Four Turnings Garage in Fowey, south Cornwall, has been sold via Christie & Co to a group of local investors.
Four Turnings Garage has been owned and operated by the Jones family since March 1970 and has been an important community asset, providing various services including a vehicle workshop, fuel and small convenience store.
The forecourt benefits from an excellent trading position on the outskirts of Fowey, where it sits on the main junction into this popular Cornish town. This allows it to serve the local community but also tourists that visit the area. The Jones family together with their late business partner David Taylor, are well known in Fowey for going above and beyond to help their customers.
Christie & Co was instructed to market the site in 2020. Following a short marketing campaign that attracted multiple offers, demonstrating the ongoing robust appetite for forecourts amongst investors, who see projected growth within the convenience retail market. Buyers were particularly attracted to the bungalow on site that can with be let out or re-purposed into an alternative income stream.
The forecourt has been acquired by a group of local investors who intend on improving the convenience store offer and will switch fuel providers from Texaco to Certas (Gulf).
Dave Morris, Regional Director in Christie & Co’s Retail team who handled the sale, commented, “The forecourt market has remained resilient despite the various challenges that the pandemic has presented. The recent fuel crises showed that forecourts remain important assets to local communities.
'Over the past two years, there has been significant demand for convenience retail assets, partly as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic and the market is unlikely to cool off. Chris and Penny have a fantastic reputation within the local community, having served them for 51 years. It has been a pleasure to help them sell Four Turnings Garage and we wish them all the best in their retirement.”
Despite the gradual increase in electric vehicle sales, forecourts like Four Turnings Garage remain popular when they come to market and this is unlikely to change given the range of other services they provide to the community.
