SSP UK & Ireland

In the last few months, we celebrated the first birthday of several flagship units. We’re really proud of how these are delivering great experiences for our customers, and it’s in no small part down to our amazing colleagues! For example, they have:     🍷Poured over 33,000 glasses of wine to those celebrating their trips in style at The Vinery at Heathrow Airport 🥞Stacked up over 17,000 plates of pancakes at The Breakfast Club at St Pancras Station ☕Served over 236,000 coffees at Starbucks at Edinburgh Airport   🍳Given a true taste of London with over 10,000 Big City Breakfasts at Hithes at London City Airport        We’re well into our peak trading season, and owe a massive thank you to all of our colleagues across the UK&I who deliver for our clients and thousands of passengers every day, ensuring we are always the best part of the journey! 

Now pulling into York Station is… The Line & Whistle and West Cornwall Pasty Company ! Both units are ready to fuel up passengers with hot and cold drinks, food and snacks for every part of their journey. Stuart Buchanann, Chief Property and Business Development Officer at SSP UK & Ireland, said: “We’re excited to have opened the Line & Whistle and West Cornwall Pasty at York Station, a key travel hub in the North. Over the last six months, we have significantly transformed our offer for passengers, including upgrades to our own brand AMT Coffee and Upper Crust outlets, demonstrating our commitment to providing modern propositions that meet evolving customer needs.”   

Happy birthday to Café Local! Our travel-focused café and convenience concept has recently celebrated its second anniversary. Café Local was born from extensive customer research identifying demand to complement our own brand portfolio with a true one-stop-shop for rail passengers on the move. For example:  ▪️ Time is precious when travelling, so passengers need one place for hot and cold food, breakfast and lunch meal deals, alongside hot and cold drinks, snacks and crucial travel accessories to save those all-important seconds when catching a train   ▪️ With increasing numbers of digital train tickets, a fully charged phone is essential, so we have added complimentary charging points to our seating areas   ▪️ Grabbing a quality hot drink and a tasty pastry is important for many morning commuters, so we serve only the best Fairtrade Coffee, freshly made by our trained baristas, and also offer a loyalty card Two years on, we operate over 30 Café Local stores across the UK rail network, including this flagship outlet at Peterborough Station… and we’re not done yet, with more openings to come over the next few months!  

The latest addition to our offer at Bristol Airport has landed! Our second BURGER KING UK restaurant at the airport is now open landside before security, giving those dropping off passengers or using the newly-opened Public Transport Interchange an opportunity to experience the brand’s famous flame-grilled flavours.    Ready to welcome passengers during the busy summer holiday period, the restaurant features digital ordering kiosks as part of our commitment to deliver great guest experiences through a digital-first proposition.

Our latest AMT Coffee is now open at Woolwich Arsenal Station! Not only does it look great, the unit will also serve up our delicious unique blend of Fairtrade coffee, freshly baked pastries, sandwiches, toasties and more to offer something for every passenger whatever part of the journey they are on. It’s been an exciting year for the brand as it continues its development and strong growth trajectory - this is our third new AMT unit in 2025, with a further three outlets receiving upgrades within the past 12 months. With outlets at rail stations across the country and further expansions planned, we’re looking forward to sharing more news on the brand later this year and beyond. 

Over the past few months, we’ve opened several new West Cornwall Pasty Company outlets at stations across the UK as we continue to deliver popular choices for passengers on the move. London King’s Cross and Birmingham New Street stations are our newest outlets with our partner Network Rail, and further openings and refurbs are expected to arrive before the end of the year.     With great customer feedback at our existing units and a lot of excitement around opening, we’re sure these new outlets will be a hit with passengers across the rail network and be the best part of the journey!

We have made our first changes to Southampton International Airport Limited food and beverage offer by introducing a brand new Starbucks unit inside the terminal departure lounge. The unit arrives at the perfect time, ready to fuel up passengers as they head on their summer holidays. Stuart Buchanan, Chief Property and Business Development Officer for SSP UK & Ireland, said: “Earlier this year, we committed to improving passenger experiences at Southampton Airport with better value, quality and variety of food and drink options. This Starbucks opening demonstrates we’re already delivering on that promise and our mission to be the best part of the journey. There’s more to come, with investment planned for the two existing landside and airside bars and we’re looking forward to these landing in the future.”   

It’s an exciting time for SSP at Manchester Airport as we’ve just opened two units in the brand new Terminal Two building! Stuart Buchanan, Chief Property and Business Development Officer at SSP UK & Ireland, said: “We’re excited to be opening our Upper Crust and Starbucks units within the new Terminal Two, building our relationship with Manchester Airport having worked with them for over two decades. The new terminal will transform passenger experiences and we are confident that a visit to our outlets before take-off will quickly become the best part of the journey.” 

Now pulling into Birmingham New Street Station is… Popeyes Louisiana Chicken UK!   We’re excited to have opened our second restaurant together at the brand’s first UK rail location outside of London with our partner, Network Rail. The restaurant looks bold, fresh and generated a lot of attention on opening day with Chicken Sandwiches and T-Shirts for those first in the queue. We’re confident it will quickly become the best part of the journey for passengers and locals!

We’re excited to have opened our latest Marks and Spencer Food store at Bristol Airport. It is located inside the new Public Transport Interchange as the airport embarks on a new era of travel to, from and within Bristol and the South West. Stuart Buchanan, Chief Property and Business Development Officer for SSP UK & Ireland, said: “The new store looks fantastic, and our team have done a great job alongside our partners M&S and Bristol Airport to deliver a modern and bright customer proposition. I’m confident the powerful combination of M&S’s premium food range and our travel retail expertise will ensure the store quickly becomes the best part of the journey for customers living in and visiting the city.”