All Forecourt Trader articles in April 2011
View all stories from this issue.
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News
Retailers see red over ’unfair’ pricing tactics
Growing evidence of suspected predatory or unfair pricing by certain oil company and supermarket sites is being gathered by RMI Petrol. RMIP chairman Brian Madderson has written to the government calling for an investigation into what are being described as ‘unfair practices’. He wants forecourt retailers to send him any ...
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Van drivers go further for cheap fuel
Van drivers travel further than any other drivers to get cheaper fuel. So says a new survey from insurers Swinton Commercial. The company quizzed 1,200 online customers and found that 45% of van drivers would drive to a forecourt for a cheaper deal even if it was not the closest ...
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Petrol prices are nation’s biggest worry
The price of petrol is the number one concern for Britons today. In its first-ever Life Index, Swiftcover found that 61% of consumers said their biggest worry was the price of petrol and diesel. And 23% of respondents said they were ‘extremely concerned’ by it. The next most worrying things ...
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News
Initiatives and dealer awards at BP convention
Graham Peacock, chief executive of the UK’s biggest independent retailer, MRH, was awarded the Long Service and Loyalty award at the recent BP dealer convention in Athens. The award was also presented to Bob and Adela Rottner (Three Springs, East End and Whittingham Road Service Station); and Lynwen and Ifor ...
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News
NWF Fuels signs with Murco
Murco Petroleum has signed a five-year retail branded distributorship agreement with NWF Fuels, one of the UK’s leading fuel distributors with a dealer network of around 80 forecourts.NWF Fuels will be Murco’s non-solus distributor to forecourts that have entered into their own arrangements for motor fuels supply with NWF. These ...
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News
Gulf site named oldest in Europe
Riddesdell Brothers service station in Boxford, Suffolk has been named Europe’s oldest recorded working garage.The 110-year-old site may not offer all the mod cons of a modern forecourt but it continues to offer attended service and the fill-up and checking of oil, water and tyre pressure come as standard.Proprietor Howard ...
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A fifth of forecourt shoppers don’t buy fuel, reveals HIM
The proportion of fuel-only forecourts shoppers is continuing to rise, but one in five shopping at petrol stations are only buying shop items, according to findings from HIM’s Convenience Tracking Programme 2011.The research revealed that 52% of those who visit a forecourt are now only buying fuel, rising from 43% ...
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Forecourt Watch broadens in Scotland
Strathclyde Police has broadened its association with the British Oil Security Syndicate (BOSS) and independent retailers to introduce Forecourt Watch in East Kilbride and Strathaven in a bid to tackle drive-offs.The East Kilbride and Strathaven scheme, being rolled out at 11 key sites in the district, is the latest addition ...
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News
Bishop Retail gears up for Royal wedding celebrations
Top 50 Independent Bishop Retail is gearing up for festivities across the Royal Wedding bank holiday weekend with fancy-dress and fundraising fun days.The sites in the north-east of England, run by Mace retailer Darren MacDonald, will be decked out in patriotic British colours, giving away free balloons and crowns, and ...
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News
32 Spar stores up for sale
Thirty-two SPAR stores from the estates of A F Blakemore and Son Limited and Capper & Co Limited are being marketed for sale by retail business advisor Christie & Co. Twenty-two of the stores are located in the north-east, eastern counties, midlands and south-west of England, with a ...
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Fuel retailers must invest in new technology to reduce queues at the pump
Motorists will face increasingly long queues at petrol stations unless fuel retailers install new payment technologies such as pay-at-pump systems, according to a new report by Datamonitor. Alex Jeater, a retail analyst at Datamonitor, and author of the report ’Payment Behavior and Technologies in European Service Station Retail’, said: “While ...
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News
Jet site encourages safe driving
Jet is encouraging young drivers to be safe on the road by giving out road safety packs on 38 sites across the UK. Young drivers who have taken their Pass Plus course within the past 12 months are eligible for the packs. The first five who present their Pass Plus ...
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News
Licensing decision could open floodgates
A decision at the Court of Session in Scotland to allow BP and Marks & Spencer’s Simply Food to sell alcohol at its forecourts in Edinburgh and Glasgow is expected to open the floodgates for more off licence applications north of the border.The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 had aimed to ...
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Hotel offers free petrol with room booking
A luxury hotel in Bournemouth is giving away free petrol with bookings. The four-star Norfolk Royale will refund the cost of a tank of petrol to couples who stay for three nights in an executive room.Manager Clive Moss said everybody was trying to come up with offers and he had ...
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News
Amscreen signs up Welcome Break to digital forecourt network
Digital media network owner Amscreen has today announced a deal with motorway services operator, Welcome Break, for 63 digital signage screens to be installed in the WHSmith-branded stores and forecourt stores within its motorway service areas. As part of the deal, screens will be installed into Welcome Break’s 27 locations ...
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News
HOW TO ENTER GIVEAWAYS
Write your name, address and phone number on a postcard or sealed envelope stating what you want – Fairy or Varta – and we’ll do the rest, including delivery. Send it to us at Forecourt Trader, William Reed Business Media, ...
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News
New record high for unleaded
Fuel prices have hit a new record high following a week in which oil prices soared to $121 a barrel. The Financial Times reported the figure was a record oil price in terms of sterling, because although it was below the $147-a-barrel record set in June 2008, the 17% fall ...
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News
DTZ to partner Statoil in retail estate development strategy
DTZ has been chosen as a partner by Statoil Fuel & Retail to support the development of a real estate asset management strategy across its broad retail network.The global real estate services firm will advise the Scandinavian road transport fuel retailer on its real estate portfolio which includes 2,300 petrol ...
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Co-op on acquisition trail with purchase of Shropshire forecourt
The Co-operative Group has bought DAB Stores, the garage forecourt and supermarket business in Minsterley, Shropshire in a deal worth in the region of £1.6 million, in a further signal of its intent to make significant store acquisitions. Business agents Christie & Co sold the business on behalf of the ...
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News
Peregrine Retail opens first redeveloped forecourt
Independent convenience retailer Peregrine Retail opened its first redeveloped forecourt at Ringwood, Hampshire today. The Budgens of Blashford BP-branded site, which took one year in the planning, has been redeveloped to increase the store size from a 400sq ft Spar store to a 2,300sq ft Budgens. The c-store ...