At the start of May, The Services King visited Highway Stops Astwick Service Station on the Bedfordshire/Hertfordshire border to take a look at the recent investments on site.
Situated on the northbound side of the A1 Great North Road near Baldock, this BP filling station opened in 1980 following the demolition of the former New Inn pub, which had stood derelict on the Great North Road since 1870. The filling station was accompanied by a Little Chef restaurant, which traded next to the forecourt until 2004, when it was left empty with furnishings still inside for a number of years until BP redeveloped the site in 2009.
Following the redevelopment, the forecourt gained a Wild Bean Cafe food to go offer. The site was soon sold to Highway Stops in 2014 who added a Nisa Local store. The Wild Bean Cafe offer closed during the takeover and was late replaced by a Subway franchise in 2015. Further works to improve facilities on site were carried out in Summer 2020, with a switch of shop brand from Nisa Local to Londis as well as the introduction of a new HGV parking area and a extension to the shop building to add a Costa Drive Thru franchise. This also introduced a new car parking area too to accommodate the additional customers.
My visit to Astwick on 1 May was to take a look at even more improvements to the site. These took place in the first quarter of 2026, with a brand new eight-bay EV charging hub added to the back of the forecourt. The new charging hub is branded under Highway Stops own ‘Stop & Supercharge’ brand, with the chargers being supplied by Finnish based Kempower. Two brand new WashTec jet wash bays have also been added to the car park under Highway Stops ‘Stop & Superwash’ brand alongside a Wash.ME laundry machine.
During my visit, I met with Highway Stops Operations Director Sellarajah Gunalan as well as Commission Operator Linda who have both been impressed by the quick uptake of the new facilities.
Highway Stops Astwick Service Station
Location – BP Astwick Service Station, A1 Great North Road, Stofold, Hitchin SG5 4BL
Opening Hours – 24/7
Shop Brand & Facilities – Londis store, Subway franchise, two Costa Express machines, Country Choice hot food, Chicago Town Pizza hot food, iSqueeze fresh orange juice machine, Rollover hot food, eight Stop & Supercharge EV chargers, two WashTec jet wash bays, Wash.ME laundry machine
Number of pumps & fuel grades – 8 pump islands with all four grades of fuel: unleaded, diesel, BP Ultimate Unleaded and BP Ultimate Diesel. 4 dedicated HGV fuelling lanes with diesel and AdBlue pumps.
