Building a business with purpose is the north star for Westmorland Family, a motorway service operator that believes in “doing things differently”, according to CEO Nabil Subuh.
Westmorland runs service stations including Tebay, Gloucester, and Cairn Lodge, alongside filling stations, a visitor centre, and the Westmorland Hotel; and looks to drive success through its people focus, and shared community values.
Subuh, who spent a portion of his career on the senior team of Welcome Break, and latterly Pret a Manger, acknowledges that as the smallest operator in the MSA market, “it is hard for us to have relevance.”
Unlike larger businesses in the market, Westmorland does not focus on big brands, and instead elevates the “real value of food and craft.” ”You don’t have to believe in what you sell. We know lots of good and successful businesses who don’t,” he told MCA’s Food to Go conference.
“But knowing what you stand for creates a greater sense of purpose for all those involved, whether that’s the customers, the colleagues or the suppliers, and it creates a long term credible and sustainable business.”
The second-generation family business has little changed in over 50 years, said Subuh, born in 1972 when the M6 was built across the farm of John and Barbara Dunning.
Proper food
“In our business we are the odd one out,” said Subuh, “We don’t have the franchisees, just the farm shop and kitchen, which we curate ourselves. Proper food is about locality and that is at the heart of everything. We like to think that our food is classic, simple, and homemade.
Working with 250 farmers in a 30-mile radius of its sites, this local, craft approach has grown with the company.
Despite the challenges of a complex supply chain of small local businesses, he added “it’s turned out to be the single biggest strength.”
“We still haven’t cracked it but to sell products that we believe in makes it worth almost any amount of challenge.
The family farm itself still holds important connection for the business, “It’s one that lets us know how it is to raise food, and how much it costs. But it’s also one that enables us to connect with our customer and explain where the food comes from.
“It’s a privilege that’s not afforded to many farmers, or retailers.”
A different business model
Born from an ambition to create more diversity in the roadside industry, Subuh said, “We feel our sector benefits from it. And there is a lack of places ringing what the UK has to celebrate within this market”
Today, the business is still headed up by Sarah Dunning, who started running the family business in 2005, after several years of working in the City, together with her sister Jane, who looks after the family’s farm interest.
“My current leadership team is well balanced and very diverse. And the great thing about working in the business is it’s not a business of egos; we tend to focus on what’s best,” said the CEO.
Westmorland now has 1300 colleagues, and often employs whole families, tending to develop its own talent. Moreover, Subuh explained that the brand strives to create a sense of belonging.
It operates a programme for those struggling financially and works to employ people who find it harder to find work, for reasons such as disability, or a history in the criminal justice system; “It’s a really inclusive process.”
Taking the right road
For Westmorland, “taking the right road” is about supporting its communities.
In Gloucester, it apartners with the Gloucester Gateway Trust, a charity which receives up to 3% of the Westmorland farm shop and kitchen turnover every year- equating to around £600,000, which is invested back into the projects and communities around the site.
In Cumbria, it has an endowment fund, and every year an annual grant goes towards programmes to help local people.
“We’ve learned that we’re largely dependent on our community and people around us; that the business is an outcome of many partnerships with other farmers, producers, colleagues.
“It wouldn’t work or exist without them,” Subuh added.
Precis
