All Analysis articles – Page 28
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Analysis
Absolutely fuming
The LPG industry was out in force last month trying to wake up the powers that be in the UK to the economic and environmental benefits of LPG.Firstly a lobby group called on Government to promote the use of LPG at an event at the Houses of Parliament. Later in ...
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Analysis
Shop Talk with Tracy West
Happy new year to you all let’s hope it’s a good one for you and your business. And, if you look at new research from Barclaycard, it seems things are already looking up as 2014 was the year when we all started spending again. The biggest increases in spending were ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: Good year - good start
A happy and prosperous New Year to you all, and as we kick off 2015, it’s not looking at all bad for the independent dealer sector is it? The big story during the past few months has been the ongoing fall in fuel prices, which currently shows no sign of ...
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Analysis
Kevin Eastwood - BOSS executive director
About 900,000 times each year motorists drive away from service stations either without paying or having drawn fuel then claiming that they have no means to pay. These problems cost each forecourt retailer an average of £3,000 every year. The success of BOSS Payment Watch lies with its tried and ...
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Analysis
James Lowman: ACS chief executive
Announcing business rates reform was the easy bit. Now the Chancellor has to work out what changes to this £26bn tax revenue stream will be fairer, pro-growth, fiscally responsible and popular. There are two key decisions to make. Firstly, what level of contribution does the Chancellor want business rates to ...
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Analysis
Shop Talk with Tracy West
Christmas is fast approaching and as I write this, I’m thinking about all the things I’ve still got to do. These include wrapping presents then wrapping them again in brown paper and sending them off to far flung places before those pesky ’last posting dates’. December is, of course, the ...
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Analysis
David Charman - Chairman CWA
The end of 2014 is fast approaching and a major subject on people’s minds is UKIP and immigration. ’Take us out of Europe’, they cry and send back the illegal immigrants to their country of origin. This influx of keen, young labour has been coming for decades of course, but ...
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Analysis
Brian Madderson - Chairman PRA
This year could mark a watershed for the beleaguered independent sector with several structural changes swiftly impacting prospects. The oil companies continue their orderly retreat from direct retailing (Murco, Esso, Shell) and we have been monitoring these disposals carefully. We predict that the independent sector could increase to more than ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: Criminally intense
Crime is certainly alive and well in the forecourt retailing sector and a scroll through the latest news on our website in the past few months is confirmation of that. From a serial cross-dressing fuel thief, to exploding cashpoints and attacks on sales assistants, there seems to be no end ...
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Analysis
A sensible approach
New guidance has been published by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) to support retailers in preventing fuel theft and advising them on how to respond when it does occur.It has been developed as part of the Home Office’s Crime Prevention Panel, and could be seen as a major shift ...
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Analysis
Shop Talk with Tracy West
Christmas and the shopping frenzy that surrounds it is fast approaching. I know it’s still only November, but as we have a festive edition of Product News I thought I’d add my festive tuppence ha’penny’s worth. Christmas is an interesting time as you get some families that like to stock ...
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Analysis
Peter Harding - Retail technology consultant
Everywhere we look these days things seem to be cloud based. What does this really mean? Many companies give you free space on the cloud to store files such as photos. It seems the idea is that you get a small amount of storage for free and are then enticed ...
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Analysis
Chris Hunt: UKPIA director general
In January, the UK’s first Petroleum Driver Passport (PDP) was launched. It was developed by the Downstream Oil Industry Distribution Forum (DODF) to deliver a consistently high level of training to all petroleum tanker drivers, verified by an accredited third party. It represents a benchmark by which all petroleum driver ...
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Analysis
Challenging growth
The future is bright, the future is convenience, and there is significant growth out there, delegates were told at last month’s IGD Convenience Retailing conference in London."However, the inconvenient truth is that as an industry we are facing huge milestones," said Tristram Wilkinson, VP/managing director UK & Ireland, Kimberley-Clark, in ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: Hang on to your hats
It’s like someone has dug a big hole, and fuel prices are falling into it at great speed. It’s actually quite weird seeing a price pole displaying figures of say, 122.9ppl for unleaded and 126.9ppl for diesel. They look more like museum pieces so long has it been since prices ...
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Analysis
Kevin Eastwood: BOSS executive director
For more than 20 years BOSS, the British Oil Security Syndicate, has worked closely with fuel retailers, police, government departments and other agencies to reduce crime. So how disappointing was it to hear from Norman Baker, the Minister of State for Crime Prevention and the chief constable of Durham during ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: Awards showcase
Excitement all round for the forecourt sector last month, what with the rather spectacular Forecourt Trader of the Year Awards (see full report, starting on page 49 and also the awards website www.forecourttraderawards.co.uk); and then the Shell announcement confirming the sale of around 250 sites. On awards night we had ...
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Analysis
An age-old problem
As winter approaches with its worst extremes of weather putting all parts of the forecourt structure to the test, canopy maintenance specialists are warning that some overhead structures on forecourts could be in a lethal condition.Already this year, during the supposedly milder summer, there has been the collapse of one ...
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Analysis
James Lowman: ACS Chief executive
We have recently published the third edition of our annual look at the convenience sector, the Local Shop Report, which contains some great new insights into local shops, the people who run them and the communities they serve. The main story from the report is one of good news the ...
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Analysis
Driving crime down
The concept of pre-payment for fuel as a way to prevent drive-offs has been around for a long time, and in some countries it is mandatory, but it has always been resisted by the majority of the trade in the UK. Indeed, as forecourt shops have become ever more important ...