Shell UK has officially announced that it has accepted offers for the sale of 185 company-owned service stations to selected independent dealers and has exchanged contracts for 158 of these service stations. Through this transaction, Shell welcomes Motor Fuel Group (MFG) as a Shell dealer and strengthens its relationship with Euro Garages. It is anticipated that contracts for the remaining service stations will be exchanged in the coming weeks.
David Moss, Shell’s Retail General Manager, North Europe, said: “I’m pleased these dealers have chosen to grow their businesses with Shell and are as committed as we are to delivering high-quality products and customer service. Our retail business is going from strength to strength, with record sales of our premium fuel, Shell V-Power Nitro+, the growth of our popular Deli2Go food and beverage range and our new relationship with PayPal, which will offer mobile payment to more than four million customers a week.”
The 185 service stations are spread across Great Britain and will retain the Shell brand. Dealers will continue to sell Shell’s high-quality fuels for at least the first five years following the sale.
Of the 158 company owned sites announced today, 90 have been purchased by Motor Fuel Group and 68 by Euro Garages. Handover of these service stations to the new owners will be completed by the end of 2015.
Moss added, “Our priority is to ensure that a consistently excellent customer offer is available across our network, whether the service station is owned by Shell or by an independent dealer. That’s why we selected these independent dealers to work with, as they will invest in the sites and aim to deliver the same high standards of safety and customer care that are synonymous with the Shell brand.”
The sale of 185 Shell service stations marks the end of a commercial process, which began in September 2014, following the strategic decision to reduce the number of Shell company-owned service stations to around 550 and expand the dealer network.