Something not working properly? Our hosts are currently conducting essential maintenance, any problems should hopefully be fixed by tomorrow.

Welcome Break

MSO Home - Operators - Welcome Break

Rate this operator:

Company History

Welcome Break started in the early 80s and created four "highly respected" sites. They were bought by Trusthouse Forte in 1986 who decided that Welcome Break is so popular that they would be better off re-branding all of Forte's services as Welcome Break, rather than doing it the traditional way round.

In 1995 Forte announced that they were going to build a McDonalds at every one of their services, but the process was stopped after just two because Forte were acquired by Granada (now Moto), a deal which included Welcome Break. Granada described Welcome Break's original concept as "still looking good", but that they "have not been kept up to date". Granada then said that they wanted to add Burger King to all the services and make use of the Travelodge chain which they had also acquired as part of the deal, and that in doing this they wanted to make a much-doubted £500m from the deal.

Just months after buying them, Granada upped the prices at all of their services given that they now owned over 75% of the motorway market, for example the M4 is 189 miles long and yet the only services which weren't owned by Granada were at the very end. It's not surprising that they did make their £500m.

By now, Granada had grown so much they were investigated by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission, who insisted that they sold Welcome Break. Eventually it was bought by Investcorp for £476million, but the whole event took almost 2 years - a time which angered many people, especially RoadChef. Welcome Break didn't get all their services back, Sutton Scotney on the A34 opened in 1987 yet Granada kept it, but they shrunk it down and sold it off a few years later.

During the shake-up, Granada had fixed franchises for Little Chef and Travelodge for all their services, so after the split Welcome Break had to replace them with their own-branded Red Hen and Welcome Lodge respectively (the former has now been completely phased out and the latter has only a few sites remaining).

After making a profit for the first time in a while, Investcorp put Welcome Break up for sale in 2008 with a price of around £500million. They were bought by Appia Investments, although the exact price is not known.

Welcome Break Today

Welcome Break own a lot of the older sites, like Charnock Richard and the second-oldest in the country, Newport Pagnell. Contrary to this, they also own Telford and Hopwood Park, both of which have opened in recent years.

Today Welcome Break is well equipped for the future. They have just finished their latest refurbishment scheme, including one for some £1,000,000 "stylish" toilet blocks. Starbucks Coffee opened at Corley in 2006 and WH Smith recently had a successful trial at Newport Pagnell, since then they have made their way to all Welcome Breaks. They tried Sainsbury's at Birchanger Green but it was quietly removed a few months later.

All of their services now have truckwash facilities and as part of a move with their own-brand Coffee Primo, Welcome Break are creating a new 'Coffee Primo Lounge'. This involved painting the exterior of their services orange, then they changed it to red (for KFC) and now all the older concrete Welcome Break and adjacent hotels are painted black and grey. They have also refurbished a Routemaster bus to go on tour with Coffee Primo facilities.

Having completed their long-term project to change people's impression of Welcome Break (a project which including running the Eurotunnel UK terminal's catering facilities), the company are looking at building new services in Ireland and on a-roads. These would be their first new services for a number of years.

In 2007 and 2008 Welcome Break did very well in the Loo of the Year awards, which until then had been dominated by Moto. In 2008, out of 36 graded services, 30 of them won five stars and the remaining six all four stars. Overall, out of all the country's public toilets graded, Welcome Break's facilities came eighth, beaten by the likes of McDonalds and ASDA. They were awarded a 'Standards of Excellence' (Champions League) award.

They recently opened a new facility at the Eurotunnel Freight Terminal.

Logo History

Until 2006 Welcome Break used the almost iconic image of a bird (which was often described as being dead) as its logo. This image was redesigned in the late 90s, with the original one being pictured to the right. (The slightly improved one between 2000 and 2006 can be seen in the photos below).

All their services now use a mural which resembles its location, with the words 'Welcome Break' in white and green-on-black. Welcome Break have also teamed up with KFC to appear on their road signs, but they've previously used Sainsbury's, Burger King and Coffee Primo.

Official website: Visit Welcome Break's official website
Acquired by: Appia Investments
Chief executive: Rod McKie
Headquarters address: 2 Vantage Court, Tickford Street, Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire, MK16 9EZ [map ]
Phone number: 01908 698700

Facilities

Welcome Break's facilities include:

General: Cash Machine, Picnic Tables, Pay Phones, Local Information, Meeting Rooms, BT Openzone, Alpine Cleaning Services, HA Traffic Information, Showers
Food/Drink: KFC, McDonalds, Burger King, EAT IN, Coffee Primo, Starbucks Coffee
Shopping: WH Smith, Fonebitz
Fuel: Shell, BP
Motel: Days Inn, Welcome Lodge

Photos

Click on a photo to view the full size. If you have a photo, why not upload it? It's never too late to get your name in the limelight.

	The front of Warwick, recently refurbished and wearing Welcome Break's new logo. Photo taken whilst travelling southbound in 2007.
	The open-aired Hopwood Park as seen from the second storey. Last time I checked, the services had the highest rating of all on this website. Photo taken in 2008.
	The EAT IN restaurant at Warwick. Photo taken whilst travelling southbound in 2007.
	This is what it looks like inside the restaurant. Photo taken whilst travelling southbound in 2006.
	One of the brand new WH Smith stores, this time at Telford. Photo taken in 2008.
	Oxford, one of Welcome Break's newest services. Photo taken in 2006.
	Keele is one of Welcome Break's oldest, seen here in the middle of refurbishment during the 'orange days' on a day which was just too sunny. Photo taken whilst travelling northbound in 2006.
	And back to Warwick, where we have Welcome Break's original logo. It changed in September 2006. Photo taken whilst travelling southbound in 2006.