Why do prices at motorway service areas sometimes seem so high?

Information about pricing at Moto.

We understand that some customers may be intersted to know why prices at motorway service areas can sometimes appear more inflated than on the high street. That's because we operate in a very different environment to most other retailers and once you see the costs of providing the facilities and services, the prices soon start to make sense. Despite the high cost of supplying these services, our commitment is to give our customers value for money at all times.

Here are some examples of factors that affect our prices:

Motorway service areas are expensive to operate
We are obligated to remain open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to provide a safe place for drivers to rest and refuel should they need to. For around half of that time, we have to pay to be open (employee wages, power etc), when we are taking very little money and also allowing customers to continue to use car parks, picnic areas, showers, washrooms etc. all for free.

Expensive to build
In addition to the buildings, we also have to build roads, car parks, street lighting etc. – an average site costs £25 million to build.

We can’t advertise on the motorway
Regulations mean that we can’t advertise on the motorway, so we have to rely on people simply turning in, which affects how much business we get.