All Columnists articles – Page 4
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AnalysisSERVICE CENTRE: Food, fuel, flowers; and advice on fraud
Why is it that people get sniffy about the quality of food available at forecourts? And their flower arrangements? There still seems to be plenty of prejudice around.
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AnalysisMONEY TALK: Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse…
It would seem that ’Covid’ has disappeared from the news in the past few weeks even more rapidly than it arrived more than two years ago – although some experts are quietly warning that this might be only a temporary relief, until the next variant arrives.
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AnalysisSERVICE CENTRE: What do customers think of E10? Lots of complaints about mpg...
What do your customers think of E10? I recently noticed a new thread trending on my local Nextdoor site. Lots of people were complaining that they are getting fewer miles per gallon with E10 fuel.
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AnalysisPIPELINE: Margins firm as Russian spectre looms
The European refined products market has entered the new year in a much stronger position than last, as markets begin to return to some normality in 2022 and ‘endemic’ has rapidly become the phrase du jour.
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Product NewsSHOP TALK: Time to embrace the theatrical
Mondelez is pulling out all the stops to win consumers over with two big promotions – one on Cadbury Dairy Milk and the other on Oreo.
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AnalysisMONEY TALK: Forecourt crime - nobody is listening
As if there wasn’t enough bad news around already as we head into 2022: Covid restrictions; inflation over 5%; consumers expected to be somewhat cash-strapped; and to top all of that forecourt crime is now costing forecourts nearly £100m per year.
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AnalysisSERVICE CENTRE: Jac Roper on small print and war of the brands
Jac Roper warns about the ‘average clause’ in any insurance policy; and Co-op versus Nisa - the war of the brands
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AnalysisSERVICE CENTRE: Communication breakdowns, local businesses and Christmas wishes
I was contacted by Amardeep Virdi, who runs Grove Service Station in Birmingham, regarding a problem with his dedicated EFT line.
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AnalysisMONEY TALK: The Amazon vs Visa row over credit card fees is interesting…
When two of the biggest beasts in the retail jungle square up to each other in a very public way, everyone around takes notice.
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AnalysisMONEY TALK: A rather unusual budget
The government has already had to spend vast amounts during Covid-19, and with the increase in National Living Wage and the scrapping of the pulic sector wage freeze, many economists are predicting inflation will be high next year.
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AnalysisSERVICE CENTRE: Jac Roper looks at problems with rationing and recruiting
Jac Roper looks at strategies taken to ration fuel, and one retailer’s difficulty of hiring through indeed.com
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AnalysisSHOP TALK: Is it chocolate? No, it’s a plant bar
Who’d be a vegan? Well, actually quite a lot of people if you look at the stats
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Analysis
MONEY TALK: It looks like we can expect a very hard winter…
From what’s going on all around us at the moment, it looks like we can expect a very hard winter
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AnalysisSERVICE CENTRE: Jac Roper on GripHero gloves and the new E10 fuel
Jac looks at problems with GripHero gloves and the new E10 fuel, and how a change of name caused problems at Camelot
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AnalysisPIPELINE: Turbulent September, October uncertain
A sudden fuel supply crisis in the UK and expected fallout from record-high natural gas prices on refineries made for a turbulent September in European refined products markets, and an uncertain outlook for October.
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AnalysisMONEY TALK: Business Rates - what now?
Nobody likes Business Rates. Some people dislike them simply because they are a tax – and any tax is to be avoided.
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AnalysisSERVICE CENTRE: Was she pulling a sickie?
Jac Roper warns about treading carefully when it comes to staff absences and a reader recommends a car-wash solution
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AnalysisMONEY TALK: The brakes have come off – but how long before another lockdown?
The brakes have come off and responsibility for Covid-19 has been handed over to us – but how long before another lockdown?
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AnalysisMONEY TALK: And the beat goes on… MFG & Morrisons
No sooner had the news gone out that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had cleared the Euro Garages tie-up with Asda, than reports of a similar prospective linkage began to surface: this time in the form of a bid from the owners of Motor Fuel Group (MFG) to buy the Morrisons supermarket chain.
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AnalysisMONEY TALK: Back to ‘normal’ then… or is it? But there maybe some wins for forecourts
Back to ‘normal’ then… or is it? It seems we are still a long way from those pre-Covid days, but there maybe some wins for forecourts