All Analysis articles – Page 14
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Analysis
Tracy West: retail commentator
Mr West and I have just completed a road trip across part of the US. He drove more than 3,000 miles in 11 days across Arizona, Colarado, Nevada, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. It was great fun but also a little hairy as we encountered much more snow than we ...
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Analysis
Brian Madderson: PRA chairman
FairFuel UK together with the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Fuel has been lobbying the Treasury to support their proposals for PumpWatch a voluntary code to be adopted by industry, which is designed to bring greater transparency and fairness to pump pricing. No details have been seen at this stage ...
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Analysis
Chris Judge: analysis editor, Argus Media
International crude oil markets slumped on May 31 after US President Trump proposed tariffs on all goods from Mexico "until the illegal immigration problem is remedied". The falls were triggered by the increasing threat of global recession and subsequent effect on oil demand. Global equity markets were already falling and ...
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Analysis
Alexander Russell: consultant, Car Wash Association (CWA)
The government’s response to modern slavery in the UK has been woefully lacklustre, despite a recent hard-hitting investigation by Parliament’s Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) into hand car washes (HCWs) which acknowledged the sheer scale of the problem and the lack of enforcement of existing regulations that might help prevent it. ...
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Analysis
Fuelling the future
The UK is lagging behind the rest of the world in terms of automotive hydrogen development, with countries such as China, Korea and Japan pushing ahead at a rapid rate, according to Charles Purkess, business development manager at ITM Power. He was part of the ’Fuelling the Future: On the ...
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Analysis
Stephen Marcos Jones: director general, UKPIA
Hardly a day goes by without a newspaper headline telling us about the next big thing in the world of transport. Artificial Intelligence. Driverless cars. Real-time data sharing with other road users. Deliveries bringing fuel direct to your home or business. Low-carbon fuels, both liquid and non-liquid, hydrocarbon and non-hydrocarbon. ...
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Analysis
Tracy West: retail commentator
I’m as happy to do my bit for the planet as the next person, however I do feel that some companies are rushing through changes without properly researching them first. Take McDonald’s. I love a McDonald’s milkshakemmmm. But, when I had one the other day, imagine my displeasure when the ...
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Analysis
Ray Blake: PRA technical director
When talking to forecourt operators on the ’Roadside Fuel Recovery Standard’ (RFRS) stand at The Forecourt Show a couple of weeks ago, there was one fact they all found most surprising. It was that despite the customer who had mis-fuelled paying for the remediation service, they were legally responsible to ...
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Analysis
Chris Judge: analysis editor, Argus Media
The US government surprised the oil markets by ending waivers on sanctions against Iran, pushing prices to new 2019 highs and exacerbating a global supply crisis for sour crude oil. Pump prices for petrol were more than 4ppl higher than a year ago and climbing steadily. Benchmark Brent crude futures ...
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Analysis
Last throw of the dice
When the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published its damning provisional findings on the proposed merger between Sainsbury’s and Asda on February 20, many commentators thought the deal was dead. The CMA said it was concerned the deal would lead to a substantial lessening of competition at both a national ...
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Analysis
Tracy West: retail commentator
The ’bah humbug’ brigade, typically active at Christmas time, are now out for Easter. Pre-Easter stories in the mainstream media are usually about how over-priced Easter eggs are when you compare their chocolate content to bars that are available all-year-round. In the past there has also been chuntering about packaging ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: editor
Beneath all the excruciating political noise and in spite of it life goes on. And forecourts are in the fortunate position of being an essential part of that daily life. People still need to get to work, they need to refuel, buy breakfast, coffee, lunch, a few groceries and everything ...
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Analysis
Kevin Eastwood: executive director - BOSS
When it comes to non-payment on forecourts, experience tells us that some motorists do make genuine mistakes and it’s important to respect customers inadvertently caught in a difficult situation. These can be rectified if accurate information is collected by retailers so that repayments can be made within a reasonable timeframe. ...
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Analysis
Chris Judge: analysis editor, Argus Media
The steady gains for crude oil in 2018 continued through March and UK motorists are now feeling the pinch at the pump, as Opec maintained solid discipline containing output. Benchmark Brent crude oil futures ended March at $68.39/bl, gaining $2.36/bl on the month and are now up by nearly $15/bl ...
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Analysis
James Lowman: chief executive, ACS
We’ve just launched our 2019 Crime Report, and it’s another shocking insight into the extent and frequency of crime against our sector. Let’s start with the financial impact: crimes committed against the convenience sector cost an estimated £246m over the past year, equivalent to over £5,300 for every store in ...
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Analysis
A year of upheaval
This year has seen massive upheaval in the Top 50 Indies listing, compared with 2018 when not only were the Top 10 companies all the same companies as the previous year, but they were all in the same order too. Not least among the changes is that, for the first ...
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Analysis
Tracy West: retail commentator
If thousands of your customers were asked to rate your store for things like appearance, queuing time, range of products and value for money, how do you think you’d do? Well, Which? has just published a survey where 12,000 consumers had to rate supermarkets across those categories and more. Asda ...
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Analysis
Brian Madderson: chairman, PRA
There is no doubt that as we head towards Brexit Day on March 29, our politicians and political commentators are ensuring that the outcome continues to be very uncertain. No one can forecast with any real confidence where the country will be in three month’s time. This is much the ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: editor
So it’s already March and at the end of this month, who knows what will have happened re what’s become the dreaded Brexit situation. But one thing is for certain, and that is the success of the Top 50 Indies, which is clear to see in our latest report published ...
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Analysis
Chris Judge: analysis editor, Argus Media
Oil prices continued to rise as it became clear that the US was not securing a quick win to force President Nicolas Maduro from power in Venezuela, prolonging sanctions on the country’s oil exports. Benchmark Brent crude oil futures ended February at $66.03/bl, gaining $4.14/bl on the month. Diesel prices ...