Oasis Services on the A165 has plenty of mileage left in it with energetic, third generation family owner Oliver Blake at the helm
Oliver Blake, 30, runs the family business which has traded from its current site for 38 years.(Image: Blake Bros (Engineers) Ltd)
The current cost of living squeeze has brought petrol prices into sharp focus again. And with many of us plumping for the convenience of the many supermarket forecourts, it can be all to easy not to shop around.
But price conscious motorists in East Yorkshire will be familiar with Oasis Services in Long Riston. Every week the independent, family-run pumps attract hundreds of drivers on the A165 – and have been doing so for nearly four decades, with the business stretching back to the 1960s before that.
The Blake family who run the forecourt and accompanying Spar shop have worked hard to promote their pumps as among the cheapest in the region. And much of that effort has been energetically led by third generation director Oliver Blake, the grandson of founder Len who launched the business in the 1940s as two petrol pumps and small workshop in the village.
The 30 year-old took over the reins of the business from father Malcolm when he was still in his 20s, having worked as an area sales manager for an electronic cigarette company and before that, stints in the services from about the age of 10. Showing his own entrepreneurial chops, Oliver has grown the business considerably with a series of refits, the creation of a larger carpark to cater for huge demand, superfast electric vehicle charging and the addition of a delivery service to compete with the likes of UberEats.
In petrol retailing, location is everything – and for that, Oliver has his father to thank. The former engineer and egg salesman was quick to act when plans for the Long Riston bypass became apparent in the mid-1980s.
Oliver explained: “Dad thought: ‘right, if I can buy the land the bypass is going through, then I can put a garage on there’. Because obviously they would have lost all their trade through the village because it was getting bypassed.
“Dad managed to buy the land that the garage is on now – and we own both sides of the road. He built a small shop with a couple of pumps and then over the years we’ve continuously added on.”
It was amid Covid lockdowns when fuel prices skyrocketed and Oliver had a brainwave. When the garage’s supplier dropped its prices by 10p, he decided to pass that on to customers – and market the move via social media.
“Throughout our history, we’d always been competitive but we’d never shouted about it. And I wondered why not. There’s a whole thing in our industry which is its taboo to talk about price, but I thought ‘no, if we’re giving value to the customer, we should talk about that.”
It was a canny move, and attracted customers in their droves. Other marketing efforts have included bringing Williams and McLaren Formula One cars to the forecourt – one of those instances raising thousands of pounds for the local playpark.
The Oasis business model is based on a set pence per litre margin, which means as long as that is achieved, any reduction in cost price can be passed on to the customer. Fuel comes from the Phillips 66’s Immingham refinery and with not much difference between cost prices across the market, Oliver and family can stay competitive.
With nearly eight decades of trading before him, Oliver’s sights are now on new, additional forecourts for the business which currently employs about 20 people. But with good quality pitches requiring millions of pounds of investment, the right opportunity must present itself.
For now, there is plenty to keep the current Jet-branded site busy with major supermarket Iceland due to bring its frozen products to the Blake family’s Spar shop. And Oliver has used that as the jumping off point for a flourishing delivery business which is beating bigger name competitors.
“It took about six months in building it up, having started in December,” explained Oliver. “That’s over 10% of the turnover for the shop now.”
Flash Delivery started with one delivery and has rapidly grown to support three, with a dedicated manager. The initial risk has turned out to be another savvy move with customers plumping for everything from booze to hot breakfast food with one off delivery fees or a monthly subscription service.
Oliver said: “The idea came to me one night. I live in Long Riston, around the back of the garage, only about 600 metres away. One Friday night I thought ‘I fancy a bottle of wine’ and so I went on to UberEats, which was the only thing that delivered out to us.
“I look on Sainsbury’s and what should have been a about an eight quid bottle of wine ended up costing me £18! I ordered it and it took and hour and half to get there. By that time I wasn’t even in the mood for it anymore.
“I sat drinking the wine and thought ‘there’s got to be a better way to do this: If I can control the last mile delivery and deliver in store pricing, I can do this’.”
With Malcom now semi-retired and in his late 60s, Oliver is very much in the driving seat. And with his own ambitions to have five children, he hopes one day the option will be open to another generation of Blake.
He added: “For me, it was a big step up in life to be able to have that opportunity. I know I’ve had an opportunity that not everybody gets, but I’ve absolutely launched it and skyrocketed it from there. I just want to keep it going and make the most of it.”
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