Esso is embarking on a recruitment campaign in the new year to sign up new dealers. Timo Halonen, the company’s dealer-owned service station manager for the UK and Ireland, said: “We’re here and we’re in business. We haven’t communicated our message well, but we’re now on a new regime to recruit. He could not be specific about how many dealers were required, “but it would be 100s of sites we are looking for”. He said the Esso dealer network had reduced by around 200 sites in the past two to three years. “The losses have been for three major reasons: some have closed to the industry through a combination of low volume and high property values; some we have disengaged on purpose as they were not viable in the medium to long term, or they did not fit with our investment criteria; or we have lost some to the competition. “I don't think we’ve done a good enough job telling dealers about the great organisation behind Esso – the supply logistics, the investments we’re making in our company owned network, and on top of that we have been at the leading edge of converting our existing dealers into ‘Net Buyer’ – a Platt’s-type deal. It’s been well accepted – we currently have around 250 dealers on the contract, out of a total of 360 UK dealers. “We needed to successfully migrate our business onto the Net Buyer basis, and we’ve pretty much pioneered that and been successful in it. We did not want to grow the dealer chain until we made sure Net Buyer worked. Some took to it quickly, some didn’t. One of the beauties of the Net Buyer scheme is that there is nothing more transparent. It is simple. Plus we have the best-in-class sales force with more than 300 years of experience out there – they are very experienced, professional people.” Halonen said he was looking for dealers with a future, ie with above average volume for the market they're in, as well as non-fuels income through, typically, a shop and car wash. “Esso is a huge brand – we have a mutual opportunity,” stressed Halonen.

BP Retail has launched a franchise trial of its BP Connect and Wild Bean Café. The first two sites are Crow Orchard Connect in Wigan and Maynestone Connect in Ashton under Lyne. Both are now operated by Wembley-based Motor Fuel Limited. The company is run by S Sejpal and S Raja – known as Sej and Raj respectively. Sej told Forecourt Trader: “We really believe in Connect so we’re very proud to be associated with such a successful brand.This is a great opportunity for us as there are very few quality sites available.” Sej added that a lot of franchise agreements can be a bit one-sided but said his company is happy with what it had signed up for. “We’re confident in BP so we’re not at all worried. BP has been absolutely open and has some very experienced people running the new franchise set-up.” The deal meant quite an investment for Motor Fuel as it bought the real estate of both sites: “Crow Orchard and Maynestone are class ‘A’ sites, so cost us a lot but we’re confident they will be worth it and if it doesn’t work out – and I am sure it will – we’ll have the land.” The agreement is for 20 years but will be reviewed after five years. The Wild Bean Café was a very important part of the deal according to Sej: “It’s a very successful food-to-go operation. Where office workers go to Starbucks for their coffee first thing in the morning, motorists use Wild Bean Café.” He admitted that labour costs were heavy but said his company ran “a very tight ship” so was confident he could cut back on costs. Sej is very interested in BP’s trial with M&S Simply Food and is hoping that if successful, the company will roll this out to franchisees.

Forecourt Equipment Show (IFFE) is back from March 19 – 22, 2006. Last year’s show was so successful it has now been made an annual event. Held at the NEC, Birmingham, more than 50 companies will be exhibiting, covering all aspects of the forecourt industry and supported by the major trade associations. Forecourt Live will again be a top attraction, featuring a series of informative presentations and discussions on hot topics. IFFE is held alongside Food & Drink Expo and the Convenience Retailing Show, where the latest store and product innovations will be on display.

The number of forecourt sites has dropped below 10,000, according to latest figures published by Catalist in its Market Summary Report. The total number of petrol stations in the UK is now 9,994. “This is apparently the first time since 1912 we’ve gone below 10,000 sites,” says Arthur Renshaw, Catalist’s UK and Ireland sales manager. “We knew it was going to happen it was just a question of when. The market is changing rapidly at the moment. The rate of closure hasn’t slowed down this year as much we’d anticipated. The number of oil company owned sites has really dropped now.”

Fuel card company Arval is consolidating its Allstar, Dialcard and Overdrive brands. New-look cards will be branded ‘Arval’, with the Allstar name remaining as the network symbol for fuel and new service maintenance and repair networks. The Dialcard and Overdrive brands are to be phased out.

