The Peartree branch was a former Little Chef restaurant located on the A34/A44/A40 (and formerly A43) at the Peartree Interchange near Oxford, Oxfordshire.
Address and Onsite Information[]
ADDRESS: Peartree Roundabout, Woodstock Road, Oxford, Oxfordshire, OX2 8JZ
ONSITE FACILITIES: Welcome Break Fuel, The Phat Pasty Co. (forecourt), Rollover (forecourt), Starbucks on the Go, Greggs, KFC, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, Little Waitrose & Partners, Travelodge (Book Room), Holiday Inn
LITTLE CHEF NOW: Other brands
For more information, visit Motorway Services Online
History[]
The site first opened in June 1964 by the Forte group as a large service area (known as Fortes Motor Lodge Oxford) under their Autogrill brand. This was essentially a scaled-down version of their motorway service station sites designed for A-roads, with Barnsdale Bar South opening at the same time in the exact same style. The Autogrill restaurant was fully licensed and boasted a special charcoal grill, in a stand-alone building which also contained a snack bar and shopping facilities. There were also two hotels built on site, one being the Excelsior Motor Lodge (then Travelodge) and the other being the Oxford Motel (then Oxford Lodge), operated by Watney and Lyon. The hotels have since been demolished and replaced with a much more modern Travelodge and Holiday Inn.
Over the years, Forte introduced lots of different brands to what was the Autogrill component of the site, including a carvery at one point but most famously their restaurant known as The Granary, which was a feature of their roadside services portfolio and, in the case of Oxford Peartree, was the first Granary restaurant to have opened in the country.
In 1980, Forte introduced a Little Chef restaurant to the site. The Little Chef was very much an addition to the site, not replacing any other brands, and was housed in its own building separate from the main services amenity building. In 1988, Forte then re-branded Oxford under their newly acquired "Welcome Break" brand.
In 1995, Forte were taken over by Granada, another group with a large roadside hospitality presence, especially on motorways. However, the Monopolies and Mergers Commission forced Granada to sell of Forte's motorway sites, although it was allowed to keep the non-motorway ones which it re-branded as Granada (in keeping with its own Motorway and A-road sites). At Oxford, this led to the removal of all Welcome Break brands from the site, with the Granary restaurant replaced by a coffee shop and Burger King. The Little Chef initially continued to trade from its separate building but, by around 1997, the decision was taken to move the Little Chef into the main services as the main restaurant option, alongside the Burger King and shop. The result was one of the largest Little Chefs in the estate.
In 2001, Compass created the concept 'Little Chef Choices'. The format was used to take advantage of the number of catering names they owned (namely Harry Ramsdens, Caffe Ritazza, Upper Crust and Wiseguys Pizza), and thus increase the variety of options available to customers at selected Little Chef sites. Each Choices site was accompanied by a thorough refurbishment with lowered lights, tablecloths, and oak and steel fittings used to create a High Street ambience which would attract more evening diners. The Little Chef at Peartree was one of approximately 30 sites selected to become a Choices branch in 2001; however in 2004, the Choices concept was dropped and the menus from the other brands were removed.
As Little Chef was itself sold on several times, it became a small business that was responsible for a large site. Inside and especially outside there was evidence of poor upkeep all around. Even so, Little Chef said they liked the branch, and claimed they were disappointed when their lease expired and they were denied the opportunity to renew it.
The Little Chef, along with the Coffee Tempo! and Burger King, closed in 2010. Shortly after the closure of the Little Chef, the building was purchased by Welcome Break, marking their second involvement with the site. The Little Chef, Burger King and Coffee Tempo! were replaced with KFC, Starbucks and Waitrose.
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