Fuel retailer bp has reopened four UK retail sites following major upgrades, marking the launch of a test-and-learn programme.

The refurbished locations – Pinkham Way in Barnet, Merrow in Guildford, Budbrooke South near Warwick and Poppleton near York – each showcase bp’s latest thinking on convenience, store design and food missions.

Together, they form a live trial of two new retail formats, with a third multi-mission concept planned for next year and a potential rollout to up to 20 additional sites in 2026.

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Across all four locations, bp has introduced modernised layouts, enhanced Wild Bean Cafe offers and new self-checkout technology that allows customers to pay for food and fuel in a single transaction. The aim is to reduce queues and deliver a faster, more seamless experience for time-pressed customers.

Jo Hayward, bp vice president mobility & convenience UK retail, said the sites demonstrate how customer insight is shaping bp’s retail strategy.

“These sites mark the next step in evolving bp’s convenience offer. We’ve listened to what local customers want and redesigned our stores around those insights, whilst maintaining something that is scalable and replicable,” she said.

The trial reflects how different customer groups use forecourts today, from quick top-up shopping in urban areas to fresh, high-quality grab-and-go at more transient roadside sites. All four locations also offer EV charging, with significant upgrades at Pinkham Way and Merrow to meet rising demand for fast and reliable charging.

Pinkham Way, located just off London’s North Circular Road, features self-checkouts, a refreshed Wild Bean Cafe with barista-made coffee, machine coffee, freshly prepared ciabattas and smoothies, and a refined M&S Food range tailored to immediate consumption, including smaller “picky bits” such as mini sausage rolls, said the retailer.

The site also includes a bp pulse EV charging hub with 300kW chargers, first introduced last year.

The Merrow site is the first bp store in the UK to feature an in-store M&S bakery, offering fresh bread and pastries baked throughout the day. The store also carries a broader chilled, ambient and frozen range to support dinner-for-later missions, alongside a dedicated gifting section including flowers, chocolates, cards, wrapping paper and an extended wine and fizz offer. Merrow has also increased its number of EV charging bays to reduce waiting times.

Budbrooke South is targeted squarely at on-the-go customers, while Poppleton, focuses on top-up shopping for evening meals. Together, the four sites allow bp to test how tailored ranges and layouts perform against different customer missions.

The current trial is evaluating two core formats: the top-up shop model at Merrow and Poppleton, focused on short-cycle grocery restocks and an expanded premium food offer, and the on-the-go format at Pinkham Way and Budbrooke South, centred on quick, high-quality food-for-now missions supported by an enhanced Wild Bean Cafe.

A third multi-mission format, combining food-for-now and food-for-later missions, is due to launch next year. If the concepts perform as expected, bp plans to extend the new formats to up to 20 additional UK locations in 2026, signalling a more insight-driven, segmented approach to forecourt retail in the grocery and convenience space.