Project launch
Eric Wright commences £65m M56 motorway services scheme
By Staff Writer | 12 August 2026
Groundworks have started on Tatton Services between junctions 7 and 8 of the M56 in Cheshire, a £65m development by Westmorland and the Tatton Estate due to open in spring 2028.
Work has started on a £65m motorway services development between junctions 7 and 8 of the M56, near Millington and Rostherne in Cheshire. The scheme is a partnership between Westmorland, the family-run operator behind Tebay and Gloucester Services, and the Tatton Estate.
Designed by Howells, the development is due to open in spring 2028 and is expected to create more than 400 jobs.
Eric Wright Group will deliver the main construction contract once Yates Building and Civil Engineering completes the groundworks package for the client.
A different operating model
Rather than relying on national fast-food brands, the services will focus on locally sourced food, with Westmorland committing to work with at least 70 producers within 30 miles of the site. Existing farm buildings will be retained and incorporated into the scheme, with the main building centred on a kitchen, kitchen garden and farm shop.
The development has been designed to operate without fossil fuels other than at the vehicle forecourt. It will open with 40 electric vehicle charging bays, and has been planned so that charging capacity can be expanded as demand grows.
The contractual shape of the start
The groundworks package sits with a separate contractor engaged directly by the client, with the main construction contract following. Splitting enabling works from the main contract is common where the client wants an early start, but it creates a handover interface: the main contractor inherits ground conditions and levels set by someone else's package.
Where that interface is not carefully drafted, it becomes the first place a delay claim lands. The practical protection is a clear condition survey at handover and unambiguous acceptance criteria for the completed groundworks, agreed before the main contractor takes possession rather than after a dispute has started.
A start on site also fixes the programme against which any later delay falls to be measured, which is why the date matters commercially as well as editorially.
The operating concept
Westmorland's model at Tebay and Gloucester Services is built on local sourcing rather than national catering brands, and the commitment here is to work with at least 70 producers within 30 miles of the site. Existing farm buildings will be retained and incorporated, with the main building centred on a kitchen, kitchen garden and farm shop.
The scheme is designed to operate without fossil fuels other than at the vehicle forecourt, opening with 40 electric vehicle charging bays and planned so that charging capacity can be expanded as demand grows. Designing for expansion at the outset is a services and civils decision, taken years before the additional bays are installed.
More than 400 jobs are expected on opening in spring 2028. Howells is the architect. For a scheme with a bespoke operating model, the fit-out and kitchen packages carry more design development than a standard roadside offer, and they are ordinarily let later once the operator's requirements are fixed.