After 20 years of Texaco branding, regular A40 users seeking fuel and caffeine on the road to the Forest of Dean may have already spotted a smart new look – and name – for Huntley Services.

In addition to the replacement of Texaco branding for Valero, a bold £1m investment for a bigger retail area - now totalling more than 2,700 sq ft - as well as brand-new facilities, has been made by owner Clive Gardner to raise the site's game as both a prime commuter pitstop and community hub.

Clive Gardner, chairman of Gardner Garages Ltd, whose HQ is at Cheltenham's famous A40 roundabout site Landsdown Texaco services, has operated Huntley Services since 1994.

Now flanked by his daughter and managing director, Emma Gardner, and son Ashton, who is operations director. Clive has also built up a solid empire of fuel stations and convenience stores elsewhere, including a standalone shop on Cheltenham's Promenade, fuel stations both on Gloucester's Westgate Bridge and near Charlton Kings, and sites in Wiltshire, at Trowbridge and Salisbury, the latter marking the company's biggest operation.

In all, the company employs more than 100 people with a turnover of £45m.

In an exclusive interview, Clive Gardner, chairman of Gardner Garages said: "Over the years, we have improved the shop and extended behind the scenes, but to take this forward for the next 20 years, we have been looking to future-proof the Huntley site - and that has meant making an investment of over £1m.

"It's a mind-blowing sum and people might think 'it's just a shop', but the work includes electric car chargers which will be ready soon behind the garage, a new covered jetwash bay, new air and water machines, resurfacing, changes to the even up all the levels and new drainage throughout the site. A laundry facility is also under construction at the rear of the station."

To meet environmental expectations and regulations, new interceptor tanks have also been installed which work to ensure any drain-off from fuel spillage and jetwash is isolated. New tanks also lie under the forecourt, while high-octane unleaded fuel has been added to the pump options. The latest remote monitoring tech operates on all of the station's tanks to ensure levels, while any leak detection can be acted upon swiftly.

Clive said: "We find high-octane fuel is more and more in demand for both vintage and classic cars now, as well as high-performance cars. Overall, the forecourt resurfacing and tarmacking alone came to £130,000 as an investment element of the project."

Inside the expanded Budgens store, key retail features include a new off-licence 'cave' area offering all beer and wine chilled at five degrees, five freezers offering ready-cooked food and a hosting platform for Stone Willy's kitchen offering fresh in-house prepared wraps and pizzas.

Clive added: "We have this food offer at Westgate and Salisbury and the proven popularity made this a natural choice for popular quality controlled food."

Refrigeration and air conditioning came to £140,000 as part of the store upgrade, while a new electronic shelf labelling system for the 3,000+ products sold, banishing paper ticketing, cost just under £20,000. Two Costa coffee machines also appear, while iced coffees and drinks are now offered.

Alongside the work, staffing has already been increased extra sales and Clive saidl new opportunities are also being created to add to the team of 12.

But what of the Valero branding, might it puzzle some motorists? 

Clive explained: "We do have people asking who they are! It's a change that relates to global branding moves. US oil firm Texaco is owned by Chevron, which sold the imaging rights of Texaco to Valero. Those rights expire soon, so Texaco stations across the UK will soon see this signage as standard. Few of us realise that Valero, incidentally, is the name behind the Pembroke Oil Refinery at Milford Haven."