Valero has added three new sites to the Texaco brand, growing its site numbers in Northern Ireland.

One of the latest sites to sign up with Texaco is Hendersons Seagoe Filling Station in Portadown, County Armagh. Owned by Henderson Retail, one of Northern Ireland’s largest independent fuel site operators, the filling station used to be under the BP brand for a number of years. Henderson Retail have sold Texaco fuel at its Saintfield Road site in nearby Lisburn since 2014.

Ron Whitten, chief financial officer, Henderson Group, said: “Texaco is a trusted fuel brand known for its high quality and performance, and what Valero could offer us in terms of fuel supply reliability and their support team meant switching to the Texaco brand would help us to maximise our site performance.”

Also new to the Texaco brand are two sites owned by Woods Supermarket, Tandragee Service Station and Dobbin Road Service Station, both in County Armagh, which were previously Topaz branded.

“We wanted to offer our customers a strong forecourt image and a rewarding loyalty programme,” owner Philip Woods said.

“We have a long standing relationship with Valero as one of our other sites, Fruitfield Service Station, is already under the Texaco brand. We have been very pleased with how the business has developed over the years and the commitment they are showing to the Texaco brand in the region. This was the obvious fuel brand of choice for our sites.”

Having brought DCC’s fuel terminal in Belfast to strengthen its supply position in 2018, Valero has been able to offer a more flexible and competitive service for the region’s fuel retailers. This has been supported by the appointment of a new sales manager, Samantha Passi to oversee the development of Texaco and reinforce Valero’s commitment to Northern Ireland.

Passi, who joined the Valero team in February 2019, said: “My aim when I started, was to show retailers how committed Valero is to the region and how we want to work with retailers to help them deliver a reliable and more competitive service for their customers. I’m thoroughly pleased we’ve been able to achieve this and it’s fantastic so many retailers have switched over to the Texaco brand.”

Andrew Cox, Valero’s director sales and marketing, added: “It’s been great to see the Texaco brand have so much success in Northern Ireland recently. I hope with our strong heritage, quality fuel offering and focus on building strong partnerships with our retailers, we can look forward to seeing continued success in 2020.”