All Forecourt Trader articles in May 2013 – Page 4
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News
Hudson’s is top dog
Country Choice says its new Hudson’s hot dog offer gives retailers the chance to expand their food-to-go ranges with a concept that requires minimal counter space and offers a profit margin of 40%-plus. The eight-and-a-half inch hot dogs, which are steam-cooked for a better taste, contain 87% pork and are ...
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News
DIY range extended
Vehicle wash supplier Wilcomatic has introduced new DIY ranges with the aim of improving forecourt customer service and retailer profit.The new DIY offerings included the Mercur vacuum range and the Mosmatic dryer unit for use with jet washes.The Mercur Auto Vac 3000 vehicle vacuum cleaner comes as a single or ...
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News
Hot, Quick and Tasty is definitely the way to go
The market for ’quick, hot meals’ is currently worth £350m in the UK but is set to grow to over £500m in the next 10 years, according to Nielsen data. These products which can be prepared in less than five minutes and eaten hot are currently consumed by ...
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News
OFT looks at P&H symbol group deal
Costcutter’s boss said he was confident its deal to take over Palmer and Harvey’s symbol groups will be approved, after the Office of Fair Trading said it was considering the deal.Commenting on the decision, Costcutter CEO Darcy Willson-Rymer, said: "The impact on market competition was part of our considerations when ...
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News
Day in the Life: There’s no such thing as a typical day for James
I’ve always considered myself more of a night owl than an early bird but it’s impossible to ignore the wife’s 6.30am alarm. For her, living in Kent and working in London means an early train commute and for me, it’s a grumpy start and taxi duty to the station before ...
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News
Supermarkets follow each others price cuts
The four major supermarket groups have reflected falling wholesale prices and favourable exchange rates with three rounds of price cuts during April.The first round was kicked off by Morrisons on April 9 announcing it would cut the price of diesel by 2 pence per litre (ppl) the next day and ...
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Analysis
Peter Harding - Retail technology consultant
Something that has been on my mind for some time, and is a fascinating new technology, is 3D printing. Yes, the ability to print items in 3D ie solid. This technology allows users to print a solid object from a CAD drawing. What? I hear you say. The ability to ...
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News
Harvest and Spar unveil new concept
Harvest Energy has launched a collaboration with Spar which offers independent dealers a new branded forecourt concept, and they are already negotiating deals on three potential sites.The new format has access to Harvest Energy’s fuel supply and will feature the Spar brand on the forecourt’s canopy, pumps, pole sign and ...
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News
New colour and height at WashTec
WashTec’s entry-level rollover car wash, the EasyWash, has been extended to offer a wider choice of heights and enhanced decoration to appeal to car wash customers and, at the same time, fit into the range of existing bays.The machine can be specified in four heights from 2m to 2.9m vehicle ...
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Analysis
Chris Hunt: UKPIA director general
As I write this, our never-ending winter seems to be continuing, although some sections of the media have become excited because temperatures might approach the dizzy heights of 14oC! I’m sure that this is the sort of weather the Chancellor would have preferred not to have seen on the grounds ...
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News
Magnum in choc form
Ice cream giants Magnum, Cornetto and Mini Milk are now available in chocolate form thanks to a licensing deal between Unilever UK and Kinnerton.The Magnum packs contain three chocolates with a "silky soft vanilla centre". Packs say they offer consumers a "new chocolate experience".The Mini Milks are milk and white ...
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News
Pumps: Cash converters
Consumers are used to putting cash in a machine whether it’s when they’re paying for parking, buying a ticket at the train station or settling the basket shop at a self-service checkout in the supermarket. So the arrival of cash acceptance on the forecourt was probably only a matter of ...
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News
Card payments shock
Many retailers suffered an unpleasant surprise last month when back charges on their BP/Shell transactions were suddenly taken from their accounts following the ending of Rontec’s polling contract with GB Oils on March 31 (see Service Centre, May 2013 issue, link below). Sheila Gee’s Gulf (former Total) site at Wednesbury ...
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News
in brief
Gun pointed at cashierA lone female assistant had a gun pointed at her and was threatened during an armed robbery at Hatton Service Station in Uttoxeter Road, Derby. She was shaken but unhurt after a masked man entered the Esso service station at night on Thursday April 18. He escaped ...
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News
Brightening breakfast
Tropicana’s latest on-pack promotion gives consumers the chance to win £5 every minute of the morning. Brand owner PepsiCo reckons the activity across the entire single-serve range will brighten up breakfast sales for retailers.According to a PepsiCo breakfast study, 55% of consumers leave home without having had breakfast ...
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News
Merril Boulton: An explosive month for news
I don’t think I’d be overstating it if I said April got off to an explosive start, literally, when thieves blew up a cashpoint on a petrol station forecourt (see CCTV footage via our website www.forecourttrader.co.uk).The blast took place at a Texaco-branded forecourt in Weyhill, Hampshire. Apparently thieves blew up ...
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NewsShop Doctor: In the surgery this month - Joblings Garage, Bicester, Oxon
GENERAL APPEARANCE: A Forecourt Trader reader suggested a visit to a site with friendly staff, Joblings Garage in Bicester. It is a BP/Mace site, right next door to the Joblings family’s official Kia and Peugeot new and used motor business. FORECOURT: The garage, with its BP corporate pole and ...
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NewsSymonds has the ’Best Loo’
Symonds Forecourt’s Wells store won the Best Forecourt Loo 2013 Award, which was announced at the exclusive Forecourt Trader Lunch at the Forecourt Show at the NEC. Store manager Jason Tamplin was presented with a certificate and trophy by Forecourt Trader editor Merril Boulton and Chris Hayfield, managing director of ...
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News
Can you bank on it?
Money really does make the world of retailing go round. And it’s controlled by the banks along with other financial institutions that are all clever enough to make finance such a complicated subject that none of us, not even ’them’, fully understand it on all levels (including Gordon Brown, when ...
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News
Forecourts triumph in Nisa awards ceremony
Forecourt stores have won more than half the retail categories at the annual awards for Nisa members and suppliers.The awards were presented during the annual dinner at Stoneleigh Park, with forecourts picking up three of the six retail awards, in addition to the Best Forecourt category.Nisa Local, Oxbridge Lane, Stockton-on-Tees, ...