Maxol Ballycoolin, Dublin, Ireland
Maxol Ballycoolin, situated approximately 30 minutes northwest of Dublin city centre, offers a range of convenience food solutions catering to all key dayparts. Given Ballycoolin is a high transient location, a large Maxol Deli has been introduced, featuring an extensive breakfast and lunch menu.
Company and Brand Overview
Maxol is Ireland’s largest family-owned convenience forecourt retailer on the island of Ireland, with a network of 252 branded service stations, 117 of which are company owned.
Established in 1920, Maxol has been an integral part of Ireland’s communities and the country’s retailing landscape for over a century.
Maxol offers a wide range of products and services across five core businesses: Retail Convenience, Retail Fuels, Wholesale Fuels, Fuel Cards and Lubricants.
The business makes a significant economic contribution to the communities in which it operates. Over the last decade, Maxol has invested over €225m in expanding and upgrading its service station network, with a major capital programme which included the acquisition of 23 freehold properties and the large-scale development of 25 others, together with around 50 other smaller site projects.
With Group turnover rising by 33% in 2022, more than half of Maxol’s income now comes from non-fuel sales in line with the repositioning of the company as a leading convenience retailer, as fuel becomes a smaller part of sales and income.
A flagship site, Maxol Ballycoolin is central to the repositioning of the business as the go-to destination for convenience and fresh food. With a combination of global brands such as Burger King and Insomnia, Maxol proprietary brands ROSA Coffee and Maxol Deli, as well as a large shop offer, we believe Maxol Ballycoolin represents the best of roadside foodvenience.
About Aramark – Licensee and Operator of Maxol Newbridge
Aramark is a leading integrated service and solutions provider within Northern Europe.
The company supports and provides solutions that enrich and nourish lives every day supporting clients, partners and customers in the food, facilities management, property, energy services and retail sectors, employing over 16,000 people across more than 1,300 locations.
Aramark has an outstanding track record at Maxol service stations with several accolades including winner of ‘Retailer of the Year’ for Maxol Ballycoolin in 2022 and the ‘European Best of the Best’ for Maxol Newbridge in 2021 at the NACS Convenience Summit Europe.
Despite its global footprint, Aramark operates its businesses locally, taking a hands-on approach to ensuring it acts with social responsibility, focusing on initiatives that support its diverse workforce.
Aramark takes customer service very seriously, providing team training to ensure our customers are consistently welcomed with a smile. They work with people who want to be part of the Maxol brand and what our brand represents.
“Aramark are world-class at delivering an outstanding customer experience.”, Brian Donaldson, Maxol Group CEO
Store Photos
Store and Offer Overview
Maxol Ballycoolin has been constructed and fitted out using cutting edge technology and offers the latest in forecourt design. Our primary goal is to ensure that every customer receives fresh, high-quality food delivered with a fast and friendly approach.
We have convenience food solutions to cover key dayparts.
Breakfast is a key customer mission, and we deliver on this need through:
- Maxol’s proprietary bean to cup coffee offer, ROSA Coffee, which is a morning essential for many customers.
- Bakery Pastries: Freshly baked croissants, pastries and scones.
- Breakfast Sandwiches: Made-to-order sandwiches from the Maxol Deli, featuring quality ingredients like bacon, eggs, and sausage, all sourced from Ireland.
- Our Grab ‘n Go fridge is packed with yoghurts, smoothies and protein shakes and merchandised close to fruit, for our more health-conscious customers.
We have a variety of lunch options to choose from at Ballycoolin:
- Burger King: Enjoy classic fast-food products like the Whopper, Chicken Royale, and a range of sides and drinks.
- Maxol Deli: Offers freshly made sandwiches, wraps, salads, and hot meals. You can customise your order with a variety of ingredients.
- Maxol pre-pack sandwiches are ideal for customers who want to grab and go. Our meal deal combines a Maxol sandwich sourced in Ireland, with crisps and Maxol water, offering great value to our time poor customers.
- Insomnia: Known for its coffee, but also offers a range of sandwiches and treats. Here you can sit in our indoor or outdoor seating area and relax while you eat.
- ROSA Coffee is a great choice for customers looking for a post-lunch pick-me-up. Our ROSA Coffee link deal enables customers to add a sweet treat to their coffee at a discounted price, ensuring we offer value across our key categories. Our loyalty app members get every 6th coffee free.
- Bakery: Enjoy freshly baked goods such as rolls, baguettes, pastries, and the new La Donuterie range from Aryzta, proudly produced in Ireland.
For dinner at Maxol Ballycoolin, you have delicious options:
- Burger King: Enjoy a variety of burgers, including the Whopper, Chicken Royale, and other premium meals. Plus, you can take advantage of the convenient drive-thru service.
- Maxol Deli: Offers freshly customised sandwiches, wraps, salads, hot meals, and our popular chicken fillet rolls – an Irish favourite that keeps our customers returning!
Off-licence: The off-licence section offers a variety of alcoholic beverages, which are particularly popular in the evenings. It’s a great place to pick up a bottle of wine or other drinks to complement your meal.
Peak Times: Maxol Ballycoollin is consistently busy, however our peaks times are during the morning rush hour (7-9 AM) for breakfast, lunchtime (12-2 PM), and evening rush hours (5-7 PM) for dinner.
Quiet Times: Mid-morning (10-11 AM) and mid-afternoon (3-4 PM) are usually our quieter times and our staff use this time to ensure the shop standards are maintained.
