All Analysis articles – Page 4
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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, ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Analysis
Present and future
Total retail fuel volumes show a continuing trend of decline, PRA chairman Brian Madderson told an audience of forecourt and convenience retailers and suppliers at last month’s Forecourt Forum at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. Madderson said he had been working more closely with the Oil Gas Statistics ...
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Analysis
A charge for change
Fuel cards everybody moans about the margins, but continues to accept them as they are used in the transactions of around 20% of an average site’s fuel volume. They are key generators of fuel and non-fuel sales. But at what cost? Behind the scenes, dealers nationwide are taking ...
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Analysis
Maximising value
Forecourt Trader’s 2014 Fuel Market Review reports that an historic tipping point has been reached, with the first increase in the number of forecourts recorded since the ’60s, and a significant upturn in the number of dealer sites, and this change is being reflected by a surge of interest in ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...