All Latest News articles – Page 445
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NewsEsso pulls out of Northern Ireland
Esso is to pull out of Northern Ireland following the announcement by Maxol that it is to acquire 13 Esso company-owned forecourts in the region. The purchase is part of Maxol’s all-Ireland development strategy, and it plans a £5m modernisation programme for the sites. The move increases its number of ...
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Jet top in PRA survey
Jet has come top of the PRA’s dealer survey for the third time in a row, while Esso and Shell are considered the worst.Ray Holloway, director of the PRA, said the latest survey of retailers’ views of their relationships with oil companies has revealed that better communication is what the ...
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Total is praised for underage scheme
Total has been praised by Trading Standards for the successful implementation of its underage drinking policy, ‘Challenge 21’. Trading Standards were apparently so impressed by the professionalism displayed at a Total service station in Sunderland, that the team also received an award from the local Mayor.Sarah Sutton, communications manager at ...
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Shell unveils plans for 100 ‘clusters’
Retailers operating Shell’s 570 company-owned sites are facing an uncertain future following the unveiling of plans for a new multi-site contract at roadshows around the country. Shell’s latest strategy is for its company-owned sites to be run in groups of about six, operated by one organisation – be it as ...
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United Co-op buys Action Stations
United Co-operatives, the largest independent co-operative society in the UK – with a £1.9billion turnover – has bought Action Stations, which operates in the Yorkshire, north east and Nottingham areas. It has acquired seven sites – based at Wakefield, Pontefract, Ossett, Barnsley, Huddersfield, Retford and Sunderland – which form part ...
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Attacker sent to jail
A court has heard how a petrol station employee was viciously attacked and repeatedly kicked as he lay on the forecourt.The victim – who had earlier been taunted with calls of ‘Paki’ from his two attackers – has been so traumatised by the incident that he has given up his ...
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NewsJewers returns to boost Gulf brand
Keith Jewers has returned to the Gulf brand which he left when Chevron sold its UK interests in the mid-90s. He has been appointed director of Gulf Retail, which has signed 150 dealers in the three years since the brand returned to the UK. In the intervening years Jewers ...
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Morrisons will sell off BP/Safeway sites
Morrisons is planning to sell off its share of the 61 BP Safeway Partnership sites following the disbandment of the eight-year-old joint venture, announced last month. BP will continue to supply fuel to Morrisons’ 30 sites for the time being, but Bob Stott, Morrisons chief executive, said: “We have received ...
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news in brief
ROADCHEF is rolling out a new format for its forecourt shops, following a six-month consultation with retail consultancy Breathing Space. Analysis of sales at trial sites – Watford Gap and Clacket Lane – have shown that while fuel volume is remaining static, basket spend is up by 5%. Mike Hobbs, ...
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Total on the defence
Total has issued a statement regarding our latest Shop Doctor report in which its site in Eastleigh, Hampshire gets a further hammering.“Total took Forecourt Trader’s article last year very seriously and as a result have made a number of improvements The shop area is the responsibility of Co-op, and we ...
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Premium fuel range rolled out by Total
Total has launched a premium diesel and unleaded fuel which it claims offers 30 more miles per tankful, cares for the car engine and creates less pollution.Total Excellium will be premium priced in line with Shell Optimax, BP Ultimate and Esso Energy Supreme, and Excellium Unleaded will replace Super Unleaded ...
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Blue Book published
The new edition of the ‘Blue Book’ – for the design, construction, modification, maintenance and decommissioning of filling stations, is now available. Produced jointly by the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration and the Service Station Panel of the Energy Institute, it costs £120 and can be ordered by calling ...
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News in brief
THE FORUM OF PRIVATE BUSINESS is warning small companies that they should query their new business rates bill if they believe it is too high. More than 1.5 million business rate bills are dropping into firms’ letter boxes over the next few days as a result of new rateable values, ...
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PRA welcome for the ‘velvet’ Budget
Fuel prices are likely to remain volatile during the spring, so the Chancellor Gordon Brown’s decision to freeze fuel duty levels until September is a wise one – especially with a general election on the horizon – according to Ray Holloway, director of the Petrol Retailer’s Association, commenting on last ...
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Star’s car used in raid
A football star’s car was stolen and used in at least two late-night forecourt raids in the Glasgow area before being dumped.The Audi, owned by Celtic goalkeeper Magnus Hedman, was caught on security camera footage at Bothwell Services on the southbound M74 and the nearby Hamilton Services beside the northbound ...
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Sky TV will pay for CCTV crime clips
Crime could finally pay for forecourt traders thanks to a new, forthcoming Sky One documentary.Raw Cut TV is offering to pay £500 for clips of robberies, shop thefts, drive-offs and drunken behaviour caught on camera for an eight-part series about street crime.But series producer Steve Warr said the programme is ...
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Site data reveals radical change
Up to 458 forecourts closed last year but the site numbers highlight an underlying change in structure of the petrol retailing market in the UK, according to latest figures from Catalist.Although there are discrepancies in the quoted figures – Catalist puts site numbers at the end the 2004 at 10,475, ...
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Health concerns fuel chilled meal growth
Forecourts should take advantage of the growing consumption of chilled ready meals, which now account for more than 50% of the average Briton’s spend on prepared meals, according to a new report by Datamonitor.Danielle Rebelo, consumer analyst at Datamonitor and author of the report – entitled ‘Insights into Tomorrow’s Prepared ...
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Small shops under threat, say reports
The future viability of small forecourt stores is being threatened by the Office of Fair Trading’s blinkered view of the grocery market, according to new reports by the Association of Convenience Stores.The two reports – one focusing on the decline of independent small shops in Britain and the other on ...
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ACS offers advice amid Sudan 1 chaos
Retailers have had a major headache on their hands since the warning announcement this month from the Foods Standards Agency about food products containing Sudan 1. Many have complained that not enough information has been forthcoming from official sources – but there has been plenty of speculation in the media ...