All Analysis articles – Page 2
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Analysis
PITSTOP: McCullagh’s Classic Service Station
Our mystery motorist on a mission visits McCullagh’s Classic Service Station
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Analysis
SERVICE CENTRE: Striking a bum note
This will be the second time I’ve reported on Ian Beaumont’s problem with NoteMachine. He runs Junction 37 Filling Station in Howden, East Yorkshire. His business, J Wardle & Son Ltd had had an ATM on-site for quite a few years.
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Analysis
MONEY TALK: Forecourt crime - dangerous, expensive, and only sometimes avoidable…
There have been a number of recent news pieces in the media relating to crime suffered by retailers: some generic, one or two specific to the fuel sector.
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Analysis
COMMENT: Fuelling growth of the independents, but will they be tempted to cash in?
The Competition and markets authority (CMA) recently accused supermarkets of increasing their fuel margins by 6p a litre between 2019 and 2022. This reflects both Covid and the invasion of Ukraine - both of which had major effects on demand and supply.
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Analysis
PITSTOP: Nisa Local Potton
Mystery motorist on a mission visits Nisa Local Potton in Sandy, Bedfordshire.
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Analysis
SERVICE CENTRE: Those spurs will soon be jangling again
Preston-based chartered surveyor Ken Batty, who has spent a lot of his lifetime trying to weed out the cowboys that unfortunately plague his profession, has sent me an email detailing some coming changes in business rate appeals.
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Analysis
MONEY TALK:‘Gross Margins’ aren’t even half of the story
It was interesting to see a collection of senior representatives of some of the largest retail chains being ‘grilled’ (as the popular media like to call it) by a collection of MP’s from the Business & Trade Committee on the subjects of prices and inflation, particularly their alleged ‘profiteering’ in the current inflationary period – not least in the area of fuel retailing.
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: Marginal gains in fuel prices bring down CMA ire on supermarkets
Supermarkets have been playing fast and loose with fuel pricing for years but the folly of their actions has finally come back to haunt them. John Wood reports on what led up to this week’s damning CMA report into the road fuels market
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Analysis
Fuel Market Review 2023 – resilience despite intense pressures
Hard work and adaptability are continuing to pay off for the fuel retailing sector, according to Forecourt Trader’s latest Fuel Market Review.
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: EG Group maps out the future as Asda takes over the present
EG Group and Asda are both set for new chapters in their development as EG Group explores the future of alternative fuels and Asda becomes the second biggest owner of forecourts in the UK.
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Analysis
SERVICE CENTRE: Card payment confusion - Fire station or Service Station?
I got an email from Jon Brownsey in Hampshire saying: “I have an interesting situation which, while not causing me a problem directly, is resulting in a number of customers ’phoning to check they have paid me and not someone else.
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Analysis
MONEY TALK: Assets and depreciation
Perhaps you’re in the fortunate position where you’ve just been able to invest a lot of money revamping your site. New tanks, pipework and some the latest very flash pumps, just for starters.
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Analysis
TECH TALK: Politicians are beginning to realise that EVs are not the only answer to Net Zero
It was encouraging to see so many insightful proposals on decarbonisation announced recently by the cross-party Transport Select Committee’s Fuelling the Future report – many of which chime with our own view on how the UK can most effectively achieve Net Zero.
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: EV charging industry sets up association to help shape its future
A new trade body for the burgeoning EV charging industry is aiming to provide a major impetus for the sector. John Wood reports
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Analysis
MONEY TALK: Inflationary issues
According to the Office of National Statistics, the inflation rate in the UK (using the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) in the 12 months to March of this year (the latest available figure) was 10.1%, which was slightly below the rate in February (10.4%); this following an annual rate overall of 9.1% during the calendar year 2022.
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Analysis
SERVICE CENTRE: Queries about vapes and staff
Which vapes should I stock? This was the question posed by my old regular correspondent who styles himself as ‘Gassing Around’ (GA). A simple query that raises many complications.
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: Planning for more EV chargers
While charge point operators (CPOs) such as Fastned are ready to invest millions in the UK, cumbersome planning regulations are slowing the rollout down. So says Tom Hurst, UK country manager at Fastned.
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Analysis
SERVICE CENTRE: A very chilling problem
I got a call to the helpline from Jagdish Radia, who runs Leaway Service Station in Birmingham, regarding his freezer from Caterquip.
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Analysis
MONEY TALK: Needed urgently - action on diesel prices.
As any regular readers of this column may have noticed, it is not very often that I find myself agreeing with the ‘consumer champions’ who accuse the forecourt retail industry of ‘over-pricing’ fuel.
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Analysis
ANALYSIS: Affordability will prove to be the key to unlock consumer demand for EVs
The government is piling on the pressure to develop the EV sector, but are the majority of drivers ready to buy them. John Wood reports