Welsh forecourt sold following 50 years of ownership to Ascona

Ideally situated on the A467 between the towns of Pontypool and Blackwood, Enterprise Autos features a Mace branded convenience store and a Shell branded forecourt, in addition to a small used car dealership and hand car wash on site. 

The forecourt had been owned and operated by the Griffiths family for over 50 years. Current directors, Rob and Marc Griffiths, with the assistance of other family members, took over the day to day operations of the forecourt from their father over 30 years ago. Rob and Marc were keen to take a step back from the business as Rob and his wife looked towards retirement.

Rob Griffiths comments, “We have worked hard to create a thriving, family run forecourt business with multiple income streams but felt that the time was right for us to step back and let another operator develop the site further. We are delighted that an expanding Welsh operator has bought the site and we wish them all the best with their future development plans. Dave Morris at Christie & Co helped us through the process, and we would like to thank him for his advice and assistance.”

The forecourt has been acquired by rapidly expanding independent operator, Ascona, who recently entered the Forecourt Trader ‘Top 50 Indies,’ listed as 25th. Ascona plans to continue to supply the fuel with Shell but will remodel and extend the convenience store. 

Duncan Morris, Property Director of Ascona comments, “Ascona are again delighted to announce a further addition to our growing network. Enterprise Autos is a site brought to market by Christie & Co which provided Ascona with a perfect addition to the Welsh sites in our portfolio. As a long established site, Enterprise Autos offers the full range of forecourt facilities serving commuters and the local community. Ascona are developing plans to update the site and in particular develop the shop to further extend the food-to-go and coffee offers. Again, our thanks go to Christie & Co for their assistance in making the deal happen.”

Dave Morris, Director at Christie & Co handled the sale and comments, “It was great to get this sale over the line. Ascona’s plans to develop the site further should help to drive customer footfall and we look forward to seeing the end result.

“The sale of Enterprise Autos demonstrates the continued demand for profitable forecourts across South Wales. Moreover, the market for freehold forecourts remains competitive, particularly where there is the potential to develop the site further.”