Ramsay MacDonald, retail director, Certas Energy, used his address to the assembled 800 guests at the Hilton Hotel, Park Lane, for the 2016 Forecourt Trader of the Year Awards to praise the phenomenal achievement of the UK’s petrol retailers in changing the roadside face of Britain.

“It feels like a defining moment for the industry,” said MacDonald. “With recognition for the numbers employed, commitment to ongoing investment and an ability to continually adapt.”

MacDonald added that more consumers than ever now consider a forecourt to be their ’local shop’ and rate the experience well above supermarkets for convenience and service. Looking to the future, he predicted that differentiation will develop further with food and fuel continuing to provide the footfall driver.

He concluded his presentation at the industry’s Oscars by thanking the UK’s petrol retailers for playing their part in creating this consumer revolution.