All Retailers articles – Page 16

  • News

    Fortunes on the Rise

    2016-03-04T00:00:00Z

    Suci and Aruna Sucindran own and operate Yari Petroleum Ltd, known as Bishops Rise Service Station, a 3.9mlpa modern freehold site situated in Hatfield, Herts. It recently rebranded to Gulf, the first of a number of important steps the couple are taking as they look to the future. Formerly a ...

  • News

    All Hans on deck at Ravensthorpe

    2016-02-01T00:00:00Z

    Ravensthorpe Service Station recently distinguished itself by being recognised as the 500th Gulf-branded forecourt. But it is also making a name for itself in its local town of Dewsbury, having been transformed into a leading edge forecourt and convenience operation following a four-month knock-down-rebuild. Almost as a timely gift for ...

  • News

    Redditch rejuvenated

    2015-09-28T00:00:00Z

    The sale of Brooklyn Motors, Redditch, in 2009 signalled a crossroads in the career of Jackie Braziel. She was the forecourt manager but unfortunately the new owners, Bristol Street Motors, had no plans for a filling station.David Hill, a work colleague and friend for over 25 years, suggested that they ...

  • News

    Winning legacy

    2015-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Winning Forecourt Trader of the Year was amazing," says Jay Gohil, managing director of the Gohil family business, centred in Cosford, Albrighton, Wolverhampton. "It opened a lot of doors for us. The fact we won the award meant people like the Lakeside Group asked us to join. That changed a ...

  • News

    Ups and downs

    2015-09-16T00:00:00Z

    The past year has been a high-profile one for fuel, with volatile petrol and diesel prices often making headlines, including claims in January that average petrol prices might even fall below £1 per litre.From a peak in July last year of 131.6ppl for unleaded petrol and 136.1ppl for diesel, plummeting ...

  • News

    Passing the baton

    2015-09-16T00:00:00Z

    Susie Hawkins always knew she was going to join the family business Top 50 Indie the Simon Smith Group but she joined sooner than she’d intended. "I was never going to go straight into it so I did a Masters then worked in the city first in insurance broking then ...

  • News

    Allied for success

    2015-08-06T00:00:00Z

    In 1988, Peter and Pat Bellini bought a piece of land and set about building a forecourt and shop. Today, Bellini’s of Ilkeston is a flag bearer for small businesses; a multi award- winning site (the couple won Forecourt Trader of the Year in 2004) and the last remaining independently ...

  • News

    Making a difference

    2015-07-24T00:00:00Z

    Slowly but surely, and using a tried and trusted formula, Peregrine Retail is making its mark in the South West of England.Six years after it was formed as a joint venture between Forelle Estates, which wholly owns the business, and a management team headed by John Mason as managing ...

  • News

    Sandringham gem

    2015-06-11T00:00:00Z

    HKS, the Leicester-based Top 50 Indie, last month celebrated its 31st birthday with the launch of its flagship site, HKS Sandringham, its biggest development to date. It was a busy month for the successful Thakrar family business, with confirmation that it has acquired seven new sites from Shell, to add ...

  • News

    Sewell on the go opens new lorry park

    2015-05-13T00:00:00Z

    The first purpose-built lorry park on the A63 Westbound, at Hull, has been opened by Sewell on the go, which is ranked 23rd in Forecourt Trader’s Top 50 Indies. The £250,000 development located at the Hull West A63 Westbound branch, which has 14 designated bays for HGVs, follows a £1m ...

  • News

    Life’s a Breeze for Harvest

    2015-05-13T00:00:00Z

    Last month Harvest Energy launched a new sub-brand Breeze on a redeveloped site at Holmer Green, near High Wycombe. The company describes it as the first ’virtually attended’ filling station in the UK. The ’attendants’ are 100 miles away in Peterborough, remotely operating the forecourt as if they were on ...

  • News

    Forecourt sites win two Londis awards

    2015-05-13T00:00:00Z

    Two forecourts picked up awards when Londis announced the winners of its annual Store of the Year awards. The award for the Londis Forecourt of the Year 2015 was presented to Brian and Joan Charlton of Londis Middleton Service Station, Pickering, North Yorkshire. In addition Certas Energy won the award ...

  • News

    The forecourt site saga

    2015-04-07T00:00:00Z

    As I arrive at Exelby Services’ new £6.5m filling station and truck stop just off the A1M at Leeming Bar, I am greeted with a broad smile the type of smile that reflects a great sense of pride and relief that this state-of-the ...

  • News

    Smiles all round

    2015-04-07T00:00:00Z

    It’s happy days for Mike Cheskin’s two Gulf-branded Gloucestershire forecourts as volumes and profits have increased by over 25% and his daughter Ruth demonstrates that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Mike’s long career in petrol retailing began in 1968, working for the Alan Pond Group in East ...

  • News

    A growing force

    2015-03-06T00:00:00Z

    The total number of sites run by the Top 50 Indies has surged by more than 300 compared with last year, boosted by MFG’s acquisition of more than 220 sites from Murco, and the continuing sell-off of sites by other oil companies. Between them the Top 50 companies account for ...

  • News

    Boosting value

    2015-03-06T00:00:00Z

    You don’t expect to see pallets loaded with bulk packs of products in a forecourt convenience store, but that’s just what you get at Bush Service Station, one of Top 50 Indie Falcon Sharma’s 12-strong network of forecourts in and around the Midlands. In fact the store is bristling with ...

  • News

    Full of beans

    2015-02-02T00:00:00Z

    It’s going to be an especially busy year for Joe Richardson, managing director of Goole-based Jos Richardson & Son, a family-owned business with five forecourts in the north east. Having recently completed a £150,000 store expansion and refit on the company’s Primrose Valley Service Station, in Filey, North Yorkshire; and ...

  • News

    Provident pastures

    2014-12-03T00:00:00Z

    Last month the Top 50 Indie Dewsbury-based Brookfield Group, held a grand celebration to mark the opening of its new £2m forecourt development in Pocklington, East Yorkshire. The launch of the new-to-industry site was marked by a two-day event which included a visit from a Ferrari Formula 1 racing car, ...

  • News

    Sites for sore eyes

    2014-10-03T00:00:00Z

    Life in the fast lane, for many of us is literally just that charging down the outside lane of the motorway in a rush to get to the next appointment, whether that is work or play. But wouldn’t it be nice to get off once in a while and ...

  • News

    Building business

    2014-10-03T00:00:00Z

    It’s a busy time for the Simon Smith Group with the imminent knockdown rebuild of two of its seven filling stations. The new sites include shops with a combined floor space of 5,000sq ft, which will add impetus to the firm’s retailing business. Plans are also in place to introduce ...