Filling station to remain in Henley as family business looks to the future

A WELL-KNOWN Ford dealership in south Warwickshire has stopped selling cars and is creating a convenience store on its site.

Jackson’s of Henley has already obtained planning permission from Stratford District Council to build a store at its location in Warwick Road, where it will continue operating a petrol filling station 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The firm’s owner, Tony Jackson, told the Herald that the car showroom would be demolished to make way for a car park on the site. The service garage would form the nucleus of the new store.

Jackson’s, along with Johnson’s Coaches, is one of the longest-established family businesses in Henley. There was already a petrol filling station on the site when Tony’s father – Douglas, now deceased – took over the premises in 1973. He became a Ford dealer in the late 1980s. (Tony’s mother, Janet, is now 91 and living in Claverdon.)

It’s believed that there’s been a petrol filling station at that spot since the turn of the last century.

Tony said that Ford announced five years ago that it would be discontinuing its franchise arrangements with smaller UK outlets, such as family businesses like Jackson’s, and so the firm was well prepared for what happened.

“We have been fortunate to have enjoyed exceptional support from our customers over the many years at Henley,” he said. “We could have continued with just service facilities, but the changes in motor vehicle technology suggest this requirement will reduce in the coming years.”

Tony added: “We were looking at how we could enhance the offer to the town.”

He said the aim now was to broaden the company’s operations by establishing a store on the site. “We now have planning permission from Stratford District Council for a convenience store,” he said.

The firm has also submitted a planning application to turn some of the site into a storage facility.