop at certain services due to McDonald’s because it’s cheap, cheerful and feeds a family of four for less than £20.
“If you’re commuting and travelling around the country in a Tesla, you may want coffee to go, a drive-through and grab-and-go food options.
“Others choose stops based on Costa Coffee over Starbucks or vice versa. Everyone has their preferences but a sit-down meal draws me back to visit a certain site.”
Rich is full of praise for Tebay’s Westmorland services – loved by celebs – which is inspired by farm shops and has a deli, bakery, kitchen, hot sandwich and pie shop and has a “cult following”.
He also likes Cobham and Beaconsfield, which he feels “hold their own”, with the latter boasting a Wetherspoons.
Why fuel is always more expensive
For some cheaper petrol is a big pull, but Rich says it’s understandable that some sites have to charge more than the going rate for fuel.
“They have to operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, so that adds to the cost,” he says.
“Then for some the majority of their trade will be bumper fuel HGV drivers, who only pay a smaller percentage of the price charged for fuel.
“If they are 70 or 80 per cent of that motorway petrol station’s trade, they are getting peanuts back for what they pay, and that’s why we see higher prices.
“One provider lowered their fuel prices to only five or six pence more expensive than a local garage and advertised it on their signs in an attempt to encourage people to fill up there.
“But it was a waste of time. People still drove to the next junction or used a local garage a few minutes away to get cheaper fuel.”
Rich argues it’s a similar issue when it comes to food and drink prices, explaining that franchises have to pay a fee to be on a site, and that is then added to products.
In addition to extra operational costs, they have to pay towards providing toilet services 24-7 every day of the year without charging a fee, which also drums up charges.
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Childhood passion
Rich’s passion for motorway service stations was ignited at just nine years old, when he would tag along with his truck driver father during school holidays.
“Little Chef, which was still around at that stage, was the brand that brought me to discovering what was going on in the motorway services world,” he says.
“I started visiting them myself before I had a driving licence, taking public transport to get to local sites to get a sense of what it was like to travel to them.”
It’s spiralled into a hobby that’s become a career, which sees him travel five days a week for three weeks every month, making “a few hundred pounds” on writing articles and social media posts.
He also gets discounts and freebies at most major services, and sometimes his expenses and hotel stays are covered.
‘Celeb’ status
Rich started his quest to tick all services off in 2018 and reached all 91 by December 2019. He’s since increased that number by nine as more have opened up, the most recent being Sawtry in April.
His motorway pit stop mission has led to him earning minor celebrity status – among the service station community, anyway.
“Strangers don’t quite recognise me yet,” he chuckles. “But within the motorway services world, most staff know who I am.
“When I walk in they leave discount cards on a table for me. It’s not quite rolling out the red carpet, but it’s nice to get the odd freebie.”
He’s also been interviewed by TalkTV’s Vanessa Feltz, GB News and recently filmed for a TV show on Britain’s favourite service stations, fronted by JLS’s JB Gill, which comes out next year.
I like the sit-down offering, the traditional plated, hearty meals with a knife and fork that were most popular 20 years ago, rather than ones nowadays with fast food chains
Rich James Cross
Rich even had a stint on BBC Radio 1 as part of Scott Mills and Chris Stark’s show, where listeners had to guess where in the country he was based on his riddles and clues.
“It came off the back of a plaque for Scott Mills Bridge at Fleet services having been taken down, and they had forgotten to put it back up,” he explains.
“They kicked off on Radio 1 and I was listening. I happened to have the site manager’s number so I phoned him and called the station to say, ‘I’ve sorted it for you.’
“After an interview with them I became a regular feature where I gave riddles for listeners to guess where in the country I was. It was them who gave me the unofficial title of ‘Services King’.”
North-south divide
Northerners and Southerners can often feel like their lives are worlds apart and is true when it comes to motorway services, too.
“You will see different brands based on what regulars and locals like and know about,” Rich says.
“The best example is the Greggs–Pret a Manger divide. You tend to find Prets at services from the Midlands down, and Greggs in the north.
“There are a couple of oddballs, of course, but it tends to boil down to what’s recognisable in the area.
“It’s the same with Leon, which you typically only see within the M25. Step out of that area and it’s one of those brands no one knows about.”
Spot the signs
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Signage can be key to luring in customers – with most major sites showcasing six of their most recognisable brands beside the name of the service station.
Rich explains that typically means McDonald’s, Burger King, Starbucks and Costa Coffee are regularly featured, but that’s not always the case for certain sites.
“Smaller ones probably struggle to fill six boxes, which is why some will include Krispy Kreme when it’s only a small booth in another shop.
Strangers don’t quite recognise me yet… but within the motorway services world, most staff know who I am
Rich James Cross
“The Westmorland service stations, which are a family-owned motorway service operator, don’t have any big brands at their sites.
“So they put their farm shop and kitchen sign and then loads of old symbols from back in the day, purely because they don’t have any big brands there.
“But for the bigger ones, sometimes the landlords of the service stations will offer the spots on their signs to whoever will pay the most.
“Cobham, for example, has McDonald’s, KFC, Marks & Spencer… the brands people know, and they are paying a pretty penny to be on it.”
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Unique
Rich believes part of his obsession with service stations is due to having autism, which can lead to hyper-fixations on certain hobbies or topics.
“It’s such a unique kind of topic and passion to have but it’s what I enjoy,” he adds.
“I’d put myself in the same box as a bus or trainspotters, who love the history and heritage of something. It’s no different with service stations.
“Some people travel all over the UK to visit every Wetherspoons, others go to every football club in each league.
“It’s no different to what I do. I’m just passionate about something a little bit different from other people.”
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