Westmorland, operator of Tebay Services, has begun construction on a £65 million motorway services scheme on the M56 in Cheshire, an 80-20 partnership with the Tatton Estate that shows a family-run operator committing multi-firm design and delivery resources to expand beyond its established Cumbria and Gloucestershire heartlands, a model architects and contractors bidding for future service-area work will note closely. The £65 million project cost was disclosed; consideration terms of the landowner partnership were not.

Westmorland is a Cumbria-headquartered family business founded in 1972 by the Dunning family, operating Tebay, Gloucester and Cairn Lodge motorway services alongside Junction 38 and the Westmorland Hotel.

The Tatton Estate is a Cheshire-based private landed estate managing land across Rostherne, Ashley and Knutsford, distinct from the National Trust-owned Tatton Park.

The scheme, sited between junctions 7 and 8 near Millington and Rostherne, is designed by Howells, with project management by Mott MacDonald, groundwork by Yates Building and Civil Engineering, and construction by Eric Wright Group.

Howells acted as architect, Mott MacDonald as project manager, Yates Building and Civil Engineering carried out groundworks, and Eric Wright Group is delivering the main construction.

The structural driver is a wave of capital investment reshaping UK motorway services, with rivals Moto and Welcome Break committing £150 million and £200 million respectively to ultra-rapid EV charging upgrades by 2026-27, pressuring smaller family operators to expand footprint rather than stand still. Government has separately earmarked £190 million under a strategic charging infrastructure scheme to reinforce electricity capacity at motorway service areas.

For Westmorland, the timing matters because Tatton Services marks its first new site since Cairn Lodge in 2014, extending a distinctive farmshop model into a market increasingly dominated by national chains investing in charging infrastructure at scale.

For the Tatton Estate, the partnership fits a broader pattern of UK private landed estates commercialising underused land through operator partnerships rather than outright disposals, preserving long-term ownership while accessing specialist retail and hospitality delivery expertise.

The wider implication for the sector is that motorway services development is consolidating around fewer, better-capitalised platforms, making landowner-operator partnerships like this one an increasingly important route for independent and family-run brands to secure new sites.

Source: Business Crack / FleetNews / gov.uk