Today, Roadchef has opened the first ever Leon restaurant in Wales at its Magor motorway service area (MSA).

The introduction of the popular ‘Naturally Fast Food’ brand is a very welcome addition to the existing food and beverage offering at the site, which is located on the M4 near Newport.

The Leon menu boasts organic and sustainable Mediterranean-inspired food including its famous grilled wraps, rice boxes, poached egg breakfast pots and triple-certified coffee.

Leon aims to make it easier for everyone to ‘eat well.

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Roadchef, one of the nation’s leading motorway service area (MSA) operators has been praised for its customer satisfaction levels in the national Transport Focus survey released today.

The study, which was conducted across 119 MSAs, placed Roadchef first of the top three largest MSA operators by revenue for overall customer satisfaction, with the company achieving a score of 94%, ahead of competitors Moto and Welcome Break.

The company’s Strensham North site on the M5 was the best performing of all Roadchef service areas for visitor satisfaction.

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Leading motorway service area operator, Roadchef has announced an exciting new partnership with Italian food-to-go brand, Coco di Mama, to bring the restaurant’s premium innovative pasta offering to motorway users for the first time.

Located at Roadchef’s flagship Norton Canes service area on the M6 Toll, the counter will serve Coco di Mama’s award-winning signature pasta range including Ham Hock Carbonara and Slow Cooked Bolognese sauces.

The partnership adds a diverse new dimension to Roadchef’s current food and drink portfolio.

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Roadchef, a leading UK motorway service area (MSA) operator, is pleased to announce that it will be acquired by a fund managed by Austraila-based Macquarie Asset Management.

Roadchef has 30 locations across the UK motorway network serving over 52 million customers every year.

As the only permitted commercial presence on motorways, MSAs provide essential services to motorists, including rest areas, toilets, food and beverage outlets, refuelling / recharging facilities and accommodation.

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Caterlyst Insights has predicted the following for the Travel sector which has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic: • As more of the world is vaccinated, more opportunities to travel will become available. In the short term, staycations will continue to be big business, filling our roads and rail infrastructures to capacity. • Consumers busy, time-poor lifestyles are driving an overall growth in the food-to-go industry - this in turn will have a significant impact on this sector. The convenience of grabbing a portable, healthy meal on-the-go and eating it on public transport, in thecar or at the point of destination will change and increase the demand of what is on offer at train and roadside transport hubs.

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A new research study reveals optimism about the return of travel in 2022 with travellers intending to spend an average of 39% more on travel in 2022 than they did in 2019 and to take an average of 3 trips this year. The study by Accor, a world leading hospitality group, asked 2,000 people across the UK, about their travel preferences and desires. The results were highly positive and indicate travellers value travel and vacation time more than ever. Despite recent setbacks with the Delta and Omicron variants, almost 80% plan to travel in 2022. They want to travel a lot and after two years of restrictions, they want to spend significant sums. Top 10 Travel Trends 1. HOLIDAY MILLIONAIRES - If they have the cash.

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Here follows the latest available stats for the air travel sub-sector, which has been one of the hardest hit by the pandemic for almost two years. • Total number of UK main airports: 40 - the UK has the third-largest aviation network in the world • UK airport passenger numbers dropped 75% (223m) to 74m in 2020. The latest figures available (Nov 2021) saw 24.8m passengers fly in Q3 2021 (between July and September 2021), (compared to 6.4m Q2), across 286,842 flights (126,138 flights in Q2). • Largest UK airport: Heathrow - Heathrow's cumulative losses from the pandemic have hit £3.4bn (Oct 2021) • Largest UK airline: EasyJet (68m passengers in 2019, down to 11.4m in 2020) • Largest UK-based international scheduled airline: British Airways (BA) - BA's parent firm.

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The 2021 Forecourt Report has highlighted the vital role that the UK’s 7,395 forecourt shops play in their local communities. The latest figures show that these retail sites provide over 88,000 secure local jobs, provide access to essential services and take time out of the business to support local projects. Other key findings from the report include: > More than one in three independent forecourt operators (37%) took no days off over the last year > There are around 305,000 PHEVs and 298,190 fully electric vehicles registered in the UK > There are around 536 charging points at 405 forecourt locations (excluding service stations) in the UK, part of a wider network of over 16,000 charging locations > Around one in four independent forecourts are open 24 hours Speaking on the launch of the report.

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Leading motorway service area operator, Roadchef, has won a Silver Award in the Hospitality/Waste Management category at the Green Apple Awards.

The Awards, run by The Green Organisation and hosted at the House of Parliament on 15 November, recognise environmental best practice around the world from companies, organisations, communities and governmental bodies across both the private and public sectors.

Having also been awarded the zero-to-landfill certification in 2020, Roadchef has introduced a raft of waste minimisation measures in recent years.

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Leading motorway service area operator, Roadchef has announced a new partnership with sustainability certification provider, Planet Mark – a major step in the company’s journey to reducing its carbon footprint.

Demonstrating the business’ commitment to building a more sustainable future, Roadchef and Planet Mark have been working together to measure the company’s carbon footprint and will soon set a target to reduce its carbon emissions, involving a number of pledges to ensure they get there in the near future. Over the course of the partnership, Planet Mark will help Roadchef to both deliver on its sustainability goals and certify its achievements.

