The Brown family relaunch Oversley Mill Service Station

The start of August saw my travels head to the West Midlands and Warwickshire for another super busy week of site visits. To finish the week, I visited the recently relaunched Oversley Mill Service Station on the A46 near Alcester.

Oversley Mill Service Station is conveniently located at the A46/A435 Oversley Mill Roundabout to the south of Alcester and caters for both transient passing traffic as well as a pool of locals from the surrounding villages. The site is also located a stones throw away from Ragley Hall, taking advantage of any events which are held there.

The site was built in 1990 when local garage owner Andrew Brown acquired land alongside the proposed new A422/A435 Alcester Bypass. The bypass opened on 16 October 1990, with Andrew opening a new Shell filling station at the new Oversley Mill Roundabout shortly after this. He then leased the remaining land to Trusthouse Forte, who opened a Little Chef restaurant and Travelodge hotel in 1995, whilst the fuel supplier was also switched to bp around this time.

In August 2024, The Brown family undertook their biggest project to date at Oversley Mill with the reconstruction of the existing forecourt. Whilst the forecourt’s iconic pointed roof canopy was removed during the works, the site had outgrown itself and was in much need over a modern overhaul. The project wasn’t without its issues though, with many delays caused by poor weather, availability of materials and a labour shortage within the construction industry.

The relaunched site opened its doors on 12 June 2025 and features a bp forecourt with 10 pump islands, 2 dedicated HGV refuelling lanes and a significantly larger shop building branded as ‘Browns Food Stores’. Browns Food Stores is predominantly supplied by Co-op Wholesale but the Brown family also try to introduce local suppliers into their ranges where possible too. A new food to go concession has been added inside the shop to and is branded ‘Brown’s Food Kitchen’, supplied by Country Choice, with Lawrance’s Quality Bakers from nearby Evesham providing many of the bread products.