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Content:
Why the Prices?
Motorway services are infamous for their prices. At £56 for a family meal and £17 just to park, you could think the operators are trying to fob you off. But deeper research reveals they're struggling to make ends meet themselves.
Monopolising
You could spend all day talking about captive audiences and commercial businesses. And you'd be right. The motorway market is dominated by Moto, Welcome Break and RoadChef, and together they create a huge market value. Captive audience is true too - there's normally no-where else to go for the next 30 miles. It also explains why it's cheaper to park at Moto's Heston in London than at their own Burton-in-Kendal, the latter being in the middle of no-where.
But clearly services aren't for the rich and pompous, as can be seen by the state of some of our older sites. So is there any excuse for them being so expensive?
Spending money
Lets start with land. Motorway services take up a good 50 acres of land each nower days, and that doesn't come cheap (that's why there are so few around West London). From the point you see that 'End of Motorway' sign you are under the responsibility of the operator. That's the sliproads, car park and even the trees are funded by them. And once they've built on the land, they've then got to give an extraordinary amount of their earnings to New Labour for tax - some 75% of operating profits go to the government.
Regulations
It doesn't stop there. By law services need to provide petrol, toilets, food and parking 24 hours a day. With very few customers overnight, the money needs to be earned other ways. To give you an idea just how quiet motorway services are at night, when Birch caught fire the only people inside were the arsonist and the staff. Think about how much Moto would have spent on things like lighting and heat just to keep that one customer happy (however much they did spend obviously wasn't enough if that one customer turned round and set fire to it!).
And the restrictions continue still. Your local shopping centre is allowed to advertise their facilities from miles away, but not services. They're only allowed to advertise within their land, and they're only allowed 5,000 square foot of shopping space.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that the motorway will soon have you departing from your cash, but many people make the mistake of saying that their local shops provide a lot better service. And there's your problem - because the motorway and a town centre are very different places. A better comparison would be a railway station or airport, where people complain about the prices just as much.
The question is, are they really overpriced, or are we asking for too much? You're more than welcome to bring your own stuff for a journey, but do consider how much money you've saved and how much convenience you've missed out on.
Further Reading
- 5 Minutes Away
. A site dedicated to helping motorists find cheaper alternatives to motorway services. - Off the Motorway. Another site giving visitors the chance to explore the local area.
- Moto - Why do prices at Motorway Service Areas sometimes seem so high?. Being the people who charge the prices, sure enough Moto have their own excuses ready and waiting.