Applegreen to sell UK filling station  business

In Ireland, Applegreen will continue to invest in its petrol filling station business, as it is an integral part of its Irish operations. Picture: Gareth Chaney Collins

Applegreen is to sell its filling station business in the UK and said it would use the proceeds to invest in its business in Ireland, the UK, and the US.

The Irish firm, which has 98 sites in the UK employing 1,142 people, is to sell the filling stations to UK operator EG On The Move. The sale is expected to close at the end of this month.

Applegreen said all of the staff employed in its UK filling station business were expected to transfer to the new owners as part of the transaction, apart from a small number of employees who work in functions where there is overlap with the new owner. These employees are either being redeployed or have been offered a redundancy programme. 

Applegreen said it had been in consultation will all the employees in question in recent weeks. The sale does not affect Applegreen’s Welcome Break business in the UK, which also includes its operations in Northern Ireland, which employs more than 6,000 people at its 59 sites, including 34 motorway service areas (MSAs), and 31 hotels.

“We remain totally committed to our presence and further expansion in the UK market and have significant plans to expand both Welcome Break and our EV charging business there, as part of the €1bn investment plan that we announced late last year,” said Applegreen co-founder and chief executive Joe Barrett.

“We are growing the Welcome Break business in the UK by developing new-build locations and revamping many of our existing sites. We have a strong pipeline of additional UK sites for development on locations adjacent to motorways and alongside a number of major A roads. This week, for example, we will open a new £55m [€66m] state-of-the-art Welcome Break MSA on the M1 near Rotherham.” 

In Ireland, Applegreen will continue to invest in its petrol filling station business, as it is an integral part of its Irish operations. 

“The roll-out of our successful M&S partnership, which is currently in 21 locations, will continue and we are also investing to expand our Braeburn Coffee brand,” Mr Barrett said. 

“There will also be further investment in new sites, and upgrades to existing locations.” 

In the UK and US, Applegreen is increasingly focusing on larger sites, with food at the heart of the customer offer.

Applegreen said it would also continue to invest heavily in its EV charging business in Ireland, the UK and the United States, with an €85m expansion programme planned over the next five years.