| Inverness | |
|---|---|
| Name | Inverness |
| Number | 571 |
| Year Planned | 2001-3 |
| Year Closed | Never opened |
| Road | A9/ A96 |
| Location | Inverness, Highland |
| County | Highland |
| Postcode | IV2 7PA |
The Inverness (MK2) branch was a planned Little Chef adjacent to the A9/ A96 junction in Inverness, Highland.
This was not a new idea. From the late 60s up to 1985/6, a Little Chef had traded on the south side of Inverness but, with the building of the A9 Inverness bypass, had found itself bypassed by most of the long-distance traffic that gave it its raison d'etre.
However, the A9/ A96 interchange remained a key junction for long-distance traffic and, in the early 2000s, Little Chef's then owners Granada Compass decided to bring Little Chef back to Inverness. The site would also have a Travelodge and the restaurant, like so many of the era (Peterborough Eye, Perth TRSA, Old Stratford, Ashford), would be housed inside the Travelodge building. This was part of a new design which both saved space and integrated the restaurant and accommodation nicely together.
The Little Chef would be part of a Granada Compass plan to up their representation on the Perth to Inverness corridor, somewhere they had historically been well represented but where numbers of sites had declined in the 80s and 90s due to old sites becoming bypassed. Other sites were planned at Perth and Dalwhinnie.
However, despite appearing on the Travelodge website in 2003 as the restaurant option for the site and "Opening Soon", the restaurant never opened. Potential reasons for this include the opening of a Vintage Inn pub restaurant next door and the sale of Little Chef and Travelodge by then owners Compass to Permira, who may have decided not to pursue such a location.
Today though, a noticeable Little Chef shaped area is still evident in the ground floor of the Travelodge building, although this is now used as conference space.
As the site never opened and as it was planned after the Forte numbering system was discontinued, it was never allocated a Forte-style number,. Thus 571 has been allocated speculatively.