Layout and Retail Environment
Our Retail area is 135m2 (1453sq ft) and has been revamped in the last two years to ensure we continue to expand our offer to meet the needs of our customers.
As Ballycoolin is a high transient location, we introduced a large Maxol Deli, which has an expansive breakfast and lunch menu.
As you enter the site, we have placed our bakery table and Grab ‘n Go fridge towards the door, making them accessible to our time poor customers.
We have grocery aisles that enable shoppers to do a convenience top up shop and pick up ingredients to prepare a meal that evening. This range includes up and coming Irish brands, selected as part of our Homegrown at Maxol initiative.
Our golden mile has an extensive offering, covering a range of impulse products from crisps and chocolate, to protein shakes and soft drinks.
ROSA Coffee is a key feature in Ballycoolin and has recently been revamped with a more vibrant new look and feel, as well as new machines to deliver a great tasting bean to cup coffee. We extended our range to include plant-based alternative to milk to meet growing customer trends.
Ballycoolin is a large, spacious site and we have maximised the space by creating multiple seating zones, with a large ground floor area that holds 71 covers, a relaxed first floor seating area with 22 seats, as well as a covered outdoor seating area. All zones were designed to deliver comfort, with improved chairs and lighting, as well as plug sockets and free WiFi. This “3rd space” style approach, taps into the growing post-Covid trend of remote working.
We have increased our in-store digital capabilities and now have digital Deli and ROSA Coffee screens to drive traffic to those categories and for better shopper navigation.
Burger King’s digital kiosks enable speedy ordering, maximising convenience.
Our Loyalty app is easy to use and drives repeat business by offering value which is key in today’s economic climate. It also offers FuelPay, a first in Ireland, which allows people to pay for fuel on the app. Perfect for commuters who are in a hurry!
The recent introduction of contactless payment for our carwash has proved to be a huge success, representing 25% of wash sales.
Customer Experience
Maxol Ballycoolin’s Licensee Aramark provides ongoing training to staff through their WEST training plan. West is a simple acronym used to ensure all our customers get consistent world-class customer service.
- Welcome and say hello
- Engage with eye contact and a friendly question
- Service with a smile and helpful suggestion
- Thank and show you care
Maxol Ballycoolin is in our top 10 stores for Maxol Loyalty app transactions. Our app ensures our customers receive the best value through exclusive loyalty member only promotions including receiving every 6th ROSA Coffee free and every 5th car wash free.
Ballycoolin performs well consistently in our Maxol Excellence programme, which audits our stores on cleanliness, range and customer service.
Ballycoolin won the 2022 NACS Retailer of the Year award and we have continued to invest and develop the site and our offer, to ensure our customers continue to experience the best in retail.
Operational Excellence
Continued investment in our infrastructure, food and grocery offering and of course our people, is what continues to set Maxol Ballycoolin apart from our competitors.
Customer Service: Our positioning statement is to be “At the Heart of It” and customer service is a key component of this. Each customers receives a warm welcome and every day we work hard to ensure we offer excellence in customer service.
Instore Standards: We pride ourselves on flawless standards from a clean, brightly lit forecourt, to clean aisles that are easy to shop. Our Maxol Deli is audited regularly as part of our standards programme, ensuring we maintain a top-quality food option.
Product Quality: We never concede on product quality and strive to deliver the best range across our grocery, coffee and food services.
Competitive on pricing: We conduct regular competitor checks to ensure we are fairly priced in the market, which is key to driving repeat custom.
Maintaining all of the above: Through staff training, internal and external audits and incentivised programmes for our staff.
Training and Culture
Invest in our staff: All our on-site management teams are given the opportunity to go on retail training degree courses.
Internal training: Every staff member attends an induction programme which highlights our company values, sets the culture and outlines what good looks like.
Staff KPI’s and Reviews: Quarterly reviews and 1-1’s with staff ensure an open and transparent line of communication. This provides clarity to each staff member on their roles and responsibilities.
Technology
All our fuel volumes and margin targets are set and monitored on A2i.
We are also trialling instore e-SELs to manage and monitor basket spend , introduce dynamic pricing strategies and assess product range and performance throughout each instore category.
We have seen significant uplift on carwash sales since the introduction of contactless payment at the wash.
New front of house initiatives span from our forecourt, into our shop.
Additional carparking spaces were created to enable to grow our footfall and this has seen customer numbers increase leading to additional sales.
Pay at pump and FuelPay contactless options serve our time-poor customers.
Contactless payment accounts for 25% of all carwash income. The introduction of contactless has also significantly contributed to a 35% increase in total YOY performance.
In-store, our evolved ROSA Coffee 2.0 concept, including our new Oat drinks offer, has seen an 18% increase in coffee sales YoY.
Back of house initiatives support our Licensee and retailers and free up time to ensure front of house standards are maintained.
Back-office integration with accounts software has seen huge improvements on administration time and accurate timely accounts reporting.
Overall Performance
We are seeing YTD* growth across all our key categories, highlighting the importance of continued investment to maximise customer satisfaction:
- Maxol Deli: + 5%
- ROSA Coffee: +18%
- Food Franchise (Burger King & Insomnia): +5%
- Shop**: +3%
- Fuel sales: +8%
- Carwash: +35%, with 25% of transactions going through our new contactless payment terminal
* Year to date (YTD) 2024 vs 2023
** Including off-licence / excluding tobacco/vapes
‘The Best Foodvenience Store in the World’ 2024