Tout’s Cleeve wins Forecourt Trader of the Year 2023

Tout’s Cleeve was the outright winner at last night’s Forecourt Trader of the Year awards ceremony, beating a record number of entries to take top honours at the retail fuel industry’s most prestigious competition.

Hosted by celebrity actor and comedian Stephen Mangan, the awards provided a fantastic showcase for the forecourt sector, acknowledging its vision and dynamism, as retailers continue to evolve and innovate to meet the rapidly changing needs of the demanding customer and the environment.

“Times are extremely challenging, and we know that success is hard fought, as everyone navigates the road ahead - particularly at this time, when the road ahead is subject to so many changes,” said Forecourt Trader editor Merril Boulton.

“Every year we are always amazed by the exceptional drive, ambition, and creativity of fuel retailers and how each year there is a new star pushing the boundaries. This year it’s the Touts – winners with their Nailsea site in 2008 – who have created a unique £6m development featuring a 4,100-sq ft store, Esso forecourt, an 82-capacity lounge/restaurant called The Maple, a 12-capacity hair salon, a 40-seater training facility, and head office – its first concept site for building a destination that contains all the things people want quickly and in-person. It was designed around food art, knowledge and theatre and is bristling with innovation on all fronts. An amazing entry, a stunning development, many congratulations!”

The award was collected by Jonathan Tout (whose parents Lesley and Philip Tout won in 2008) and his wife Zena, who described the development as a labour of love and passion, with the aim of creating a unique and authentic experience for its customers and teams; with the store designed as ‘mostly a supermarket, fairly like a farm shop, little like a discounter and nothing like a corner shop’.

Tout’s Cleeve initially won the award for Best Site in the South West & Wales in the 4mlpa+ regional category, which made it eligible for being considered for the top prize. It also won three Specialist category awards: Best Design & Development; Best Forecourt Innovation and Best Forecourt Loo.

All entries were subject to a rigorous judging process which took the Forecourt Trader team far and wide across the UK, experiencing forecourt service first hand to deliver real integrity. With standards so high, not just the winners but all the finalists were congratulated for their competitive entries.

Other notable winners on the night included Rob Exelby, managing director of Exelby Services, who received the Special Recognition Award, decided by the readers of Forecourt Trader using an online voting system.

Rob was winner of Forecourt Trader of the Year in 2021 with its A19 North operation, and always has his eye out for the next ‘big thing’. Recently the company has completed an extensive sustainability project which will see the A19 site cut its energy usage in half over the course of 2023 as Exelby Services aims to become a carbon neutral operation by 2030 across its five sites. Exelby Services is also partnering with hydrogen refuelling specialist Element 2 to develop two hydrogen refuelling stations.

The Best Oil Company Initiative was won by Gulf with its Oomph+Foresite sales optimisation system; while BP was Highly Commended for its Voice of the Customer Initiative.

The Forecourt Trader awards cover two main categories, including six regional categories – covering all types of forecourt operation, whether it’s a high-volume A-road site serving commuters or a rural site serving the local community. The 14 specialist categories give all staff working in the retail forecourt sector the chance to show off their skills and achievements in the past year.