GRANDES ROCQUES GARAGE has adopted the popular pub game, open the box. Proprietor Brian Le Page has installed a large metal box in his garage into which customers can put their name for a chance to win up to £1,000.

Although his customer base had not dropped, people were buying less petrol.

‘It’s a case of maintaining your sales. People are buying less petrol because they are buying more-efficient cars. For example, one of my customers had a 10-year-old car and six months ago, he bought a new one. His account has dropped from £65 to £35.’

Mr Le Page said that he had a similar problem with servicing vehicles.

‘Cars still need servicing but the mileage between is longer.’

Sunday petrol sales have also affected his business.

‘Our Saturday sales have dropped off, but some days in the week are busier than they used to be.

‘Our overall sales have decreased slightly with Sunday opening and that’s another reason for this promotion.’

Because the game is not classed as gambling and is free, Mr Le Page does not have to have special permission to run it. Customers can put their name into the box each time they spend more than £10 on fuel. At the end of the month, one is drawn out and that person gets £10 of free petrol.

‘The winner also gets to pull out a key and, if it opens a box containing £100, they get the cash. If not, next month there are nine keys and another £100 is added to the box and so on.’

He said that it was too early to say whether he had attracted new long-term customers, but his staff had seen quite a few new faces at the garage who had said they were there because of the draw. This is not the first time it has run a scheme to attract new custom.

‘We did a promotion earlier in the year with a £1 voucher and that brought our sales back.’