All Analysis articles – Page 4
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Analysis
Under pressure
If the most important factor affecting the forecourt sector is fuel sales, then the 2016 Statistical Report from UKPIA (UK Petroleum Industry Association) contains a heartening message. Total road fuel sales looked to be in a permanent decline after year-on-year falls from their peak in 2007 to 2013, but the ...
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Analysis
Results of this month’s online poll:
With the latest diesel cars requiring Adblue every fifth or sixth visit to a petrol station, do you currently have plans to install the appropriate dispensers? yes 12%no 88% The relevance of this development has not yet made an impact, withthe majority of respondents having no plans to ...
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Analysis
Level pegging
As Forecourt Trader went to press the nationwide polls showed the two sides were neck and neck and it was too close for either side to be confident of winning the referendum on June 23. As the pressure has mounted supporters of each camp have become increasingly desperate to land ...
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Analysis
Delivering growth
The number of Londis and Budgens stores on independent forecourts is set to soar after Top 50 Indie Motor Fuel Group (MFG) signed a new shop supply agreement with Booker Retail Partners (BRP), commencing on July 1. Some 300 of MFG’s network of 374 stations will start to be supplied ...
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Analysis
When staff are a liability
In the recent case of Mohamud v WM Morrison Supermarkets plc, the Supreme Court ruled that WM Morrison was vicariously liable, as an employer, for an unprovoked attack carried out by one of its forecourt staff on a customer. This case raises important points and considerations for all petrol filling ...
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Analysis
Top of the class
Despite a surge of more than 300 in the total number of sites run by the Top 50 in last year’s report, the independent sector’s appetite for growth showed no sign of slackening with an even greater increase over the most recent 12 months. After reaching 1,762 last year, ...
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Analysis
Top 50 Indies own 25% of UK sites
The Top 50 Indies now account for almost 25% of the forecourts in the entire UK market, according to Forecourt Trader’s latest report on the biggest independent retailers.Editor Merril Boulton told an audience of more than 150 at the 2016 Top 50 Indies Dinner that between them they added 361 ...
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Analysis
Positive outlook
Last year saw a major landmark for the dealer sector in the UK as it powered ahead to represent nearly 70% of all UK forecourts. The decision by the major oil companies to continue selling off many of their retail assets has enabled a few of the larger independent groups ...
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Analysis
Rising through the ranks
In what has already been a hectic year for businesses in Forecourt Trader’s Top 50 Indies, another twist has just been added by HKS more than doubling in size to just under 60 sites in just three months. The growth spurt began when HKS acquired seven sites from the sell-off ...
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Analysis
World class
Euro Garages’ rapid growth in the UK since its formation in 2001 has already propelled it into third spot in the Forecourt Trader Top 50 Indies, and now it is aiming to become a leading player on a bigger stage. after a private equity firm agreed to invest in the ...
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Analysis
DCC completes €464m Butagaz purchase
Irish conglomerate DCC plc, the parent company of Certas Energy, has completed the purchase of Butagaz SAS, a liquefied petroleum gas business in France, from Shell for €464m (£338m). When the deal was announced in May DCC said the transaction would be its largest ever acquisition and was a ...
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Analysis
Pumping up the future
With Shell signing a deal for hydrogen refuelling stations (HFSs) at three of its sites, and Toyota launching its Mirai hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) in the UK, a new kind of fuel is finally gaining a little traction in this country. Oliver Bishop, general manager of hydrogen, ...
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Analysis
Deferred justice
Brobot Petroleum, a Top 50 Indie which operates 23 filling stations in the Midlands, has successfully appealed via the First Tier Tax Tribunal against HM Revenue Customs (HMRC) imposition of unreasonable conditions to obtain an excise duty Deferment Account Number: Oil Products. The case was prepared and ...
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Analysis
Mind the gap
Over the past few months, as the gap in wholesale prices for diesel and unleaded petrol has narrowed, a debate has raged between motoring organisations and retailers as to whether drivers were paying too much for diesel. While the AA and RAC pointed to the wholesale cost, the dealers explained ...
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Analysis
Growth attracts investors
Just days after Forecourt trader published its Fuel Market Review 2015, two big deals endorsed the Review’s observation that "all the signs continue to be positive for the retail forecourt sector in the UK". First up was MFG which already had a profile in the City due to the partnership ...
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Analysis
Delivering growth
Last month Booker Group plc surprised the industry by announcing a deal with Irish food wholesaler Musgrave Group plc, to buy its British offshoot, Musgrave Retail Partners GB which comprises the Londis and Budgens businesses for £40m. Completion of the acquisition is conditional on the approval of the Competition ...
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Analysis
Shell sell-off completed
Little more than a month after Esso announced it had agreed deals to sell off its remaining 201 company owned sites to independent dealers, another swathe of oil company sites is heading for the independent sector, after Shell concluded deals to sell 185 of its forecourts. As with the Esso ...
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Analysis
MFG unveils new strategy
Last month Top 50 Indie MFG announced plans to remove the Murco brand from all of its company-owned sites, and develop it as a brand exclusively for dealers. The decision followed MFG’s acquisition of Murco’s retail business on October 1, 2014, comprising 228 company-owned forecourts, and agreement to supply a ...
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Analysis
Stormy seas ahead?
After one of the most volatile quarters on record for fuel prices, International Petroleum Week in the middle of last month was perfectly timed to bring some clarity to the turmoil, and give dealers some guidance on what may happen to prices in the months ahead. One of the most ...
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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 ...