Shell is looking to actively recruit new retailers in a bid to grow its dealer network in 2008. Nick Adams, UK retail manager at Shell, said the oil giant was looking to get more “pro-active” in its approach. He said: “We’re very keen on expand our dealer business. “We’ve been growing it for the last two years, it was fairly stable but now it’s growing significantly. We are very keen to hear from dealers and we want to get extra dealers on board, the message is:

’come and talk to Shell’. We’re now getting pro-active, we’ve got a good quality offer and competitive deals.”

Adams says Shell is revamping its offer to provide a much better and more comprehensive food-to-go service. It has already introduced this change at 11 of its motorway sites – and most recently at its new Shell Folkstone forecourt. This is Shell’s first new build site in the UK in more than a decade and the site uses a new layout for the company – almost a third of the shop space is given over to food and drink in a separate area of the store.

It includes hot food from Bake ‘n’ Bite, freshly made baguettes and sandwiches and wraps as well as self-serve coffee and fresh orange juice.

Adams said: “Our newest layout puts a lot more emphasis on food-to-go, with new signage which is being rolled out to our motorway and dealer sites.”