The Uttoxeter branch was a former Little Chef restaurant located on the A50 near Uttoxeter, Staffordshire.
Address and Onsite Information[]
ADDRESS: Little Chef Roundabout, A50, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, ST14 5AB
ONSITE FACILITIES: JCB Accommodation
History[]
Some Little Chefs have stories to tell and Uttoxeter is certainly one of them. Life as a Little Chef started in 1971, when then owners, Forte, had bought what was said to be an independent cafe (located alongside an existing filling station) at a small service area and converted it into a Little Chef restaurant. From houses to independent cafes, conversions of such buildings into Little Chefs had occured all over the country within this era, the main reason being in order to expand the brand, which was small at the time, therefore the opening of the new Uttoxeter branch had helped as part of the expansion.
In the 1980s/90s, there were many changes for the site. Firstly, Uttoxeter gained a bypass in 1985 meaning that longer distance traffic was less likely to venture into the town to stop, making the Little Chef even more attractive. Between 1985 and 1987, the Little Chef was only accessible to westbound traffic on the A50. However in 1987/88, the restaurant was demolished and was relocated to a roundabout site about half a mile away, therefore it now had the ability to serve all traffic on the A50 compared to before. Meanwhile at the old site, the filling station was left to stand and today, it still operates as Shell.
The new restaurant was arguably a lot better compared to the old one. For starters, it was housed in a more modern and up to date building compared to the old site, therefore it looked more appealing to travellers. Also in 1988, a Little Chef Lodge was built alongside the new restaurant, therefore tired travellers could be catered for, something that the old site didn't do. In 1989, the hotel was rebranded as Travelodge.
In the Granada era, a Burger King was added to the offering at Uttoxeter, giving diners an extra food option. Like many other Burger Kings located within a Little Chef, this had later closed by the mid 2000s, and is also one of a few Burger Kings that never returned in 2012-14.
In 2000 the Restaurant Manager was voted "Manager Of The Year" competing against several hundred Little Chef Managers at the Little Chef annual conference. As well as the site registering considerably higher sales than other sites mainly due to its proximity to Alton Towers and its prime A50 island location. In 2006 a Coffee Tempo! had opened within the restaurant (in the former Burger King area), however it was short-lived and was removed by 2009. The space later served as an extended dining area, and the building started to show a new, more modern Little Chef logo sign alongside the old ones that were used since relocation.
In 2013, the Travelodge on site was purchased by JCB and converted into accommodation for UK staff and overseas employees visiting the nearby headquarters.
In 2017, the Little Chef closed its doors after becoming a shadow of its former self. After months of sitting vacant, it appears that JCB have taken over the old restaurant but it is unknown what it has been converted into.
