A local family who have ran an Abergavenny petrol station for over 50 years have announced they will be selling up and retiring.
Ian Bailey and his family have been running Bailey’s Garage, located on the A40 Brecon Roadsince opening for business in 1971.
However, after their long years of dedicated service to the Abergavenny community, the family have now made the difficult decision to retire and sell the garage.
From Wednesday August 3, the garage will now be owned and operated by Ascona Retail.
The Bailey family also run Bailey’s DIY and wholesale store on Brecon Road in Abergavenny, which despite the sale of the garage will be remaining in the family ownership.
Bailey’s Garage owner Ian Bailey announced the news on Friday, posting a social media message on Abergavenny community Facebook page, Abergavenny Voice.
Ian wrote: “With over 50 years of trading as Baileys, we made the very hard decision to sell the business. From Wednesday August 3, Ascona retail will be the new owners of the garage on Brecon Road.”
The family-run garage recently made headlines across the country having opted to reduce their petrol prices, charging 169 pence per litre of unleaded – almost 20p cheaper than the national average and other local petrol stations in the area.
This comes at a time when many people have raised concerns about struggling financially due to rising fuel prices along with the cost-of-living crisis, with many motorists protesting over rising fuel prices.
Garage owner Ian Bailey went even further in dropping his fuel prices, reducing his price per litre to 167.9p.
Ian told the Chronicle that he had decided to reduce fuel prices to help support local customers who may be struggling financially and to repay the local community for their support towards his business.
Speaking of the family decision to retire, Ian added: “We have not been selling our fuel cheap to get rid of old stock, as we have been receiving 2 tankers a day. We cannot understand how the other service stations have not dropped in price.
“We would like to thank everyone, customers and friends we have made over the last 50 years, a big thank you for supporting the Bailey family.”
After posting the news on social media, the Bailey family were inundated with comments from members of the local community wishing them well and thanking them for their long years of service to Abergavenny.
One person wrote: “All the best for the future to you all. The extremely well-run garage is a credit to you and the staff, who are always helpful and polite. Just hope whoever takes over will do the same.”
Another customer wrote: “You always provided a wonderful service to our community for decades. Enjoy a relaxing life now, you deserve it!”