Revenues up for Westmorland
Westmorland Limited, the owner of Tebay Services, has reported a rise in turnover due to "great success" at its motorway farm shop. The company, which also runs the Westmorland Hotel and the Rheged Centre has reported turnover of more than £45m.
Turnover at the company for the year to 3 July 2011 was £46.8m - up from £38.3m in 2010. The business has put this down to its "robust and resilient" farm shop.
However, the company's pre-tax profit fell from £2.3m in 2010 to £1.6m in 2011. The business reported that this was due to the VAT increase in January 2011 which put pressure on its costs and pricing.
Westmorland is the only small locally owned company to have built and operate a motorway service station.
The company's main business is its service station at junction 38 of the M6 near Penrith which has been open since 1972, and farm shops have been operating from the site since 2003. The company also owns the Westmorland Hotel and the Rheged Centre in Penrith.
Westmorland has received planning permission to build a £35m service station in Gloucester and said it continues to seek funding for the project.
The company reported a "satisfactory" year for its hotel despite profitability being reduced by as conference business weakened. However, the business said the Rheged Centre had had a "challenging" year due to a fall in footfall.
The business said: "Our new farm shop extension at northbound proved a great success along with increased demand for take-away food in catering. This business remains robust and resilient."
The company said it plans to provide an "expanded retail offer" in 2012 for the Rheged Centre. It reports high fuel prices as one of its principle uncertainties for the future as it has an "adverse impact" on footfall and sales.
The business employs more than 500 staff and said it is aiming to mitigate high staff turnover rates with competitive pay packages in the coming months.
