Lesson plan

Applegreen

, Enfield, Great Britain Applegreen Limited is an Irish company founded in 1992 that operates 620 petrol stations in Ireland, the United Kingdom (under the Welcome Break arm) and the United States. It is a major petrol retailer in Ireland, and operates convenience stores and motorway service areas. Applegreen's headquarters are based in Park West Business Park in Dublin, Ireland. Applegreen was taken private in March, 2021, and is now majority-owned by U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Inc. Cofounders Robert Etchingham and Joseph Barrett retained a minority stake in the business. In 2018, Applegreen purchased the majority of UK motorway service area operator Welcome Break for €361.8m. In 2021, Applegreen acquired the United States toll road service area operations from HMSHost for $375 million. Applegreen operates its own EV charging subsidiary called Applegreen Electric. On 7 October 2022, an Applegreen petrol station in Creeslough, County Donegal was severely damaged by an explosion in an adjacent apartment building that also killed ten people and injured eight others. In January 2025, Applegreen agreed to sell its UK filling station business, Petrogas Group, to EG On The Move. Its Welcome Break business in the UK was not part of the deal and will remain in Applegreen's ownership.

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Article summary

, Enfield, Great Britain Applegreen Limited is an Irish company founded in 1992 that operates 620 petrol stations in Ireland, the United Kingdom (under the Welcome Break arm) and the United States. It is a major petrol retailer in Ireland, and operates convenience stores and motorway service areas. Applegreen's headquarters are based in Park West Business Park in Dublin, Ireland. Applegreen was taken private in March, 2021, and is now majority-owned by U.S. private equity firm Blackstone Inc. Cofounders Robert Etchingham and Joseph Barrett retained a minority stake in the business. In 2018, Applegreen purchased the majority of UK motorway service area operator Welcome Break for €361.8m. In 2021, Applegreen acquired the United States toll road service area operations from HMSHost for $375 million. Applegreen operates its own EV charging subsidiary called Applegreen Electric. On 7 October 2022, an Applegreen petrol station in Creeslough, County Donegal was severely damaged by an explosion in an adjacent apartment building that also killed ten people and injured eight others. In January 2025, Applegreen agreed to sell its UK filling station business, Petrogas Group, to EG On The Move. Its Welcome Break business in the UK was not part of the deal and will remain in Applegreen's ownership.

Key claims

  1. area: 361.8m — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. date of foundation: 1992 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the area is "361.8m". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the date of foundation is "1992". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  5. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1357432236

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.