BP retail director Graham Sims and M&S’s head of food formats Jill Bruce were among the speakers at this year’s National Association of Convenience Store’s (NACS) show held in Las Vegas last month. Addressing the audience of the ‘High Results: Adding World-Class Food’ workshop, Sims and Bruce talked about the Simply Food concept on BP Connect sites, and revealed that the new format is already proving successful, with the average Connect M&S basket spend $9, compared to $5 for a standard Connect store. “There’s a lot of cross-selling between the two offers,” said Sims. “It’s producing diverse baskets. This is something that’s the dream ticket in the UK.” NACS has become something of an annual pilgrimage for UK retailers and suppliers, and this year was no exception, despite the event being rescheduled after the planned host city of New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The Hull-based Sewell Group, and Forecourt Trader of the Year 2005 winner Susie Hawkins were among the visitors, and while many UK delegates were disappointed by the lack of true innovation on display in the exhibition halls, the workshops proved to be a hit, particularly the loyalty marketing workshop, which discussed the benefits of operating a system that uses key fobs to help retailers keep in touch with customers and their buying habits. This year’s event highlighted that, for the first time, US retailers are feeling some of the pressures that the UK forecourt sector has been feeling for some time – fuel price volatility.

Few service station businesses can claim to have been operating for over 100 years, but Gordons Ford in Lancashire is one of them. The family-owned business operates three Texaco petrol stations at Bolton, Horwich and Walkden, and has recently celebrated 70 years of working with the oil company. Starting out as a horse-drawn carriage builder in the 1800s, the business began selling and maintaining Ford motor cars before the First World War. It began selling fuel in the 1930s under the Regent brand, now part of Texaco.

Gulf has returned to West Wales in an impressive way – in conjunction with the area’s largest convenience store. Siop y Frydiau, which translates into Shop by the Falls, on the busy A484 at Cenarth, has been subject to a £500,000 rebuild which included the reintroduction of fuel after an absence of more than 20 years. The site is owned and operated by the James’ brothers. Andrew James said: “The nearest petrol outlets are three miles away and our customers had been asking us to reintroduce fuels for several years. The rebuild of the shop was the perfect opportunity and we are already reaping the rewards. “Gulf has a good reputation in this area and its staff understand the dynamics of the independent operator. The company’s area sales manager has been very supportive .” The Nisa-branded 3,000sq ft store serves a large local community and also caters for tourists. Andrew said shop sales have already exceeded pre-build levels and continue to rise.

Drive-off fuel thieves stole £1.2m worth of petrol in Leicestershire last year, a survey has revealed. According to a poll of 25 outlets – conducted by The Leicester Mercury newspaper – some forecourts were hit up to three times a week, and thieves were rarely caught because the quality of CCTV footage was not good enough. One service station in the city had been hit an average of four times a week, with a persistent offender even resorting to disguises such as beards and moustaches. A police spokesman said: “Many CCTV cameras are just not good enough, and we can’t investigate on a partial registration. More than 80% of images could not be used.”

Hazlegrove Services in Sparkford, Somerset, has received a coveted Investors in People Award after completing a rigorous assessment process, involving management and staff training and business development. The site, on the A303, is one of six forecourts owned by the West Country’s Chartman Group and features an Esso-branded forecourt with Spar convenience store and Post Office. Pictured (left to right) are Mark Elliot (assistant manager), Brian Keirl (site manager), Clive Sheppard (group director), Sophie Glover (cashier), Natalie Clark (cashier) and local MP David Heath who presented the award.

Forecourt owner Nandan Kumar, who has two sites in Peterborough, has doubled the turnover in one of his stores since embracing the new-look Mace Express. Nandan’s success coincides with news from Palmer & Harvey McLane’s symbol division that the number of Mace Express members is up 20% on last year to 200. In addition, 50 outlets have been rebranded with the new-look fascia which was introduced earlier this year. Nandan’s Little Hampton Service Station has undergone a complete refurbishment in the past six months so it features the new Mace Express fascia and Vision, the group’s top-tier internal refurbishment scheme. The refit included a store extension plus the installation of wooden flooring, counters, shelving and ceilings. The manager at Little Hampton, James Townsend, said: “The forecourt has become a modern, clean and more inviting place to shop and we’ve noticed a difference in our customer profile since the work was carried out. The turnover has risen to £18,000 a week – double the takings of before.” P&H prides itself in providing an on-going service via a network of sales developers who visit sites on a regular basis. Said James: “Our developer was with us from the beginning and spent a good three days with us merchandising and planning the store. I was very impressed – he really mucked in. His help meant that we were up and trading within four days of the refit.” He added that he enjoyed working with P&H because of the flexibility the company allowed.