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With more families embarking on domestic holidays this year than ever before, leading motorway service area provider, Roadchef, has experienced its busiest summer since the start of the COVID pandemic – and one of the busiest in its trading history.

Almost 1 million people visited the company’s sites across the UK over the August bank holiday weekend. During this period, the company served almost 230,000 hot drinks and over 200,000 McDonald’s burgers.

With the pandemic continuing to affect international travel plans.

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Roadchef, the UK’s leading motorway service area (MSA) provider, has expanded its outdoor catering options with the addition of new open-air food huts at sites across its estate to accommodate the high volume of road users anticipated this summer.

With alfresco dining growing in popularity since the start of the COVID pandemic, the new food huts are set to be a welcome addition to the motorway as footfall surges and consumers seek attractive food-to-go offerings.

Visitors to 11 of Roadchef’s service areas up and down the country will be able to enjoy a range of meal options.

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With ongoing restrictions on overseas travel set to continue, the summer staycation is likely to be a firm favourite among British holiday makers this year.

To support road users, Welcome Break, one of the UK’s leading motorway service operators, is launching a new offer for those travelling on the nation’s roads.

Launching today (1 July), the ‘Fill Up While You Fill Up’ offer will run for the whole summer, meaning drivers and families travelling to enjoy days out, weekends away and holidays can enjoy this new reward.

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Veganism has traditionally been associated with both the consumer and retail sectors but its influence in the tourism space is growing, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Vegan-friendly tours, excursions and digital travel apps are emerging as another tool for travel companies to attract environmentally focused individuals. As companies across the travel and tourism spectrum look to recover from the harmful impact of COVID-19, they see greater personalization as key. This helps ensure satisfaction and consequently, accommodating every traveler type - vegan included - will be critical in the future of travel. Johanna Bonhill-Smith, Travel & Tourism Analyst commented.

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Despite an unpredictable backdrop, Christie & Co note that the forecourt sector remained resilient in 2020 and, whilst fuel volumes significantly dropped during lockdowns, many businesses were able to adapt and bounce back swiftly once restrictions eased. All Christie & Co deals agreed and those progressing pre-lockdown subsequently completed and prices remained stable – evidence that the market remains robust and continues to generate a healthy level of interest from a wide range of potential investors. A key trend which emerged in 2020, as highlighted in the report, was the increase in forecourt shop sales which improved the profitability of many businesses and helped them to offset reduced fuel volumes.

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From 4am on 18 January, if people intend to travel to England, Scotland, or Wales, including UK nationals returning home from travel abroad, they must provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test result taken up to 3 days before departure. If they do not comply (and they do not have a valid exemption) the airline or carrier may refuse them boarding and/or they may be fined on arrival. All other current entry requirements and restrictions continue to apply. The Prime Minister Boris Johnson explained the new rules at today's Coronavirus briefing, 'Because we have the hope of that vaccine and the risk of new strains coming from overseas that we must take additional steps now to stop those strains from entering the country.

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The Irish Government has announced that from tomorrow, Saturday, 16 January, all passengers arriving into the State must have a negative or not detected COVID-19 PCR test, taken no more than 72 hours prior to arrival into Ireland. Passengers may be asked to present evidence of their negative or not detected result before boarding their aircraft prior to departure, and will be required to produce this evidence to Immigration Officers upon arrival at Dublin Airport. Passengers arriving from red or grey list regions - as defined by the EU traffic light system - and all other locations outside of Europe, should restrict their movements for 14 days after arrival. However, the need to restrict movements for 14 days can be waived for passengers who have a negative or not-detected result from a PCR test taken no less than five days after arrival in the State.

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Welcome Break is excited to get behind Veganuary this year, with vegan options at the same brands, offering a safe place to stop, rest and get fuel for critical drivers who need to be on the road.

New vegan choices will now join the existing 150 vegan products available at selected Welcome Break brand partners across its 39 motorway service areas.

Veganuary has become a globally renowned and enormously successful event following its inauguration in 2014. Around 350,000 took part last year in the UK and organisers are hoping that up to 500.

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Cardiff Gate Business Park has sold Cardiff Gate petrol station and services to Newcore Capital Management for £10m through Savills. The sale price represents a net initial yield of 4.79%.

The asset which is located on South Wales premier business park on Junction 30 of the M4 is let to Shell and Welcome Break at an annual passing rent of £515,023.

The food and beverage offer at Welcome Break includes Burger King, KFC Drive Thru, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Starbucks on the Go. There is also an Ibis hotel.

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Coffee loving commuters are being encouraged to Sip, Save and Recycle their cups in Britain’s biggest and busiest stations, as Network Rail rolls out the first of their new coffee cup recycling bins at King’s Cross, Leeds, London Bridge, Waterloo, Liverpool Street, Charing Cross and Cannon Street.

As passenger numbers slowly increase and with 60% of station retailers now open, those travelling by train or visiting the stations can make use of the bright orange bins to recycle any paper coffee cups purchased during their journey.

Recycled cups are turned into upcycled reusable cups and other products including tissue and packaging.

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