BP and M&S Food Extend U.K. Forecourt Tie-Up

The companies have renewed their strategic agreement in Great Britain until at least 2030.

January 17, 2022

BP M&S Shopper with bags

LONDON—bp and Marks and Spencer PLC are continuing until 2030 their 16-year collaboration which puts M&S sandwiches, meals and everyday staples in nearly 300 of the energy company’s convenience stores across Great Britain.

Customers can choose from a wide range of curated M&S Food products with some bp stores stocking up to 1,300 different M&S Food products.

“We first put M&S Food stores into our retail sites back in 2005,” Bernard Looney, bp CEO, said on LinkedIn in announcing the news last week. “Now we’ve got nearly 300 of them. That says a lot!” he shared.

During the past 16 years, bp customers have bought 13 million bunches of flowers, 25 million bottles of wine and 14 million packets of Percy pigs. And just in the past three years, customers have bought 28 million bottles of milk and 22 million loaves of bread, bp said.

“While most people know us for our petrol—and increasingly EV charging—the surprising bit is that more than half of our U.K. customers don’t actually buy fuel,” Looney noted. “Instead, they’re visiting for essentials—for example our U.K. stores sell on average nearly 10 million bottles of milk and 7 million loaves of bread per year. All thanks to awesome offers like M&S.”

Stuart Machin, M&S chief operating officer and M&S Food managing director said, “This extended commitment will enable us to work together to invest in the look and feel of the stores, building on the M&S renewal programme and our supply chain to maximize availability and reduce food waste.”

During the lockdowns of 2020, bp noted that customers were buying 20% more at bp forecourt stores, and this trend continues as the forecourt becomes an integral part of the community.

Based on Euromonitor analysis, in 45 of the leading economies of the world, convenience is expected to nearly double by 2030, growing at more than 5% a year, bp said.

The convenience sector continues to grow, fueled by changing consumer demands—shopping little and more often and topping up at convenience stores and the growing trend for delivered food.

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