Zest and Cafe Fortune open six 120kW chargers at Wirral retail park

Charging provider Zest has installed six 120kW electric vehicle charging spaces at Croft Retail Park on Wirral, outside Starbucks and Wendy's stores operated by franchise partner Cafe Fortune. The Bromborough site follows an earlier joint deployment at a Somercotes retail park near Alfreton, forming part of an ongoing rollout between the two companies. Both firms emphasised the strategy of placing rapid chargers at roadside food and drink destinations where drivers already stop.

Why it matters: The partnership model between a charging operator and a hospitality franchisee shows how retail and food service landlords are becoming active infrastructure hosts, offering CPOs predictable footfall and dwell time. Repeat deployments at branded franchise sites may signal a scalable template for rapid charging rollouts across similar retail estates.