11:36am Thursday 12th August 2010
ONE of Eden's most renowned businesses has won permission to build an extensive £35m motorway service development.
Westmorland Ltd, which owns Tebay service station on the M6, was granted planning approval by Stroud District Council, to allow it to extend its independent way of working to the M5 in Gloucestershire.
Plans are expected to create 300 permanent jobs at the new site and a further 200 positions while building work is under way.
Like Tebay Services, the approved Gloucestershire Gateway service station, between junctions 11a and 12 of the M5, will be based on independent trade.
Directors say it will serve home made, locally sourced food in its cafes and local, artisan food in its shops. The new services will be housed in a unique, grass roofed building with a contemporary interior, which is expected to be completed by 2013.
Westmorland Ltd’s chief executive Sarah Dunning said gaining planning permission was a significant step for the company, which employs more than 500 staff and owns The Rheged Centre, at Penrith, and The Westmorland Hotel and J38 services, at Tebay.
“We’re thrilled the plans have all gone through,” she said. “It’s a big step for us in terms of growth and expansion.
“We hold a particular niche in the market. Everyone other service station in England is part of a chain or a franchise at Tebay we’re kept an independent model, with local shops and staff.
“Our new site will be inspired by the same principles we work by in Cumbria. We’re really building on the reputation we’ve developed there.
Ms Dunning added that the large geographical expanse Westmorland Ltd would now be working across would present a new challenge for the Orton-based business.
“We will have to work in a slightly different way but this provides up with the opportunity to employ hundreds more people in the UK and we couldn’t need it more in this country.
“This project will grow the business and dramatically raise its profile.”
The firm’s Gloucestershire Gateway project is a partnership between the Gloucestershire Gateway Trust charity and Westmorland Ltd and, once fully opened, the business will support voluntary and community organisations in the county.
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