SERVICE STATION retailer Applegreen, building contractor Pierse and Top Oil plan to invest €70 million in a public-private deal to develop a series of motorway service sites for the National Roads Authority (NRA).
The three are partners in the Superstop Consortium, which has won a contract from the NRA to build and operate the sites.
The group said at the weekend that the venture would create 300 full and part-time jobs at the sites.
The NRA has contracted Superstop to operate two service sites, one at each side of the motorway, at three locations, Castlebellingham, Co Louth, Enfield, Co Kildare, and Lusk, Co Dublin.
The consortium is investing €70 million in the project and is backed by the Bank of Ireland.
Applegreen is one of the biggest forecourt retailers in Ireland. Top Oil is a fuel importer with a €1 billion-a-year turnover and Pierse Contracting is a high-profile building and civil engineering firm.
The sites are nearly completed and the first, at Lusk, should open in the autumn, followed shortly after by the other two.
The group has begun recruiting the 300 full- and part-time staff.
The sites will consist of petrol stations, shops, restaurants, coffee shops and bathrooms and showers.
Joe Barrett, Applegreen’s director of operations, said yesterday that the company had invested heavily across the Irish economy, and added that the €70 million committed to the motorway service sites was the latest example.
