Forecourt giant Applegreen has announced the opening of two new M&S Food stores at Northern Ireland branches.
One M&S Food at the Lisburn South Applegreen on the M1 opened last month, while another at its Templepatrick service area on the M2 opened this week.
Under an exclusive partnership with M&S Food, the new stores will stock more than 450 M&S products, including fresh fruit and salads, sandwiches, ready meals options for lunch and dinner, and fresh flowers.
Popular M&S Food favourites such as Percy Pig sweets, M&S cookies, and Colin the Caterpillar cakes will also be available.
Applegreen now has 21 M&S Food stores at locations across the island of Ireland, with plans to almost triple that number over time.
M&S mascot Percy Pig with a customer at the new M&S Food store at Lisburn South’s Applegreen filling station
Caroline Cherington, regional operations director for Applegreen, Northern Ireland, said: “This investment in our Northern Ireland service areas highlights our commitment to providing high-quality food and hospitality for those traveling in the region.
“We are delighted to introduce M&S Food at Applegreen to Northern Ireland and bring our customers the best experience and brands on the road.”
Eddie Murphy, country director for M&S in Ireland and Northern Ireland, added: “This partnership allows us to expand our reach and provide a convenient way for customers to pick up their M&S favourites on the go.
“We’re excited to become part of the Templepatrick community in time for Christmas, having opened in Lisburn Southbound in November.”
Applegreen, which employs 269 people across its NI operations, has three motorway service areas in Northern Ireland, as well sites at Ballymena and Hillsborough.
The business also partners with other brands such as Burger King, Subway, Chopstix and Greggs to provide food options at its sites in Northern Ireland.
Marks & Spencer opened its first outlet in Northern Ireland in 1967 and has 22 stores here. It already has a Simply Food outlet at a filling station next to Belfast International Airport.
And at Belfast’s new Grand Central Station, it operates an M&S Food in partnership with SSP Group.
Applegreen has about 200 locations in Ireland, while in the UK, its Welcome Break business operates 59 sites, including 35 motorway service areas, and 31 hotels.