The Chiverton Cross branch was a former Little Chef restaurant located on the A30 at the Chiverton Cross Roundabout near Blackwater, Cornwall.
Address and Onsite Information[]
ADDRESS: Chiverton Cross Roundabout, Blackwater, Truro, Cornwall, TR4 8HS
ONSITE FACILITIES: Esso, Snack and Shop (forecourt), Costa Express (forecourt), Starbucks
History[]
Chiverton Cross was one of two sites to open between 1988 and 1990 on the A30 in Cornwall with fellow site Hayle opening slightly further south west around a year later. Both restaurants were in the same style. This differed slightly from Little Chef's house style of the era - double fronted with large windows and built from red brick - as both sites were white harled with wooden gables and smaller windows with wood detailing. They were also much woodier inside with darker wood trim, partitions and wicker lampshades. It is believed that Forte, at the time, was experimenting with different building designs and interiors so these two were guinea pigs!
The Chiverton Cross site represented the ideal formula for Little Chef by being located at an at-grade roundabout, meaning it was visible and served multiple routes, by being located alongside a filling station for greater complimentary business and by being located on a major tourist road which experienced a large number holidaymakers travelling up and down the road every day. A site well chosen.
When Little Chef was handed over to Granada in the mid 1990s, they set about opening a number of Burger King outlets alongside a number of busy Little Chef restaurants and Chiverton Cross was a branch to receive a Burger King restaurant, giving the site two dining options. However, the Burger King later closed by the early 2000s and was left as an empty space. This was the case with a lot of Burger Kings which traded alongside Little Chefs.
Sadly, in 2007, Little Chefs parents, who by now were People's Restaurant Group, hit financial problems and the brand was taken by new owners, venture capitalists R Capital. However, although Chiverton Cross wasn't included on the list of 41 Little Chefs which closed in January 2007, it did unfortunately close in December that year.
Soon after the Little Chef closed, a Starbucks replaced the restaurant.