The Shardlow East branch was a former Little Chef restaurant located on the eastbound side of the A50 at Derby South Services near Derby, Derbyshire.
Address and Onsite Information[]
ADDRESS: A50 Eastbound, Shardlow, Derby, Derbyshire, DE72 2WA
ONSITE FACILITIES: Shell, Costa Express (forecourt), WHSmith
History[]
Built as a modern, dual sided service area on the A50 just to the west of the M1 at junction 24, Shardlow, also known commonly as Derby South, opened its doors in 2000. The services, which were designed by ACP architects, became under the ownership of Welcome Break, who wanted a site off the motorway to avoid regulations imposed at motorway sites. Each side came with a filling station, restaurants and shop, with westbound receiving the bonus of a hotel in order to cater for tired travellers. Despite the services only opening in 2000, both sides received Granada Little Chefs, even though all the other ones at Welcome Break sites had already closed by 1997/98. To trade alongside the Little Chefs were Burger Kings, with eastbound even having a drive thru for those on the move.
Despite the services proving to be a busy stop for travellers using the A50, the Little Chefs on both sides pulled the plug in 2006, following Welcome Break's rebranding throughout the year, where brands such as Coffee Primo and Eat In would step in. However, the closure of the westbound Little Chef, despite being replaced with another brand, seemed to have a knock on effect on the Burger King, which ceased trading shortly after. However, this wasn't the end for closures at the services as the eastbound Burger King closed a few years after westbound did and the Eat In restaurants were eventually axed as well, although eastbound was believed to have traded as an unbranded restaurant until 2018. The closures were mostly likely due to competition from the nearby Donington Park services, which was larger, offered more brands and attracted more traffic. All that remains at the services today are the filling stations, WHSmith shops and westbound Days Inn hotel.
It is unknown what the future holds for the services but the now boarded up restaurants certainly give a strong hint of its past.
