Zak Mir talks to Charles Dickson, CEO of Roadside Real Estate

We spoke with Charles Dixon, CEO of Roadside Real Estate, to unpack the company's latest moves: a strategic disposal, operational hires and an explicit push into the energy forecourt/roadside retail sector. The conversation covered why the group is simplifying its balance sheet, how the team is being strengthened, and what investors should watch for next.

Important note: Nothing in this article is investment advice. The conversation covered company strategy and balance sheet items, and Charles and others may hold positions in the shares discussed. Always do your own research before making any investment decisions.

What just happened: disposals to simplify the business

Roadside continues to streamline its portfolio to concentrate on the roadside retail and operational opportunity. Two disposal-related items are central:

• In June the group announced a deal to sell the remainder of the Cambridge Sleep Sciences estate for approximately £48 million.
• More recently the company announced the proposed disposal of 100% of its Commercial Property business to Tarncourt Properties Limited for an agreed price of approximately £12 million, resulting in a net consideration receivable of about £4.7 million.

Charles explained the rationale plainly: these sales further simplify the equity story, increase cash on the balance sheet and free up resources to accelerate acquisitions in the roadside retail operational space.

“...putting more cash on balance sheet, and increasing our resources for acquisitions in the roadside retail operational space.”

Sharpening the management team: experience to execute

Execution is a major focus. Roadside has been beefing up its operational bench with senior retail and roadside experience:

• David Philpot has been appointed COO. He joins from running BP/M&S’s European roadside operations — a business of roughly 3,500 sites — and previously worked at Marks & Spencer running their franchise business.
• Steve Carson joined in May as non-exec chair. Steve brings about 30 years of retail experience including senior roles across Sainsbury’s, Argos, Holland & Barrett and SCS.

Charles described David’s arrival as a "big win" given his direct, relevant experience. As I put it during the interview: you could almost picture him wearing a Roadside Real Estate T‑shirt — the fit is that natural.

First acquisition and the operational plan

Roadside has already completed a first acquisition under the refocused strategy. The company purchased a former petrol filling station in Coventry. The plan is to reinstate the site, build a substantially larger retail shop on the forecourt and re-open next year.

Beyond that single deal, Charles was clear about the acquisition playbook: Roadside wants to buy both the property and the operating business. The target sub-sector is the energy forecourt/roadside retail market — a highly fragmented, overlooked category that can deliver attractive returns when consolidated and professionally operated.

Expect pace: Charles indicated the group is evaluating multiple businesses and anticipates acquiring three to four businesses over the next 12 months as Roadside scales its operational footprint.

Funding the roll-up: cash, bank facilities and measured leverage

Funding for the buy-and-operate strategy will be a mix of existing cash and bank facilities. Key points Charles shared:

• Roadside now has strong cash resources — over £50 million available.
• They also have access to banking facilities and expect lenders to be receptive; banks like the roadside sector because security is solid, delinquency is low and cash flows are predictable.
• That said, the company intends to use leverage sensibly. Charles emphasised a cautious approach: “We’re not looking to overlever ourselves.”

Valuation, ownership and what investors should think about

Charles is the company’s largest shareholder, controlling around 30% of Roadside directly and indirectly. He increased his position in May with what he described as one of the larger direct buys in the market this year.

He also offered a straightforward way to look at valuation: strip out cash from the market capitalisation to see the underlying operating valuation. From his perspective, when you take that cash off the market cap, Roadside still looks cheap and there is further upside to come.

• Recent share performance: last year the stock rose over 300%, and year-to-date it was nearly up 100% at the time of our conversation.
• Charles said he expects further share price growth over the coming months as the business executes its strategy.

“I control around 30% of the comp