All Forecourt Trader articles in October 2005
View all stories from this issue.
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News
New look for Wild Bean Café at launch of M&S Simply Food trial
BP’s Wild Bean Café format was quietly re-launched this week as the oil giant unveiled its new partnership with M&S Simply Food at its forecourt in Hammersmith.At the opening event for the Simply Food trial - which will be rolled out at eight UK sites - Graham Sims, retail director ...
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News
Texaco sells 14 sites to Petrol Express
Texaco Ltd has sold 14 of its UK service stations to independent forecourt operator and distributor, Petrol Express. The sites are expected to transfer to Petrol Express once the relevant stock-taking and systems changes have taken place. This announcement follows the sale of 118 Texaco sites to Somerfield in ...
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NewsWinning Trader
Susie Hawkins, partner in the Gloucestershire-based Simon Smith Group, has been crowned this year’s Forecourt Trader of the Year, at the petrol retailing industry’s most prestigious awards ceremony, held at London’s Hilton Park Lane hotel on September 15. She received her award from Forecourt Trader editor Merril Boulton and the ...
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News
Seasonal snacking
Walkers aims to bring Christmas cheer to retailers with a range of festive crisps and snacks.Walkers Sensations seasonal editions will include Christmas pan-fried sausage & sage flavour in 150g sharing bags, and new roast pork & creamy mustard sauce flavour in 40g standard and 150g sharing bags.The popular Thai sweet ...
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NewsScratchcard scoop
Lesley Brennan (pictured in the car) picks up a cheque for £10,000 after scooping the top prize in a scratchcard competition at her local Texaco service station, MBE Motor Services in Little Lever. Her cheque was one of 90,000 prizes worth around £5million won by Texaco customers across the country. ...
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NewsPole position
While there is growing debate among retailers about the display of polesign fuel prices, one man is not waiting around. Tony Barlow of Local Service Stations in Shrewsbury has taken them down – and hasn’t looked back. “I took the prices down in May 2004 and very few people commented,” ...
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News
Power play
Every year battery manufacturers seem to launch the ‘longest lasting battery ever’. To the uninitiated this might appear to be just some marketing ploy, but apparently the manufacturers really have to – to keep up with all the high-drain appliances that consumers love. Digital cameras and MP3 players gobble battery ...
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AnalysisPanic stations
Fuel crisis – what fuel crisis? And lo and behold there was a fuel crisis. It didn’t take long for panic buyers to come out in force, causing huge problems on the forecourts in the week beginning September 14. Nearly a week’s worth of fuel was sold within 24 hours, ...
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NewsUpping the Pace
While the major oil companies continue their gradual retreat from frontline retailing – leaving retailers with fewer supplier options – companies such as Pace Petroleum Ltd are stepping into the breach, bringing new offerings to the dealer market.Pace Petroleum was formed last year following the acquisition of the former Kuwait ...
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News
Pastries roll out
Ginsters is adding a taste of the Mediterranean to its range with the launch of a new olive oil pastry.The Bakes range is wrapped in a light olive oil flaky pastry, with a distinctive flavour normally associated with Mediterranean-style recipes. The range, which has taken more than a year to ...
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NewsVBi new solution
VBi Retail Solutions has gone into partnership with YesPay, suppliers of electronic funds transfer payment services, to accelerate card payment authorisation. YesPay’s Emboss bureau service, which is an online EMV chip & pin and magnetic credit/debit card transaction processing service, has been integrated into VBi’s Illumina 3000 outdoor payment terminal ...
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News
Maintenance service overhaul success
Gilbarco Veeder-Root has overhauled its repair and maintenance service and as a result reports a 30% rise in call response rates. The company’s team of 200 engineers makes more than 9,000 service visits a month, and depending on the service level agreements taken out, reponse times vary from four hours ...
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News
Mo’gas: An irreverent view from the network
To SAY SEPTEMBER has been an interesting month is a little bit of an understatement. As I write this article Hurricane Rita is coming onshore. Quite often, when a disaster is anticipated the actual event is thankfully less severe. It’s the ones that aren’t anticipated that seem to be more ...
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News
High spirits
Off licences have been a hot topic lately with the widely publicised changes in licensing laws. But while forecourts are yet to see the full implications of the new regulations, it’s clear that alcohol is an increasingly important part of the shop offer.Those retailers that managed to take advantage of ...
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News
Greenergy’s new super fuel at Tesco
A new super fuel, Super Unleaded 99 Octane, will be available in 100 Tesco forecourts across London and the South East by mid-November. The fuel is supplied by independent fuel company Greenergy, which claims the unleaded fuel will have the highest octane of any fuel available on UK forecourts. ...
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News
Pork Farms hots up
Pork Farms is launching a range of hot pies exclusively for c-stores.There are three flavours: chicken & gravy, steak, and minced steak & onion.Pork Farms’ marketing director, Gary Johnston, says: “This is an exciting opportunity to broaden the appeal of our highly successful product range. We firmly believe that ...
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News
An eye in the sky
Skyguard is a new personal safety service for lone workers at risk. Ideal for forecourt staff, particularly at night, Skyguard combines a pocket-sized personal safety device, called a Skyminder, with a 24-hour emergency response centre. A staff member in trouble raises the alarm using the Skyminder and the response centre ...
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News
Dishing out fivers
In a bid to educate consumers about the 100% natural ingredients used in its Birds Eye range, Unilever Ice Cream & Frozen Foods is embarking on a Fight for Real Food campaign.The initiative kicks off with an instant-win on-pack promotion, which gives shoppers the chance to find £5 notes hidden ...
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News
Sterling detector
Tellermate has unveiled the PoundMate counterfeit note detector, said to be the first of its kind as it’s able to detect the security thread in sterling notes and decipher the unique magnetic code embedded in the thread.Cashiers pass the notes through the detector and a green light and audio signal ...