All Analysis articles – Page 8
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Analysis
Brian Madderson: PRA chairman
If the Road to Zero plan finally published by the Department for Transport (DfT), the Clean Air Strategy published by the Department for Food, Rural Affairs and Environment (DEFRA) together with the demonisation of diesel were not sufficient worries for the UK fuels retailing industry, the proposed £12bn merger of ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: editor
The skies above the fuel retailing sector are busy with activity as the powers that be set about making decisions that will influence the structure of the industry well into the future. How much of it amounts to dark thunder clouds on the horizon, and how much potential rays of ...
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Analysis
Charlotte Blum: Analysis editor
UK road fuel prices are at their highest for four years, underpinned by high crude prices and robust middle distillates demand. US trade policy and its ramifications, as well as supply expectations, again dominated the market, pushing prices first down, then up again in the past month. Underlying Ice ...
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Analysis
Alexander Russell: consultant, Car Wash Association (CWA)
The Car Wash Association has been lobbying the government directly and through media campaigns during the summer months on the subject of non-compliant hand car washes (HCWs). The aim is to motivate the government and its various stakeholder agencies to inform, encourage and where necessary, oblige illegal HCWs to comply ...
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Analysis
Stephen Marcos Jones: UKPIA director general
Last month, the government published its long-awaited Road to Zero strategy, setting out its proposed approach to reduce emissions from UK road transport. The strategy sets out government’s ambition to see more ultra-low emission cars on UK roads by 2030 at least 50% and as many as 70% of new ...
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Analysis
Tracy West: retail commentator
I’m sorry but I’m back on the subject of soft drinks again this month. I’ll start with a moan. There’s no Rose’s Lime Cordial available anywhere (unless you want to pay silly money for it on eBay) all due to a factory fire. Of course, accidents happen but ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: Editor
Important to stay braced and focused on the positive when opening the sizeable tome that is the government’s newly published ’Road to Zero’ strategy (see News Extra, page 10). Perhaps read it in small chunks with a nice glass of something so that you don’t blow too many gaskets in ...
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Analysis
Ray Blake: PRA technical director
A question about EV charging was raised recently at the Petroleum Enforcement Liaison Group (PELG) where I have just been made the first chairman to be appointed from ’industry’ rather than from ’enforcement’. The question was ’Who would enforce EV charging and how would they know if any had been ...
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Analysis
Charlotte Blum: analysis editor, Argus Media
International oil prices in July fell at the start of the month, but recovered steadily as the effects of increased production from major suppliers were tempered by an uncertain forward supply picture. UK transport fuels edged higher from July and Ice Brent futures ended the month at $74.97/bl after ...
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Analysis
A rocky road ahead
The Road to Zero strategy is nothing short of the government’s blueprint to phase out two of the bed rocks of the forecourt sector petrol and diesel. While the ’zero’ it refers to is emissions from road vehicles, its method for achieving this is prohibiting the sale of all new ...
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Analysis
Targeting the cowboys
Years of campaigning by the PRA and Car Wash Association paid off last month when their chairman, Brian Madderson, was invited to give evidence to MPs on the damage unregulated hand car washes are wreaking on the legitimate trade, and the environment. The House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee has ...
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Analysis
Conundrums for retail managers
Facing change and challenges are major aspects of the job of a retail manager in the fuels marketing and forecourt retailing sector. Looking at the market now compared with where it was five years ago, there has been significant change and upheaval. There are, however, some things that never change ...
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Analysis
Tracy West: retail commentator
As a big soft drinks consumer, I’ve found it interesting to see how the Sugar Levy has been put into action in various retail outlets. I only drink diet or zero drinks so the levy doesn’t affect my drinking purchases. However, Mr West won’t touch the artificials and so ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: editor
Just back from an excellent PRA/ACS Forecourt Conference, which both informed and inspired in equal measure. The world is always changing, but there is something about the current pace of change and uncertainty across many aspects of life business, political, technological, environment that would be easy to become quite unsettled ...
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Analysis
Kevin Eastwood BOSS - executive director
During the FIFA World Cup there were a number of countries who started the competition with low expectations. However, some quiet, careful and thoughtful planning helped them to achieve and make their nations very proud of their performances. The forecourt sector can draw similarities, in particular, when it comes to ...
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Analysis
Charlotte Blum: analysis editor, Argus Media
Changing expectations of supply amid continued strong demand pushed oil prices first down then up again in June, with Ice Brent futures ending June at $77.85/bl. Opec and its partners have been overachieving their agreed output cuts, and on June 22 agreed to reign in their over-compliance. In effect ...
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Analysis
James Lowman: chief executive, ACS
In recent weeks, the Centre for Social Justice has published a report called Desperate for a Fix, focusing on tackling retail crime and calling for fresh thinking at a national and local level to find policies that can address the increases in theft and other crime that retailers have experienced ...
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Analysis
Fuel for thought
None of the pontificating politicians in Westminster, who are currently debating forcing forecourts to install electric charging points, appear to have given any thought to the practical issues involved. Had they attended the launch of the fourth edition of the Blue Book they would now be having second thoughts. ...
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Analysis
Tracy West: Retail commentator
A recent survey of 1,000 consumers across the UK (undertaken by SOTI who say they are the world’s most trusted provider of mobile and Internet of Things device management systems in the world), found that 80% of people would be ’comfortable’ in a retail setting where only self-checkout tills were ...
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Analysis
Brian Madderson: PRA chairman
In the real world, the latest UK vehicle statistics from SMMT for January to May 2018 versus the same period last year confirm the collapse of diesel models (-31%), some recovery in petrol +11.3%, the anticipated increase in hybrids +22.6% but a surprising drop in batteryonly electric (BEV) by 4.9%. ...