The building of Gloucester Services is now underway, between junctions 11a and 12 of the M5, on the outskirts of Gloucester.   The northbound services will be developed first, opening in time for Summer 2014 and the southbound services will then follow.  It is a £40 million project that will employ 300 people.
 
At Westmorland Limited, we have run Tebay Services on the M6 in Cumbria for 40 years and we think we have created something you wouldn't expect to find on a motorway.  No franchises, no big brands, but instead a sense of where you are - a sense of place; homemade food and farm shops, that work hand in glove with small, artisan producers from the local area and beyond.

Learn more about Tebay Services here.

Because of the great support we receive from our customers, we were keen to create another motorway services .  We wanted to build on what we do at Tebay Services and Gloucestershire felt right - an area rich in rearing, growing and producing.  We also wanted to find new ways of doing interesting things.  The fact that this project was initiated by a local Gloucestershire charity, Gloucestershire Gateway Trust, gave us that opportunity.  It will be a partnership between us and the charity, where the business will provide the charity with an income for local community projects, as well as working together on innovative ideas to bring business and community closer together.

Listen to a BBC Radio 4 interview with Sarah Dunning on the Gloucester Services project. 

Our site - a greenfield site, flanked by the Cotswold escarpment and Robinswood Hill - was identified as the best one to fulfil the identified gap on the motorway service area network.  We have taken great care to minimise environmental impact and to protect views from the surrounding areas.  The buildings and petrol filling station are grass covered, with extensive use of Cotswold stone and it will achieve the ambitious environmental standard of BREAAM Excellent.