It’s the award that no business would want to win once, let alone twice.
Hartshead Moor East, near Bradford in West Yorkshire, has just been given the unwelcome accolade of being voted Britain’s worst motorway services for the second year in a row.
The site on the eastbound M62 between Manchester and Leeds was ranked the least popular service area out of 120 locations, after a survey of nearly 31,000 visitors by the watchdog Transport Focus.
The service station, which is owned by Welcome Break and located on the busiest route across the Pennines, received the lowest rating of 84% for overall satisfaction, while visitors who were surveyed were least likely to recommend it to a friend.
Transport Focus said in its report there had been investment in new toilet facilities at the services, meaning some refurbishment was ongoing when the research was carried out between mid-May and early July this year.
The watchdog said: “Unfortunately, the works were still under way during the survey period and, for some of the time, [the site] had portable toilets in place.”
Nevertheless, the services’ satisfaction rating had improved by four percentage points since the previous year’s survey, and Transport Focus said this suggested “there is every reason to expect an improved position in next year’s survey”.
One visitor to Hartshead Moor East complained of temporary toilets, located outside the building, saying: “In wet weather this was a real nuisance.”
Meanwhile, Welcome Break’s westbound Hartshead Moor West services on the M62 also failed to impress, and was ranked among the five least popular motorway service areas.
Transport Focus said investment in facilities by operators can make a difference in customers’ experience. Birchanger Green services, located on the M11 near Bishop’s Stortford in Hertfordshire, recorded the biggest increase in overall visitor satisfaction over a year, which rose from 83% in 2022, to 96% this year.
At the other end of the scale, Moto’s Rugby services on the M6 in Warwickshire topped the table for a second consecutive year. The site was the only services to score 100% visitor satisfaction, as customers rated it highly for its food and drink, as well as its toilet facilities and friendly staff.
Overall, the average satisfaction score given by all visitors to motorway services was 94%, up from 93% a year earlier.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of Transport Focus, said despite this increase, there was “still room for improvement”. He added that this included: “Making sure the range of food and drink on offer is good value for money for visitors as cost of living increases continue to bite.”
Welcome Break was approached for comment.
