A drive-thru coffee shop looks likely to become the latest addition to Inverness city centre – but who is being lined up to fill the space?
Motor Fuel Group (MFG) unveiled plans to add a store within the grounds of the Morrisons supermarket on Millburn Road earlier this year.
But the company is keeping its cards close to its chest when it comes to announcing who would take the reins if its planning application gets the nod from Highland Council.
Let’s take a look at the likely contenders.
Motor Fuel Group ‘partners’
MFG struck a huge deal with Morrisons in April 2024 when they acquired 337 of the supermarket’s petrol forecourts and another 400 associated sites for £2.5bn.
Since then, the company has been lodging planning applications all over the UK that look very similar to the one we’re seeing in Inverness.
Further east, there’s one planned in Inverurie.
The prospect of a new drive-thru might have coffee fans hoping that it will be something outside what we’ve already got in the Highland capital.
Tim Horton’s caused a stir in 2018 when it announced it was looking at a location in the Telford Retail Park.
But the plans never materialised and earlier this year the Canadian coffee giant announced it had formally withdrawn its plans.
It’s still possible that a more left-field candidate might enter the fray. But when you take a quick look at the moves MFG has made so far and the partners it lists on its website, a pair of candidates stand out.
That’s Costa and Starbucks.
There are already several in the city and both chains have a drive-thru too.
Who else is on Motor Fuel Group’s list?
There are plenty of other familiar names on the MFG partners page, but most of them don’t tick the right boxes for a coffee drive-thru.
McDonald’s, Subway and Londis are some of the other names.
One that could prove controversial given the chain’s reluctance to tackle the Highland market is Greggs.
MFG opened more Greggs than any other chain in 2023. They mainly been in service stations, including petrol stations in Elgin, but the bakery giant has opened a drive-thru in some locations across the UK.
Greggs made its first foray into Inverness when it opened in a Longman Road service station in 2022, but it has not been bold enough to go fully head-to-head with local favourites Harry Gow and Ashers yet.
MFG and Costa did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesman for Starbucks said the company does not comment on planning applications.
In its planning statement, MFG said its Inverness venture was masterminded to “redevelop underutilised areas” of the vast Morrisons car park.
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