All Analysis articles – Page 6
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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 dealer ...
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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 authoritative ...
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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
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
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
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
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 section at ...
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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 be in ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Analysis
Positive momentum
The past year has been a busy one for the PRA, and its chairman Brian Madderson expects there will be no let up in 2014. Much of his time in 2013 was spent challenging and educating arms of government, such as the OFT, Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC), ...
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Analysis
News Review of 2013
January A PRA report warns that supermarket expansion could wipe out 800 independent forecourts by 2017. Former PRA president Paul Sykes sells his five Shaws forecourts to Midlands Co-op. February A long-awaited OFT report into the road fuel market gives it a clean bill of health to the disbelief ...
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Analysis
Regeneration Forum: Sticking points
The problems with planning, business rates, excise duty and card payments were spelt out in no uncertain terms as key concerns of the fuel retailing sector at the recent Regeneration Forum hosted by the Petrol Retailers’ Association, and organised in conjunction with the Department of Energy and Climate Change. In ...
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Analysis
Duty deferment: A sense of duty
As you may now be aware, there is a scheme for retailers to buy oil under duty-deferred terms from suppliers’ terminals. Using the ’standard’ deferment scheme, the price of the oil is invoiced by the supplier but without the duty and VAT being charged to the retailer. Instead, the duty ...
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Analysis
BOSS: Payback time
BOSS, the British Oil Security Syndicate, has welcomed confirmation from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) that it has issued new guidance to lawyers and police forces to prosecute motorists who repeatedly claim to have no-means-of-payment (NMoP). After lobbying from BOSS, the CPS has issued new legal guidelines to police and ...
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Analysis
Time for feedback
A new study looking at the attitudes of fuel customers and why they choose particular brands, has underlined the growing dominance of the supermarkets. Customer intelligence specialist Market Force Information, surveyed more than 1,500 consumers across the UK in an effort to understand the choices made when purchasing fuel.The finding ...