Dover MP Natalie Elphicke welcomed a £1.5m investment that is set to create at least 15 new jobs when she unveiled the revitalised Whitfield Service Station just outside the port on Wednesday.
Whitfield Service Station Ltd has transformed the site, which serves the busy A2 just outside Dover, adding a new Fireaway Pizza outlet and increasing the size of the Budgens supermarket as well as revamping the site’s busy BP petrol station.
The redevelopment is aimed at providing better facilities for local people as well as those heading for the port, while an extra five jobs at the Budgens store and ten new staff at Fireaway Pizza will boost local employment opportunities.
“This exciting development means more jobs, more services and more pizza,” Ms Elphicke joked at Wednesday’s formal opening of the Fireaway Pizza outlet.
Praising the vision of managing director Mr K Rajaseelan (universally known as Seelan), Ms Elphicke said he was “not just a businessman but a business leader”. She added: “I am confident that this development will be not just a business success but a community success as well.”
Seelan said the redevelopment represented “a huge amount of work on behalf of a number of people.”
Budgens supermarket
He added: “I am delighted that we are here today to unveil not just this new Fireaway Pizza outlet but a bigger and brighter Budgens store and a rebranded BP filling station.
“While the redevelopment of the service station is important to us as a business, I believe it will also provide a much-needed community asset and will be welcomed by local people.”
Critically, the new layout includes dedicated parking spaces for Budgens and Fireaway customers.
“We have created a more usable and better planned space – and there is more to come,” Seelan continued. “We aim to continue to revitalise this area with more new facilities for local people – so watch this space.”
With the filling station also undergoing a refit, BP Retail Territory Manager Richard Teuten commented: “BP is delighted to renew its partnership with Whitfield Service Station for another five years.
“Seelan has invested heavily in the facilities here over the years, making it a popular stop for the local community, as well as for traveling motorists. With this new expanded retail offering, I’m sure Whitfield Service Station will continue to grow from strength to strength.”
Premier League trophy
As an additional attraction at the opening event, the Premier League trophy was on display outside the extended Budgens store, which includes a new Country Choice ‘Good to Go’ food counter. The store has grown from 1,600 sq. ft to 2,000 sq. ft and now stocks a wider range of goods.
Whitfield Parish Councillor Keith Gowland with the Premier League Trophy
“We have taken it from a service station ‘essentials’ shop to a fully fledged supermarket that will benefit the local community,” commented Mr Rajaseelan.
The Fireaway outlet will be open from 11am to midnight on weekdays and until 2am the following morning on Fridays and Saturdays