Gloucester Services is owned and operated by the Westmorland Family, a family business that began life in the Cumbrian uplands.
It grew out of Tebay Services, the UK’s first family-owned motorway services area, which opened in 1972 after the M6 motorway was built across John and Barbara Dunning’s farm.
Seizing upon the motorway’s potential to bring prosperity to their rural community, the Dunnings put local sourcing at the heart of Tebay Services. They invited the travellers passing by to stop and enjoy a freshly cooked good meal, relax in peaceful surroundings and discover craft produce made by their neighbours.
That vision is still the foundation of everything we do.
A community development charity, Gloucestershire Gateway Trust, brought us the opportunity to build a new motorway services area on the M5.
We relished the chance to take the Tebay model outside Cumbria for the first time, to create 200 miles away a second motorway services business that is just as firmly rooted in its place.
In partnership with Gloucestershire Gateway Trust (GGT) we reached out to our neighbouring communities with the goal of making a sustainable, positive impact through the creation of good jobs and long-term investment.
We connected with local makers to create a Farmshop & Kitchen that celebrates Gloucestershire through handmade produce and unique ingredients. We appointed architects to design buildings that sit harmoniously in their landscape.
HRH The Prince of Wales opened Gloucester Services in July 2015.
Within four years we had made a significant social and economic impact on our locality, drawing more than a fifth of our workforce from our adjacent communities and putting more than £5 million annually into the local economy through contracts with local and regional food producers.*
We now work with more than 130 producers within 30 miles of Gloucester Services and at least 200 from across our region.
*Source: The Economic and Social Story of Gloucester Services, Regeneris Consulting, May 2018
In 2016 we won a RIBA National Award for our significant contribution to architecture.
We also became the first (and only) motorway services business to be listed in The Good Food Guide.
In 2019 we acquired a new sister business, Cairn Lodge Services.
The Westmorland Family acquired Cairn Lodge Services on the A74(M) in South Lanarkshire and relaunched it with a Farmshop & Kitchen championing produce from all over Scotland.
In 2021 Which? named us the UK’s best service station.
In a comprehensive survey of Britain’s best and worst service stations, we achieved the top spot alongside our sister businesses Tebay Services and Cairn Lodge Services in second and third place.
Breakfast is served until 11am