All Columnists articles – Page 3
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AnalysisSERVICE CENTRE: The Night Porter: it has its critics
Well, it’s not really the film I’m referring to with that headline. Does your petrol station have a night hatch? I had no idea that it was such a love-hate service. But I watched an episode of Room 101 the other night.
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AnalysisSERVICE CENTRE: Supply headaches and a call to lobby your MP
An uncertainty of supply equals one unhappy retailer. I had a call from Manpreet Bawa who runs Burnpark Service Station in Kilmarnock. It operates under the Gulf banner.
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AnalysisMONEY TALK: Economic madness
Sometimes it’s really difficult to watch or read the news without thinking that we’ve gone beyond ordinary ‘reality’ and entered the weird realm of the surreal, where nothing makes sense anymore and all logic has been thrown out of the window.
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AnalysisPIPELINE: A tale of two fuels
Gasoline prices in the European wholesale market have collapsed in recent months relative to crude futures, but diesel margins remain unprecedentedly high, creating a dilemma for refiners heading into winter.
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AnalysisSERVICE CENTRE: EV Chargers lagging behind space-age technology in the cars
Jac Roper has a cautionary tale about charging electric vehicles and news of changes at Nisa and Co-op
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AnalysisSERVICE CENTRE: A company this size should be more organised
It started with the measly sum of six quid. Chris and Marion Clarke traded as Marion’s Shop & Filling Station, on Rousay, the largest island in the Orkney Islands of Scotland.
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Product NewsSHOP TALK: Three cheers for UK holidays
Holiday cottage company Sykes does a study on UK holidays each year and says 2021 was a record-breaking year for staycations and it is expecting more of the same this year.
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AnalysisPIPELINE: Margins in focus as retail prices soar
Spreads between different grades of gasoline have widened sharply in the past month with the value of octane soaring.
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AnalysisSHOP TALK: The joy of soft drinks in the sun
Call me old-fashioned, but I can remember when soft drinks were all about the taste and refreshment but nowadays they seem to be all about the packaging and the fact that you can recycle the cans and bottles.
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AnalysisSERVICE CENTRE: It’s not what you know, it’s who you know
This story clearly demonstrates that it’s not what you know but who you know. Steve Smyth of Harwood Bros Motors (Wootton) Ltd with a forecourt shop and Lushington Garage at Ryde on the Isle of Wight, wrote to say that he was a new retailer with PayPoint.
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AnalysisCOMMENT: Fuel retailers are being unfairly blamed for sky-rocketing fuel prices
Retailers are being unfairly blamed for fuel prices skyrocketing and while there are reports of individual sites increasing prices excessively, this is absolutely the exception and not the rule.
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AnalysisMONEY TALK: Switch it off, or turn it down.
It seems that no sooner had the government boldly declared that there would be no windfall tax on energy suppliers, they decided that there would be something called an ’energy profits levy’ on energy suppliers, intended to raise £15bn for the Treasury.
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AnalysisCOMMENT: To remain even remotely competitive at the pump is a tough job!
Growing up, from a very early age, my father drilled into me a key business principle: the majority of successful decisions are all about timing. As true in life as it is in business.
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AnalysisMONEY TALK: We’ve got enough problems, without the ‘Saviours of Planet Earth’
In common with many other parts of the world, we’re seeing shortages of various goods and commodities – partly as a hangover from the Covid epidemic still causing disruption in China, and partly as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
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Analysis
PIPELINE: UK and Europe fear for diesel supply without Russia
UK and European diesel importers face an ominous challenge to meet diesel demand as Russian supply gets frozen out of the market.
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AnalysisSERVICE CENTRE: Image issues and banning unwanted customers
A couple of months ago I pondered the question of the unholy mix of fuel, food and flowers in a forecourt operation and the ‘bad press’ it often gets.
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Focus On FeatureSHOP TALK: Three cheers for Her Majesty the Queen
Not only is Queen Elizabeth II our longest reigning monarch, but she is also the reason for an extra Bank Holiday. You’ll all be aware that the Spring Bank Holiday has been moved to early June and added to a special Platinum Jubilee Bank Holiday to give people a four-day weekend (June 2-5).
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AnalysisPIPELINE: AdBlue supply returns and prices fall in April
A string of European urea plants restarted AdBlue production in late March, after being taken off line owing to record high natural gas prices.
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AnalysisMONEY TALK: A little sympathy for the Chancellor... anyone?
It’s not very often that anyone feels sympathy for a Chancellor of the Exchequer (and I’m not talking about the latest headlines!); but even the most hard-hearted observer ought to have just a little for Rishi Sunak following last month’s Spring Statement.
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AnalysisTECH TALK: Consultation on low-carbon fuels strategy is a welcome step for the industry
Some of you may have seen the Government’s recent call for ideas on the Low Carbon Fuels Strategy. A welcome step for the forecourt industry as it shows policy makers are looking at wider options.