| Moto |
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| Locations: | 41 |
| Introduced: | 2001 |
| Predecessors: | Granada |
| Acquired by: | Macquarie Bank |
| Chief executive: | Tim Moss |
| Headquarters address: | Moto Hospitality Limited, Head Office, PO Box 218, Toddington [Motorway Services], Bedfordshire, LU5 6QG [map] |
| Phone number: | 01525 873933 |
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Website:
moto-way.com
Twitter: @motoway |
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Moto (officially known as Moto Hospitality) is the biggest operator and were the first to introduce many brands and ideas which are now common at services across the country.
Company History
Full details: Granada
Aside from two sites, all Moto services are just a rebranded form of Granada, a media and hospitality giant which slowly fell apart. In 2000 Granada merged with the Compass Group, but they diverged again in 2001, however, Granada only took their media business with them: Compass retained the hospitality side. Compass made their mark by changing their services to become Motos, this was because during the 1990s motorway services had reached an all-time low in terms of consumer confidence, and Compass wanted to turn this image round by providing a "a better, continental-feeling service". This was done with the help of Fallon, the company which helped change the image of Skoda.
Over the next few years Permira bought Travelodge and Little Chef (which were also part of Granada's hospitality business) and Macquarie Bank bought Moto as Compass were hitting rocky ground. Incidentally, Macquarie Bank also own Midlands Expressway Ltd who run the M6 Toll road - another aspect of UK life which is notoriously expensive.
When Moto were introduced, Compass said they would be rolling the brand out across Europe, with upto 20 continental Motos opening. Only one or two were ever introduced, and they have since been sold.
Moto Today
One of the new
M&S stores
Moto provide many services for different customers, from coach passengers to dogs. They used to have a wide variety of shops, but over the past few years many of these have closed, a move which was largely influenced by the Compass Group's reign of the services.
Recently Moto were the first operator to convert all of their retail stores to WH Smith outlets, and they also use the popular Marks and Spencer Simply Food chain. The stores impressed Holiday Which? Magazine who described them as "well worth driving on the motorway for alone". Moto have also looked into introducing Sainsburys and Tesco stores, after Granada struggled to convince them to do it.
Moto have also won awards from Tommy's Parent Friendly Loo and between 2003 and 2006 they did well in the Loo of the Year, coming top in the UK in 2005 and winning a Standards of Excellence (Champions League) award in 2006, but in 2007 and 2008 only one of their services was graded. The 2008 awards were dominated by Welcome Break.
They have their own charity, Moto in the Community Trust, who help out the local area surrounding their services. In recent months Moto have made several new deals to try and win people's custom: they have replaced their Fresh Express stores with the Eat & Drink Company and their Caffè Ritazza outlets with Costa Coffee, and they have signed a deal with Virgin Radio to provide a mix of radio and offers available inside the services in a special stream which will soon be playing at all of their services. This is probably to replace 'Granada FM' which was played at service stations when Granada were in charge.
Moto were the only one of the 'big three' operators to open a new service area in 2008: their site at Wetherby claims to be the greenest service station around. The new services contain a Days Inn motel, as the break up of Compass Group meant that Moto are no longer tied to Travelodge. Having only just opened Wetherby, Moto then bought Winchester and two First services, although the deal with First has recently fallen through.
In 2008 The Times listed Moto as being the 57th biggest private company (dropping 9 places since the year before), with annual sales of £786m and profits of £52m.
Moto have now joined RoadChef in providing free Wi-Fi for all customers.
Logo History
Moto's logo, joined by
M&SMoto's logo of a relaxed traveller (right) has been used ever since the company was first created. They were the first of the operators to find a loophole in the law; by changing their operating logo to read 'Moto Marks and Spencer Simply Food' at the appropriate sites, they can get round the strict regulations which prevent them from advertising their facilities on the motorway. Welcome Break and RoadChef soon copied this initiative. Keen to stay one step ahead of the game, Moto have announced their newest brand by making their logo read 'Costa M&S', giving no reference to Moto on the headboard at all. This was followed by 'Caffè Ritazza Burger King' for the services which don't have a Costa, but now they all do.
In the past few months most of the Moto branding has been removed from within the services too. Some of the wider signs now use 'Burger King Costa M&S', the first to use three different brand names.
