All Analysis articles – Page 20
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Analysis
Ray Blake: PRA technical director
One of the services the Petrol Retailers Association offers to its members is that of conciliation between themselves and their suppliers particularly fuel ones. Our help is sought a number of times each year, most often when cross-overs have occurred (petrol into a diesel tank or vice versa), during a ...
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Analysis
Charlotte Blum: analysis editor, Argus Media
The after effects of Hurricane Harvey can still be felt at UK sites, with diesel prices at a wide premium to petrol. In the international markets, the premium has begun to shrink again now that US refineries have resumed normal operations, but growing underlying diesel demand is keeping distillate crack ...
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Analysis
Spending spree
By the standards of recent years the number of acquisitions by the Top 50 Indies has been quite modest since the 2017 listing was published in March. But that all changed in September, with a flurry of deals. However, with all the major sell-offs by oil companies completed, it is ...
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Analysis
Tracy West: Shop Talk
It’s not often nowadays that I get excited about a new product. That’s because most aren’t really new at all as often they’ve just been resurrected in new packaging. However, I’m loving the new Tic Tacs I discovered very recently. They’re called Breeze, they’re sugar free and they come in ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: editor
Editor It’s been a very mixed month full of excitement about the Forecourt Trader Awards; but also filled with such shock and sadness at the sudden death of Nick Lloyd, a genuinely all-round great guy, known particularly in the forecourt sector for the seven years he worked with Jeremy Symonds ...
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Analysis
Kevin Eastwood: BOSS - executive director
When I meet with forecourt retailers it is not uncommon to be told that they feel the police do not respond when they report incidents. Admittedly how each police force reacts to a report depends on each chief constable who determines how his or her force deploys their resources. Some ...
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Analysis
Charlotte Blum: Analysis editor
The effects of Hurricane Harvey initially drove road fuel markets higher in North West Europe after it hit the US Gulf coast on August 25, but only diesel remains tight. Diesel prices have risen from a discount to a premium to gasoline, which has widened the usual UK retail premium ...
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Analysis
James Lowman chief executive, ACS
At the end of September, we put our annual submission into government ahead of the Chancellor’s budget, setting out the measures that we believe will help the convenience sector in the coming year. You can read the submission in full on our website. There are three main areas that we ...
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Analysis
Tracy West: Shop Talk
As an old bird, technology or rather what it can do can baffle my brain. However, even I am aware of the power of social media. And, if you’ve not yet embraced Facebook, Instagram or Twitter then Halloween gives you the perfect opportunity. Photos of brightly coloured displays or staff ...
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Analysis
Electric revolution: Ramsay MacDonald
The demise of the combustion engine, signalled by recent announcements from almost all of the major car manufacturers, means in no uncertain terms that electric is the fuel front runner for the next generation of passenger cars. This creates a complex set of challenges but also exciting opportunities, both for ...
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Analysis
David Charman: Parkfoot Garage
So now we know that our beloved petrol stations have an end date, or do they? I have been around this industry all my life, man and boy, and during that time I have witnessed some huge changes in our industry. Back in the early 1970s, I would have been ...
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Analysis
Brian Madderson: PRA chairman
The most striking announcement of the summer was from Michael Gove on DEFRA’s policy on Clean Air. Conventional petrol and diesel combustion engines are to be banned in new cars from 2040, although hybrids will be permitted. Nevertheless this leaves PRA with much to do to protect and stimulate the ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: editor
Whether it’s the right direction or not, we seem to be hurtling towards an electric future as far as automotive transport is concerned, and we at Forecourt Trader will, as always, endeavour to keep you informed of all the latest developments hence the particular focus on the subject in this ...
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Analysis
Charlotte Blum: analysis editor, Argus Media
Hurricane Harvey may have poured out its record-breaking deluge 7,500km from here, but it will dominate fuel prices in the UK this month. Harvey, which hit the US Gulf coast on August 25 and caused major flooding after turning into a tropical rain storm, fully or partially closed refineries with ...
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Analysis
Action on slavery
As many forecourt owners with car wash facilities know to their cost, unscrupulous hand car washes (HCWs), with no regard for labour laws or environmental regulations, can steal many of their customers away by undercutting legitimate businesses. Initially, the authorities seemed reluctant to tackle this scourge, but after intense lobbying ...
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Analysis
Shop Talk: Tracy West
How times change. When I was growing up, you only got one type of milk and that came from a cow. Today you can get goats’ milk, almond milk, cashew milk, soya milk you name it and it seems you can milk it. My local Sainsbury’s now has a complete ...
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Analysis
Taking the long view
The government’s long-awaited plan to tackle air pollution was always going to be controversial, after the High Court had dismissed earlier proposals as not good enough, and set a deadline of July 31 for it to come up with something better. But the media storm whipped up by its UK ...
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Analysis
Chris Hunt: UKPIA director general
Since I last wrote this column, the UK’s General Election was held and the Queen’s Speech, on June 21, set out the government’s programme for the period between 2017 and 2019 and certainly life hasn’t got any less complex! Firstly, it was announced that Parliament will now sit for two ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: editor
Calm down everyone I think! From the alarming headlines that preceded the government’s announcement last month on tackling air pollution to the more considered comment released by UKPIA’s director general, Chris Hunt (see News Extra on page 10), there were was a lot of shock and bewilderment in between. The ...
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Analysis
Ray Blake: technical manager PRA
The latest Petroleum Regulations came into force from October 1, 2014 and allowed for a transitional period of three years for the Petroleum Licences that were in force at the time, to be converted by the Petroleum Enforcing Authorities (PEAs) into Petroleum Storage Certificates (PSCs). The three years have nearly ...