Sales:£646.0m (+47%) 

Pre-tax profits:£15m (+76%)

Stores:164 (46%)

Euro Garages has stormed up the rankings again by combining an acquisitive strategy with fresh thinking and stellar execution. Owned by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa, the forecourt operator started trading in 2001. It now has 164 stores, up 40% from last year, and recruited a further 603 staff in the process, up 44%. Based predominantly in the North, the team has done it the simple way: offering drivers very good reasons to pull over.

Filling forecourts with big brand franchises like Starbucks, Greggs and Subway, and focusing on offering customers a well thought out convenience offer, Euro Garages is thriving. Sales are up by 47%, while pre-tax profits rose 76%. Pre-tax margins are 2.3%. However, Euro has not had it all its own way. Its “single biggest challenge” has been securing planning to develop locations, meaning investment has been inhibited by “local authorities and associated bureaucracy”.

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