All Prices - Retail monthly articles
-
NewsVan drivers to spend £2.5bn more on diesel this year
High diesel prices will see the UK’s millions of van and pickup drivers spend an additional £2.5bn at the pumps this year compared to 2025.
-
AnalysisCOMMENT: Further pain at the pump seems inevitable
UK diesel prices have reached a new record high, with the average price at forecourts rising to 199.76p per litre and 4,702 stations now selling diesel at 199.9ppl or more – up from around 1,200 sites just five days ago, and an unwelcome trend that looks set to continue.
-
NewsVolatile fuel market sees retailers increase prices 102,000 times in September
Sharply rising wholesale fuel costs have seen forecourt operators in the UK increase their prices 102,274 times already this month, four times the number of price hikes that were implemented in the whole of August.
-
AnalysisCOMMENT: This graph gives just a taste of the CMA’s woeful fuel-market analysis
You’ve got to hand it to the Competition and Markets Authority: it must take a certain strength of mind to ‘monitor’ fuel prices without acknowledging that tax is by far the biggest single reason why petrol and diesel are so expensive.
-
NewsCompetition and Markets Authority says fuel retailers are too “passive” with pricing
The Competition and Markets Authority continues to set its sights on the forecourt sector, warning that it is “concerned” that retailers’ “continued use of passive pricing strategies” is “causing sustained high margins”.
-
NewsFuel prices undergo sharp rise
The average cost of a litre of unleaded has risen 6.5p since the start of July, with diesel up 9p, as the Iranian conflict continues to cause elevated pump prices.
-
NewsDiesel price plunges by 17ppl in June
The average cost of a litre of diesel in the UK fell by almost 17p in June, from 183.75p at the start of the month to 167.14p at the end, as falling oil prices made their way through to forecourts.
-
NewsSuper unleaded sales resilient despite rising prices
Sales of super unleaded have remained largely stable despite pump prices rising significantly in recent months – though super diesel volumes have declined by a quarter.
-
NewsRAC hopes drivers will be “treated fairly by retailers” as it again bemoans fuel margins
Breakdown and insurance firm the RAC has implied fuel retailers are not treating motorists fairly in its latest ‘fuel watch’ press release.
-
NewsCMA admits to using “simple” profit calculations and not properly analysing fuel sector
The Competition and Markets Authority, which has warned forecourt operators they are “on notice” over concerns of unfair profits, has admitted the calculation it uses for estimating fuel margins is “a simple metric”, and that it has “not analysed” the sector fully.
-
NewsCompetition and Markets Authority detects little change in retailers’ fuel margins
The Competition and Markets Authority says that while it considers fuel margins remain “at historically high levels”, they rose just 0.4p in March, currently standing at the same 10.7ppl they resided at last year.
-
NewsAA puts fuel retailers down as it talks EV costs up
Following the RAC’s lead, the AA has become the second breakdown-and-insurance company of late to criticise fuel retailers for not fully passing savings brought about by falling wholesale prices on to consumers.
-
NewsRetail fuel prices fall by 2ppl in December, RAC estimates
Prices at the pump dropped by 2 pence per litre on average last month, according to the RAC’s latest ‘fuel watch’ analysis.
-
NewsRAC says drivers are in for a “costly Christmas” due to a tank of petrol costing £1.17 more
The RAC’s latest instalment in its ‘Fuel Watch’ programme warns that consumers are in for “a costly Christmas on the roads” due to a tank of diesel costing £2.11 more on average than it did at the end of October, while a tank of petrol is £1.17 more.
-
NewsRAC shies away from attacking fuel retailers for the first time in months
Criticism of fuel retailers is entirely absent in the RAC’s latest instalment of its monthly ‘Fuel Watch’ initiative, which has previously seen the company compare wholesale and retail prices to estimate operators’ margins while simultaneously accusing them of making excessive profits. This apparent change of heart follows hot on the heels of a comment piece published by Forecourt Trader.
-
NewsFuel duty hike looks increasingly likely as Budget 2025 looms
Speculation remains rife that this year’s Budget, due to be delivered on November 26, will bring with it an end to the five pence-per-litre discount on fuel duty introduced in 2022.
-
AnalysisCOMMENT: The RAC’s position on fuel retailers is untenable
Month in, month out, the RAC criticises fuel retailers for their margins, regardless of whether pump prices rise or fall. But there is a disconnect between the RAC’s reproval and its own profits, says Forecourt Trader’s Hugo Griffiths.
-
NewsRAC slams fuel retailers following £0.0077 price rise
Insurance, breakdown and second-hand-car company RAC has again criticised the “retailer behaviour” of forecourt operators, claiming there is “seemingly no justifiable reason” for the average cost of a litre of unleaded to have increased by 0.77 pence, or £0.0077, over the last month.
-
NewsCompetition and Markets Authority criticises fuel margins, again
The Competition and Markets Authority’s latest quarterly report on fuel prices has once more found that retail fuel margins have increased at both standard forecourts and supermarket petrol stations, despite the organisation benchmarking against a year when falling prices drove inflation down, and also admitting it has not taken wider economic factors into consideration.
-
NewsPRA hits back at RAC claims that “high retailer margins” are frustrating motorists
The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) has criticised the RAC after the breakdown and insurance company claimed that despite petrol and diesel prices falling in August, high retailer margins “are preventing drivers from benefiting from lower prices”.