Motorway services also achieves top sustainability accreditation

Motorists have had their say and voted a Rotherham motorway service station the best in Britain.

The Welcome Break facility at junction 33 on the M1 - which opened in 2025 - came out on top in Transport Focus’s Motorway Services User Survey.

Welcome Break service station at junction 33 of the M1 | Transport Focus

placeholder image — Welcome Break service station at junction 33 of the M1 | Transport Focus

The independent transport watchdog’s survey asked 37,000 visitors at motorway services across Britain about toilets, accessibility, food and drink, facilities for HGV and lorry drivers and electric vehicle (EV) charging.

Rotherham (Welcome Break), Rugby (Moto), and Sawtry near Huntingdon (Moto) came out as the top three sites in this year’s survey.

One of the newest sites on the motorway network, the Rotherham service station features electric vehicle charging, a Changing Places toilet, a children’s play area, and an outdoor exercise area, alongside dedicated facilities for HGV drivers, including a gym.

The service station was Welcome Break’s first new motorway service area development in 20 years and was designed as a modern interpretation of a traditional Yorkshire village.

It is home to a wide range of brands for consumers, including Starbucks, Pret, Burger King, KFC, Chopstix, The Good Breakfast, Waitrose, and WHSmith.

It also offers ultra-rapid Applegreen Fast Charge electric vehicle chargers and Tesla Superchargers, dedicated facilities for HGV drivers, and fuel options.

Welcome Break’s investment created 230 new jobs.

Louise Collins, director at Transport Focus, said: “Motorway services have improved significantly over the years, and road users are seeing the benefit.

“A good stop can make a real difference to a journey, helping people get back on the road feeling better than when they arrived.

“Rotherham’s debut at the top of the table and the turnaround at Hartshead Moor Eastbound show what good services can offer.

“We’ve also seen real progress on accessibility.

“It shows what can be achieved when the industry recognises an issue and works together to tackle it.

“There is still more to do, including on car parking, wayfinding and facilities for HGV drivers, and our survey will help us track progress in these areas in the years ahead.”

The £55 million Rotherham motorway services area has also achieved LEED v4 Gold certification which is a credential recognising its sustainable building design and operation.

The main amenity building has achieved the certification and is the first motorway service area amenity building in the UK to achieve the Gold level, and the first in Europe to do so under the LEED v4 standard.

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is a globally recognised green-building certification programme developed by the US Green Building Council.

Welcome Break chief executive John Diviney said: “Achieving LEED v4 Gold certification for our Rotherham facility is a landmark moment for Welcome Break.

“It demonstrates the step change that we are making in how sustainability is incorporated into the design, delivery and operation of all our new developments.

“LEED Gold is a rigorous and independently recognised standard for sustainability.

“Rotherham’s success in achieving this key benchmark gives us a strong framework for understanding what good sustainable development looks like in practice.

“We are focused on sustainability because it is the right thing to do. We also know it matters to our customers and employees.”