The Seaton Burn branch was a former Little Chef restaurant located at the junction of the A1 and A19 roads near Seaton Burn, Tyne and Wear.
Address and Onsite Information[]
ADDRESS: Fisher Lane, Seaton Burn, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE13 6BP
ONSITE FACILITIES: Esso, Shop 'n Drive (forecourt), Costa Express (forecourt), Burger King, Greggs, Travelodge (Book Room)
For more information, visit Motorway Services Online
History[]
In 1989, a Kelly's Kitchen restaurant was built alongside a filling station, operated at the time by Fina (later Total). This was one of only 18 Kelly's Kitchens/ Fina sites operating across the UK. Kelly's Kitchen restaurants were very distinctive, housed inside of buildings with an overhanging roof, cottage styled windows and a large funnel-like chimney built into the roof.
The Kelly's Kitchen brand was later purchased by Crest Hotels who were then purchased by Trusthouse Forte in 1990. Following Forte's purchase, all 18 Kelly's Kitchen restaurants were rebranded as Little Chefs by 1991, with the Seaton Burn site being converted in 1990. The 1990s introduced further developments and changes to the site, including the opening of a Burger King unit in 1997 and the construction of a Travelodge hotel in 1998.
An interesting feature of Seaton Burn was that directional signage across the site once displayed the remnants of a planned rebrand from around 2004 by Little Chef's former owners Permira, who looked to change the Little Chef logo to swirly writing. This plan was dropped by 2005, when the People's Restaurant Group took over Little Chef, only to be picked up again and tweaked slightly by current owners R Capital in 2011.
Following the takeover of the Little Chef brand by Euro Garages in 2017, the Little Chef at Seaton Burn ceased trading in January 2018, making it one of the last sites to have closed across the entire estate. Following a brief stint as an EG Diner, the building was refurbished in October 2018 to become a Burger King and Greggs combination site, reopening in January 2019.
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