All Analysis articles – Page 30
-
Analysis
A missed opportunity?
The ’Review of the Refining and Fuel Import Sectors in the UK’ by the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) has come at a crucial time for the sector, but many in the industry feel it has done little to point the way forward. No one can be in ...
-
Analysis
Peter Harding - Retail technology consultant
An interesting topic in retail every now and then is that of electronic shelf-edge labels (ESEL). These have been around for many, years but as yet no one in the UK has deployed them in any quantity. Historically the ESEL has been expensive and semi manual in so much as ...
-
Analysis
Chris Hunt: UKPIA director general
As I write this column, our downstream oil industry in the UK is on the threshold of a new relationship with government, one which we sincerely hope heralds meaningful change. On April 9, the Department of Energy and Climate Change published its review into the refining and fuel import sectors ...
-
Analysis
Merril Boulton: Refining future supply
So last month the Government finally produced its report on the refining and fuel import sectors in the UK (it was due early January) and there seems to have been a collective gasp of disappointment (News Extra page 10). Chris Hunt, UKPIA director general (see column page 7) felt it ...
-
Analysis
Shop Talk with Tracy West
Three cheers for David Charman, whose Parkfoot Garage in West Malling, Kent, scooped the Convenience Retailer of the Year award last month. I don’t live too far away from this site so managed to take a look recently, and it really is very impressive. Where I live, the forecourts aren’t ...
-
Analysis
The price has to be right
With Esso now accepting Tesco Clubcards and BP having offered Nectar points for many years, the loyalty card is a growing influence on where drivers are choosing to re-fuel their cars, and a strong influence on whether they also take the opportunity to top-up on their groceries, according to Blake ...
-
Analysis
Merril Boulton Editor: Flushed with success
First let me congratulate the team at Bodmin Moor Services in Cornwall, part of the Chartman Group, for their admirable accomplishment in winning this year’s award for the UK’s Best Forecourt Loo (see news story on page 4). What they have achieved is no mean feat firstly to keep their ...
-
Analysis
Kevin Eastwood: BOSS executive director
There are one million reasons why BOSS has had a significant impact on forecourt crime over the past three years. This month BOSS recoveries for No Means of Payment (NMoP) cases reached a staggering £1m as a direct result of the BOSS Payment Watch scheme. Payment Watch is underpinned by ...
-
Analysis
James Lowman: ACS chief executive
We have had a run of major announcements affecting retail from George Osborne in his Budgets and Autumn Financial Statements, so by his standards the latest one was a low key affair. The compelling statistics were there: the economy is back in growth (2.4%) and the number of people unemployed ...
-
Analysis
Tracy West: Shop Talk
If you’re not already selling e-cigarettes, you really should be. That’s because a hot-off-the-press report from Mintel says the market has achieved a stunning 340% growth over the past year, from an estimated £44m in 2012 to an estimated £193m last year. Wow is all I can say and get ...
-
Analysis
Fighting the floods
Disruption caused by winter weather is not unexpected in the forecourt sector, but what has made this winter different is the type of bad weather and the length it has gone on for. A day or two of snow can block roads, and the authorities are usually able to get ...
-
Analysis
David Charman: chairman CWA
What a start to the car washing year rain, rain and more rain. The only consolation we can take from this is that there will be no water shortages around the corner. Famous last words? It is surprising how many people are prepared to clean their cars when the wind ...
-
Analysis
Brian Madderson: chairman PRA
After four years at the helm of the Petrol Retailers Association, it is good to be able to pen a more positive note at the start of 2014. Retailers may have forgotten that despite PRA’s late intervention, cutting back the overall liability by around 14% for forecourt properties in England, ...
-
Analysis
Merril Boulton: Esso opportunity
So the final tranche of Esso’s company- owned network is now the focus of ambitious forecourt entrepreneurs as the official push to sell the southern block of 200 sites gets under way. Whether they’re new to the industry or established fuel retailers hoping to expand their networks, they will all ...
-
Analysis
Shop Talk with Tracy West
What have Quaker Oat So Simple breakfast biscuits, Maltesers Merryteaser, Mars Minis, Persil Small & Mighty and Tropicana Trop 50 all got in common? They’re all winners of 2014 Product of the Year you know, you’ve probably seen those red and white ’Voted Product of the Year’ stamps on adverts. ...
-
Analysis
Tasty prospect
A significant new retail entrant to the forecourt sector could make its presence felt in 2014, according to Steve Rodell, director and head of retail at specialist property adviser Christie & Co. "They have significant capital funding and could buy a national chain if they are able to find the ...
-
Analysis
Peter Harding - Retail technology consultant
Many rumours abounded in 2013 about technology and what it could do for us. This year the push seems to be on three key technology areas and I bring a few to the fore in this article. The main emphasis falls into the following areas: mobile, wearable technology and 3D ...
-
Analysis
Chris Hunt: UKPIA director general
Stepping into a New Year calls for reflection and 2013 was a momentous one for our downstream oil industry. UKPIA hit the ground running in 2013 with a joint publication with the RAC Foundation, by Ricardo-AEA, ’Powering Ahead: The future of low-carbon cars and fuels’. This incisive report set out ...
-
Analysis
Merril Boulton: Major frustration
The major oil brands have come in for a bit of flack in this issue and you sense that the balance of power is shifting. The consistent message from independents is that they’re just not getting the kind of service that they need to develop their businesses. They’re very put ...
-
Analysis
Shop Talk with Tracy West
Happy New Year to you all let’s hope it’s a good one! It’s always difficult to predict the future but, at this time of year, industry people are falling over themselves to give it a go. Take Sainsbury’s, for instance, which has said shoppers are better than ever at finding ...