All Columnists articles – Page 9
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Analysis
Tracy West: Retail commentator
This Christmas your present, as an independent retailer, should arrive on Christmas Eve. It will hopefully come in the form of the extra trade you’ll get once the grocery multiples shut their doors, typically at 4pm. And that is, of course, because of our Sunday Trading Laws and the fact ...
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Analysis
David Charman: md Parkfoot Garage
As we head towards another busy Christmas period, it’s time to reflect on the past year and try to make sense of what 2018 will bring to our ever-surprising business sector. Electric vehicles (EV) have certainly made all the headlines this year and undoubtedly they will have a role ...
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Analysis
Brian Madderson: PRA chairman
This government has a clear view that our future economic prosperity will be assured if the UK can emerge as global leaders in the race to a new transportation era. This involves automated vehicles and alternatively fuelled vehicles. The Secretary of State for DEFRA Michael Gove announced that there ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: Editor
It’s hard to believe that such a long-established company as Palmer and Harvey which was firmly entrenched in the life of many forecourt operations over a considerable period is no longer (see News Extra, page 10). I really feel for the hard-working and long-suffering staff, who invested considerable effort in ...
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Analysis
Charlotte Blum: analysis editor, Argus Media
Opec and its non-Opec partners decided on November 30 to extend their production cuts for another nine months, until the end of next year. Expectations of the deal had been keeping crude futures prices above $63/bl since November 22, supporting road fuel prices. UK retail prices have been rising ...
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Analysis
Tracy West: retail commentator
Now that Halloween is out of the way, you can turn your attention to creating some fabulous Christmas displays. I know in-store theatre is not everyone’s cup of tea but it is great for interrupting shoppers who can be are on auto pilot at this time of year. Yes, ...
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Analysis
Chris Hunt: UKPIA director general
Well, all good things must come to an end and for me that is the end of November when I retire from UKPIA after 20 years at the Association. One thing that marks our industry is constant change. On joining Elf (remember them?) in 1989, we were coming to ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: editor
The electric agenda seems to be pushing along at a high rate of knots at least as far as the headlines are concerned. Just this week PRA chairman Brian Madderson has twice given evidence to MPs on the subject. He first appeared as a witness before a committee of MPs ...
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Analysis
Ray Blake: PRA technical director
One of the services the Petrol Retailers Association offers to its members is that of conciliation between themselves and their suppliers particularly fuel ones. Our help is sought a number of times each year, most often when cross-overs have occurred (petrol into a diesel tank or vice versa), during a ...
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Analysis
Charlotte Blum: analysis editor, Argus Media
The after effects of Hurricane Harvey can still be felt at UK sites, with diesel prices at a wide premium to petrol. In the international markets, the premium has begun to shrink again now that US refineries have resumed normal operations, but growing underlying diesel demand is keeping distillate crack ...
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Analysis
Tracy West: Shop Talk
It’s not often nowadays that I get excited about a new product. That’s because most aren’t really new at all as often they’ve just been resurrected in new packaging. However, I’m loving the new Tic Tacs I discovered very recently. They’re called Breeze, they’re sugar free and they come in ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: editor
Editor It’s been a very mixed month full of excitement about the Forecourt Trader Awards; but also filled with such shock and sadness at the sudden death of Nick Lloyd, a genuinely all-round great guy, known particularly in the forecourt sector for the seven years he worked with Jeremy ...
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Analysis
Kevin Eastwood: BOSS - executive director
When I meet with forecourt retailers it is not uncommon to be told that they feel the police do not respond when they report incidents. Admittedly how each police force reacts to a report depends on each chief constable who determines how his or her force deploys their resources. ...
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Analysis
Charlotte Blum: Analysis editor
The effects of Hurricane Harvey initially drove road fuel markets higher in North West Europe after it hit the US Gulf coast on August 25, but only diesel remains tight. Diesel prices have risen from a discount to a premium to gasoline, which has widened the usual UK retail premium ...
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Analysis
James Lowman chief executive, ACS
At the end of September, we put our annual submission into government ahead of the Chancellor’s budget, setting out the measures that we believe will help the convenience sector in the coming year. You can read the submission in full on our website. There are three main areas that we ...
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Analysis
Tracy West: Shop Talk
As an old bird, technology or rather what it can do can baffle my brain. However, even I am aware of the power of social media. And, if you’ve not yet embraced Facebook, Instagram or Twitter then Halloween gives you the perfect opportunity. Photos of brightly coloured displays or ...
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Analysis
Electric revolution: Ramsay MacDonald
The demise of the combustion engine, signalled by recent announcements from almost all of the major car manufacturers, means in no uncertain terms that electric is the fuel front runner for the next generation of passenger cars. This creates a complex set of challenges but also exciting opportunities, both for ...
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Analysis
David Charman: Parkfoot Garage
So now we know that our beloved petrol stations have an end date, or do they? I have been around this industry all my life, man and boy, and during that time I have witnessed some huge changes in our industry. Back in the early 1970s, I would have been ...
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Analysis
Brian Madderson: PRA chairman
The most striking announcement of the summer was from Michael Gove on DEFRA’s policy on Clean Air. Conventional petrol and diesel combustion engines are to be banned in new cars from 2040, although hybrids will be permitted. Nevertheless this leaves PRA with much to do to protect and stimulate the ...
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Analysis
Merril Boulton: editor
Whether it’s the right direction or not, we seem to be hurtling towards an electric future as far as automotive transport is concerned, and we at Forecourt Trader will, as always, endeavour to keep you informed of all the latest developments hence the particular focus on the subject in this ...