Sept Open Day

Firstly, a huge thank you to Hieth George who captured the cracking aerial shot of our September Open Day. As you can see, not letting the rain wash away the spirit of Re:Fuel, over 300 cars and nearly 500 petrolheads and enthusiasts proved on Sunday that their passion for all things on wheels can easily shine through a miserable, wet, cold Devon weekend.

Needless to say, the second ever Re:Fuel Open Day was a huge success, and we’re so grateful for all the kind words and feedback since. Thank you so much to everyone who came along, despite the dodgy weather! We loved seeing and meeting every single one of you.

Photo NTM Photography

The calibre and variety of four-wheeled wonders that rolled through the Re:Fuel gates was impressive once again – with visitors including a Ferrari F40, VW XL1, an Austin Seven, Aston Martin DB5, Alfa 8C, two Lexus LFAs (yes, two!), Minis, Beetles, some classic American muscle, the Lotus crew, and many more. Seeing all these different marques and their followers coming together in one place regularly reminds us why we started Re:Fuel – and reflects the all-inclusive community that was a big part of our vision: no matter what you drive, you’re welcome.

Thanks to The Fat Pony and Lemon Jelli, both of whom seemed to be a big hit with ReFuel visitors – the passion for their food and drink shining through in the quality and their upbeat and friendly service.

The first ever Re:Fuel Symposium seemed to be a huge hit. There’ll be a dedicated blog post coming soon covering it. For now, we’d like to say a big thanks to our speakers, @knightdetailing and @luckyssupercars. We’ll also be building on the Symposium over the coming months, so watch this space.

Our gate merchandise this month was a special, limited “1st Edition” metal card, laser etched with our logo and a little note for our early supporters on the back. Everyone who visited us on Sunday got one of these at the gate. Of course, as usual, there was the option to swap your gate merch for a free drink once inside, but the majority of people kept them – which we were very happy to see. Those in possession of a 1st Edition card in the future will get special treatment as Re:Fuel gets bigger and better, so keep them safe!

If you didn’t get a 1st Edition card, or swapped it for a coffee (doh!) then do not fear, we still have some left – and the remainder will be handed out on the gate at our next Open Day on 20th October. There are only 500 of them though – and when they’re gone, they’re gone!

Thanks again to the beautiful Froginwell Vineyard for hosting us – and don’t forget that Froginwell can be hired for weddings and corporate events – see more here. Once again, with little to no effort from the Re:Fuel team, everyone fully respected the ‘house rules’ and the speed limits, etc – which we massively appreciate, and will help us to grow Re:Fuel for you all to enjoy.

We’ve had so much positive feedback again – in person, through social media and via email. We love hearing that a venue like Re:Fuel has been needed in the Southwest for a long time, and that the the Re:Fuel team were friendly, welcoming, professional and well-organised. We promise we will keep working hard to make Re:Fuel bigger, better and somewhere we can all call home.

A big thank you again to the Re:Fuel team – the management team in the grey Re:Fuel shirts, and all those wearing the blue hi-vis Re:Fuel vests. You were all fantastic, and we could not have done this without you.

If anyone has any feedback for us – positive or critical – we really want to hear it all so that we can discuss it as a team and make sure that the venue we’re working so hard to create becomes exactly what you want it to be. We’d also love to hear any ideas or suggestions. You can message us on any of our social media channels (@refuelsw on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) or email us on info@re-fuel.co.uk.

At the moment, we’re only opening once this month, and our next open day is 20th October. After the success of our first two Open Days, it has only made us more determined to continue with our plan to build up to being open both Saturday and Sunday, every weekend.

If you were there then please do spread the word and tell your fellow enthusiasts and help us grow what we hope will become a fantastic open, welcoming venue in the Southwest for all to enjoy!

Photo:Stuart Robson Photography