Welcome Break boss wants rules change

The chief executive of Welcome Break has called on the Government to change the rules under which motorway service areas operate if it really wants to provide a better deal for consumers.

His comments follow the news earlier this week that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is investigating possible anti-competitive behaviour by motorway services operators in the UK.

The investigation was launched last year in response to complaints from the public that prices charged for food and drink at service areas were too high (Caterer, 27 July, page 7).

Richard Pennycook, Welcome Break's chief executive, said: "If the Government wants to change the regulatory regime to make things a bit more commercial for us, then the customer would benefit."

He added: "If you go into a motorway services in France, for example, the person that operates it has responsibility for the building and that's it. The slip roads, the lighting, the drains and everything are paid for by the government.

"If you build a motorway service area in the UK, you're responsible for everything."

Pennycook also pointed to the high tax burden on UK operators. "Over 50% of our total revenues end up in the Government's coffers," he said.

Reports that Granada and Welcome Break might be forced to sell some of their service stations in order to make the market more competitive had come as a surprise. "We understood that the conclusion reached by the case officers, having seen our representations, was that there was no further case to investigate," Pennycook said.

"The director general of the OFT can overrule that, but the case officers are the guys that have been investigating it for 18 months. We will have to see what the director general decides to do."