A 12-month battle over 2010 Business Rates, during which more than 2,000 fuel retailers lodged appeals, has resulted in some notable triumphs for the lobbying team – led by RMI Petrol – and most importantly for the industry.

Almost a year to the day since Brian Madderson was made chairman of RMI Petrol, he has been able to announce some “very good reductions to Rateable Values, which will be of real financial benefit to the industry”.

The savings have been calculated at around 10% - 25% per site for a large proportion of the UK network.

The announcement came following a meeting last month at the Valuation Office Agency HQ in London, where changes to the 2010 Petrol Filling Station (PFS) valuation scheme were revealed.

The meeting followed a long campaign to address the inequitable nature of the Business Rates scheme for the fuel retailing industry, which threatened to put at least 5% of forecourts out of business by 2015.