Facilities
Moto's facilities include:
General: Picnic Tables, Children's Play Area, Lucky Coin, Local Information, Meeting Rooms, Business Rooms, Contemplation Rooms, Showers, Wi-Fi
Restaurants: Burger King, Upper Crust, Costa Coffee, Eat & Drink Company, Krispy Kreme, Harry Ramsden's
Shops: Fonebitz, Ladbrokes, Marks and Spencer Simply Food, Thorntons, WH Smith
Fuel: Shell, BP, Total
Motel: Travelodge, Days Inn, Premier Inn
Moto Services
The following sites are run by Moto:
Smaller Services
Former Services
The following services were owned by Moto:
Comments and Reviews
Showing the most recent responses only: for the full thread and the ability to edit your own posts, you need to view the topic in the forums.
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Anonymous
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I WORK FOR WELCOME BREAK AND WE ARE ON ABOUT CLEANING MALE TOILETS I AND 2 OTHERS FEMALE CLEANERS ARE NOT HAPPY WITH THEIR SUGGESTIONS.WE HAVE MALE CLEANERS ASWELL.CAN THEY MAKE US CLEAN THEM? I FIND IT EMBARRASSING THEY CUBICAL AND URINALS.
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Nigel BUTTON
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Lymm Services are the worst station I have encountered, their parking robbery is bordering on extortion, I will never use any Moto Area again and will suggest that all travellers avoid them completely. If any shareholder in Moto reads this can I sugges that they take a copy of the comments on various web site to the AGM to drive home their agents practice. I parked for 2 hrs 21 minutes to meet Daughter coming from Poole.. I drove from N Wales, I was early she was late, we ate at Mcdonalds, drank at Costa Coffee but when I appealed they said produce receipts... we paid cash and hadnt kept receipts. No receipt no chance!
Like many others I saw no sign limiting to 2 hrs.
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Anonymous
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 We just stopped at Moto Grantham North Services - we met up with freinds while we were there and stayed longer to sit an have a meal with them. we spent over £30.00 on food and £30.00 on petrol. today i recived a letter charging me £80 for overstaying in the carpark. i was there a total of 4 hours when i should have strayed only 2 hours. Im sure by law they can do that but it stings a bit to be charged for spending money with them!
Apparently there are signs all over the place to warn us of thsi charge - funny , ive been travekling the A1 for the past 30 years and i havent noticed one yet.
they are putting more and more stores, services , games etc. within the places to encourage us to stay there longer and spend money but beware folks , not only will they charge you over the top for a sandwich - they then get you with a car park charges too!!!!! |
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a.n.o.n.
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HEALTH AND SAFTEY MAJOR CONCERN!!!!
i found out today that moto chieveley had a severe attack on an employee that was lone working early in the morning, his head was smashed in with a hammer by a crazy person-we all hope he will survive the attack. questions that are running around in my head they have people just 18 years of age working at these times with no panic alarms, no locking doors to protect the late workers, no security guard actually nothing i hope the H.S.E will make sure these workers will be protected in the future.
im asking you would you want your child to work here!!!
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Anonymous
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I had the misfortune of calling in at Doncaster North Services on Weds 27/01/10, for a refreshment break. I was away from my vehicle for 20 mins approx, during which time my cab was broken in to and various personal items stolen. My wagon was parked directly in front of a cctv camera, which i did on purpose as i was carrying high value load.Upon finding the cab broken in to i went back inside the service area to report it to management, who didnt even take any details from me!
I asked them to view the cctv footage, to which they replied "Oh, them cameras havent worked for ages".
I find it totally outrageous that as a proffesional driver I have to pay in excess of £15 to park and use the facilities when i might aswell just park in a layby for free.
Needless to say, i will definately not be calling there again.
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Anonymous
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Well done Vincent! I agree with you totally that the design of most male toilets do not give privacy from female cleaners. This is effectively sanctioning indecent exposure for men using open urinals.It is also a child protection issue with all the perverts and paedophiles around. What is to stop them getting a job as a cleaner or pose as one to be alone with a child in an opposite sex toilet? If more people (men & women) complained and challenged this poor practice rather than just putting up with it they would have to develop strict access codes/regulations for opposite sex workers accessing areas where privacy and dignity are at risk or use male cleaners for male toilets and vice versa until toilets are redesigned.Equality law should not be used to erode decency. MOTO have even won 'Loo of the Year awards for cleanliness' by violating privacy. While we all want clean toilets most of us are uncomfortable to use a toilet with a member of the opposite sex within auditory/visual vicinity outside of family/intimate relationships. It might help if these awards were judged on respect for privacy and dignity of service users as well as cleanliness. Can't be much fun for the cleaners either!
