Forecourt retailers on the Planet panel of last week’s Summit were asked if they expected their sites to be more sustainable in 10 years’ time than they are today. The overwhelming answer was ‘yes’.
And the panelists promised much more of the same, including increased use of solar power, more EV charging and an even greater focus on energy efficiency.
Patrick Sewell, managing director of Top 50 Indie Sewell On The Go, said establishing what sustainability means was important as the word means different things to different people.
He said it had taken the last five or six years to understand what sustainability meant for his business and this has resulted in numerous initiatives such as insect hotels, wildflower verges and the use of solar panels. Sewell said planting wildflowers on the verges means you don’t need to cut the grass. He said it might sound a bit ‘twee’ but it provides a feelgood factor
Oliver Blake from Oasis Services Long Riston, Hull, told the audience how he had acquired an extra half acre of land and then had to take out some of the trees and hedgerows but they have since replanted hedgerows and are putting trees back in.
He said it was worth the effort as data shows about 20% of consumers would happily go and shop somewhere that is more sustainable than its competitors.
Blake said it was understandable to be sceptical about such figures but added: “We talk about the things we do on social media that involve the planet and sustainability, and they always get a good reaction from people.”
Another green initiative of which he is particularly proud is the fact that his car wash uses recycled water for everything, apart from rinse – and that saves about 100 litres of fresh water per car wash.
Tom Highland from the Highland Group spoke about rising energy costs and how putting doors back onto chillers has resulted in a big energy saving.
Blake said they also had doors on their chillers but were now turning their attention to lighting. “We over-lit the shop in the last refit so we are now looking at using warmer LEDs and redoing the lighting plan with about 20% less lights.”
Blake is keen on solar and has been looking at what they are doing in Europe where solar panels are often placed on canopies in car parks. “Such measures are not just about making the business more sustainable, they will reduce costs as well,” he explained.
Sewell said it was important to get staff on board with energy saving but that was fairly easy to do as it was a relatable issue because they were already doing it at home.
“You need to get staff to buy into it. We asked our team where they thought we might be wasting energy. We asked them whether we needed the air conditioning on all the time or the heating? And we now have a scoreboard which shows the number of units used so they can see how much we are saving by making changes.”
Ian Cawley, head of operations at Top 50 Indie, Park Garage Group (PGG), spoke about how they went for the best products available when it came to EV charging. PGG was the first independent forecourt to introduce 480kW chargepoints, which are wheelchair accessible, under a lit canopy.
“We needed to get something that would have a bit more longevity… so we chose to go in at the top end. We’re offering a premium product and we’re attracting drivers of premium EVs because of that.”
“Sunday is one of our busiest days for EV charging as drivers plan for the week ahead. We’ve found that people are prepared to drive a little further and pay a premium to use our chargers.”
Finally, David Charman from Parkfoot Garage in West Malling, Kent, spoke about installing HVO at the pump.
“We had an old red diesel tank so the infrastructure was broadly there and, with a new pump and some cleaning, we introduced HVO. I love to do things like this because it gives us something that we can talk about a lot with our customers.
“I’d love to say that it was setting the world alight and that more than one customer a day was using it, but that wouldn’t be true.”
Charman said he hoped the government might adjust the tax on HVO because currently it incurs the same tax rate as normal diesel, despite being a greener fuel.
He added that should HVO take off, then he could make it available from more nozzles if he wanted to at a later date.
“It’s a good thing for us to have and I hope that the buying public will come to understand what it is and embrace it in the future,” he said.
