Cherwell Valley and Tebay South achieve highest rating in quality assessment scheme
2013-05-06 — /travelprnews.com/ — VisitEngland today released the latest results of its Motorway Service Area Star Ratings scheme, revealing a rise in quality across the board. Cherwell Valley in Oxfordshire was awarded five-star status for the first time, with family-run Tebay South in Cumbria also retaining its five-star rating for the second year in a row. Overall, there was a 12 per cent increase in the number of 4-star ratings compared to last year, with 90 per cent of participants in the scheme awarded a 3-star rating or above.
The Motorway Service Area (MSA) quality scheme has been carefully devised to cover areas that are of key importance to customers. Working with the Highways Agency and the five main motorway service area operators – Moto, Welcome Break, Roadchef, Extra and Westmorland – VisitEngland conducted 3 waves of assessments over the last 12 months and awarded the 106 participating MSAs with their appropriate star rating based on these visits.
On each visit, the Assessor follows the whole of the customer journey, from initial arrival right through to the use of facilities, retail and catering outlets to departure. The assessment takes into account the quality and range of facilities and services for all aspects within an MSA. After all three visits have taken place, each individual site is provided with reports covering eight key sections – catering, cleanliness, food, forecourt, retail, service, site and toilets.
Cherwell Valley, run by operator Moto was awarded four stars in the previous year’s round of assessments, and has made a range of improvements to achieve the coveted five-star status. The site was rated highly across all categories, but was particularly commended for the range of catering available and the high standard of cleanliness across the site.
Tim Moss, Chief Executive of Moto, commented:
“I am delighted that Cherwell Valley achieved Moto’s first 5* rating and I would like to thank all of our hard working team at Cherwell Valley for playing their part in delivering an excellent experience for our customers. Cherwell Valley have focussed on delivering great customer service as well as constantly adding to the choice of brands available. We are anything but complacent and we will work hard to identify where we can improve again next year.”
Tebay South, owned by operator Westmorland, adjoins an award-winning farm, which supplies the onsite butchers counter with fresh beef and lamb, and bacon is sourced from local Cumbrian farmers. Home-baked bread and cakes are served in the café, and the team also runs a very popular farm shop.
Janet Uttley, VisitEngland’s Visitor Attraction Quality Assurance Scheme Manager, commented:
“The teams at Cherwell Valley and Tebay South are to be warmly congratulated on achieving a five-star rating; our assessors were impressed by their dedication to providing a memorable, high quality experience to their customers.
“The Motorway Service Area Star Ratings scheme is focused on raising quality, and we are delighted to see that so many operators have embraced the scheme and used it as a business development tool. The last year has seen significant investment in infrastructure and staff training at motorway services across the country, and this has been reflected in the number of operators whose ratings have improved. We look forward to working closely with them, and the Highways Agency over the coming year, continuing our drive for quality and ensuring our motorway services offer the warmest welcome possible.”
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Notes to Editors:
• For a full list of participating MSAs and their star rating see: http://www.visitengland.org/Images/MSA%20Individual%20Operator%20Star%20Rating%20Results%202013-2014_tcm30-37442.pdf
• A total of 70 MSAs across England are included in this scheme; some of which are twin sided. For the purpose of the star ratings these twin sided sites have been assessed as two separate entities to ensure that relevant information is available to road users. This leads to there being 106 separate awards made by VisitEngland: Moto (43); Welcome Break (31); Roadchef (23); Extra (7), and Westmorland (2)
• The scheme is self-funded directly by the MSA operators.
For more information contact:
Sarah Long, Head of Corporate Communications Tel: 020 7578 1452, Email sarah.long@visitengland.orgwww.visitengland.org
Emma White, Corporate Communications Executive Tel 020 7578 1471, Email: emmalucy.white@visitengland.org www.visitengland.org
About VisitEngland
• VisitEngland is the country’s national tourist board. We work in partnership with the industry to develop the visitor experience across England, plan national tourism strategy, grow the value of tourism in England and provide advocacy for the industry and our visitors
• Our work is underpinned by robust research and customer insights. You can access the latest in-depth market intelligence and statistics on www.visitengland.org/insight-statistics