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vincent
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I kind of agree with you both but at least the females have cubical around them when they are urinating.
Last years I had the horrible experience when in the middle of using the urinal I turned round and noticed I was being watched by a female cleaner who smiled at me and then carried on cleaning, when I confronted her she told me “I am only doing my job” I asked her if she like it or thinks it’s right she smiled and walked off.
A least a male cleaner in a female toilet doesn’t get to see your genitals.
I wonder if we remove the cubical door so the male cleaners can see you urinating how long it would take for the law to change.
By the way I got the female cleaner sacked under the threat of legal action. (voyeurism act)
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Anonymous
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Hi Tom
I understand what you are saying but Moto (Thurrock) do not have any female cleaners! That does not give them the right to use a male cleaner as if he is a woman! They should give times when cleaning will take place so women can decide whether to go in or not but they are displaying permanent warning signs so any woman using the female toilet has basically consented to having a man there whether she likes it or not. I have found myself on my own in what I thought was a women only environment (no signs) with a guy coming in unexpectedly and it really freaked me out-if I had a dicky ticker I think the shock would have killed me! I think this is a potential child protection issue-kids should not have to cope with this. The cleaner is at risk too it would be the service users word against theirs if an accusation was made agisnt them. There should be codes of conduct eg ask person of same sex as loo to check its ok to go in. That way no one is at risk!
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underitall
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Hi there "Anonymous" (Previous poster).
I half agree with you, yes, but, what if the female cleaner at the time was off sick, or didn't show up? Then, someone from maintenance for example, another female, might NOT be able to jump in and do the cleaning, because she might not be trained in doing so, in which case, she would need to be trained also, or just for that day, go without a female cleaner, and possibly have complaints.
I used to work at a major fast food chain, I was a cleaner, and had to clean female toilets aswell as males(I'm a Man myself), but was trained to Knock on the door, and say "Male Cleaner", likewise, the Females were to say "Female Cleaner".
Without dragging some form of other staff off their prioritised job, then to always have Female only cleaners in ladies toilets, is not always possible.
Tom.
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Anonymous
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I had the misfortune to get stuck in traffic on M25 and had to stop at MOTO for comfort breaks. On all 3 recent occasions it was anything but comfortable as there were male cleaners operating in the Ladies toilet facilities who did not respect privacy. There is no legal entitlement for a man to be in a women's toilet or vice versa and people using the facilities have a right to expect to use a toilet without a member of the opposite sex present so cleaners should leave. Women could easily be changing/rearranging clothes or in a state of semi undress. When I complained to the Chief exec he gave me the usual rubbish 'it is not possible for us to operate same sex toilet attendants as employment rules will not permit us to discriminate in this way in recruitment'. Either he is ignorant of the law or he is trying to pull the wool over my eyes. This is discrimination against women who may also need to use a toilet to change sanitary ware and is in clear breech of the Sex Discrimination Act (SDA) which clearly states that people may object when (ii) the holder of the job is likely to do his work in circumstances where men might reasonably object to the presence of a woman because they are in a state of undress or are using sanitary facilities or vice versa (section (Privacy & Dignity 7 (2) (b) (ii). There is also a duty to prevent psychological and physical harm which is inherent in this situation and is a potential infringement of articles 3 & 8 of the Human Rights Act (1998, 2000).
The provision of a cubicle is totally inadequate if the cubicle is situated in an area designated for single sex use and is not fully enclosed providing both visual and auditory privacy for the user. There are additional safety concerns for women and young girls who may find themselves alone in a female facility with a male worker (especially when the facility is downstairs and isolated e.g Thurrock)which put both the woman and the male employee at risk.
GOQ's can now be challenged, and an example of this would be to close the toilets temporarily while they are being cleaned or to use existing members of staff of the appropriate sex to clean the toilets, it is not acceptable to just ignore them altogether and operate policies which cause severe embarrassment and are offensive to public decency.
Warning signs which make the assumption that anyone using the facility has accepted that a member of the opposite sex may be present are not lawful and forces people to use the facility under duress ie harassment. Cost cutting which compromises privacy and dignity is unacceptable and amoral and is particularly intimidating and uncomfortable for a woman travelling alone. There would be more privacy using a hedge than MOTO are currently offering women who must Complain and stop this practice.
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| Showing the most recent responses only: for the full thread and the ability to edit your own posts, you need to view the topic in the forums. | | |
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With thanks to Alan Simpson and the user 'Roadhog_001' for the information used on this page.