The LP Gas Association has re-launched the Boost LPG website with all the latest news on the alternative fuel. The website is an independent consumer guide to LPG autogas and includes information on the benefits of the fuel, getting an LPG vehicle and filling up both in the UK and abroad. Visit www.boostlpg.com

There may still be teething problems, but now that the rollout of Chip & PIN is well under way, a seminar last month suggested that it was time for forecourts to fully explore pay-at-pump technology. The question was raised at a ‘Chip & PIN at the Pump’ seminar, organised by payment specialist Trintech. The aim of the event was to bring a number of partners and industry experts together to explore the issues and challenges in deploying Chip & PIN in the forecourt and share their international experiences. The seminar also looked at the latest technology trends and certification requirements. It was attended by more than 40 delegates from across the industry including fuel retailers, pump manufacturers and forecourt system integrators, as well as oil companies and supermarkets such as Shell, Sainsbury, Somerfield and Tesco. Trintech’s business development director Denis Madden said that as the industry was close to completing its indoor rollout, it should now be beginning to consider potential solutions for its unattended environments: “The timing is right for pay at pump,” he said. “There have been a lot of false starts but we believe widescale adoption of outdoor unattended payment systems is just 12 months behind the indoor Chip & PIN implementation. “Previous barriers to pay-at-pump adoption have been availability of product and the risk of fraud. Both these issues have been overcome – there are new products that meet all requirements and there’s the introduction of Chip cards to help prevent the use of stolen cards. “Pay at pump offers many business benefits for fuel retailers including customer convenience and easing of congestion on the forecourt. And the fact that consumers are getting much more used to self-service systems through use of mobile phone top-up kiosks, ATMs and DVD vending machines, is great news.” Madden kicked off the proceedings with a global overview of the pay-at-pump market, showing penetration internationally. “Pay at pump rollout differs from country to country. According to Datamonitor, the UK currently has less than 10% penetration compared to 100% in the US and Scandinavia. One of the major historical reasons for this has been inadequate card holder and card authentication on the forecourt.” However, he added, the successful implementation of Chip & PIN had given retailers the confidence to look at the whole issue of unattended payments. Madden then outlined the key success factors for implementation of a pay-at-pump project, outlining the business benefits and the operational impact. There was particular excitement surrounding the presentation by Stefan Kristensson, payment product manager at Dresser Wayne, as he unveiled the company’s first Chip & PIN pay-at-pump terminal for the UK – the PT 4000-EMV. He declared that payment security would drive fuel retailer investment in the next three to five years. “Key new technologies will include biometrics at the pump – there’s already a project in Portugal with an integrated thumb-print reader. Then there are contactless readers at the pump in the US, which eliminate the need for a mechanical card reader, which is the highest maintenance item in a pay-at-pump terminal.” Kristensson told delegates that the pump of the future will have remote diagnostics capability; streaming video for dynamic advertising and messaging; and POS that’s fully integrated into the pump head. An overview of the integration options available to fuel retailers was then provided by Eduard Kunce, development manager of Radiant Systems. “The world is becoming global – meaning that Radiant’s strategy has moved from point solutions for each project to developing an international pay at the pump solution for all markets. We place a heavy emphasis on a standards-based approach to solutions development, mentioning the key standards as IFSF, IXRETAIL and IXPOS. This gives the retailer a greater degree of redundancy and freedom to change vendors without incurring heavy changeover costs. “The key decision points that retailers should consider when choosing a pay-at-pump system are: an improved retailing experience for the user; language selection; passive marketing (ads); interactive marketing such as targeted promotions; and transactional marketing (cross-selling).” Felix Timmerman, business development director at Torex Retail outlined his company’s ‘tank to bank’ philosophy which provides complete control from tanker depot to putting petrol into the car. Timmerman said he was a strong advocate of the “open systems” approach of adopting recognised industry standards such as IFSF, NAXML, IXRETAIL and ARTS. “The key win for this approach for the retailer is twofold,” he said. “There’s resilience – having redundant system architectures reduces the cost of maintenance contracts because of the greater uptime of systems; and there’s no vendor lock-in – the idea being that a retailer can choose a solution without fear of being tied into a specific vendor architecture for the lifetime of a project.” Keith Tobin, development manager at Unattended Payment Terminals, presented details of his company’s complete turnkey solution. He said they provided solutions – not products – that were easy to install, reliable and easy to use. “Certifications are in place for an end-to-end card payment solution that uses a secure GPRS communication between petrol station and a central processing host.” The final presentation was from Martin Lewis, manager of card payments at APACS. He updated delegates on the progress of Chip & PIN implementation in the UK. Lewis said the next big thing for APACS was the ‘I love PIN’ day on February 14, 2006. “Our aim is to communicate the full benefits of Chip & PIN and particularly the security it offers. “The point of the ‘I love PIN’ day will be that although a lot of cardholders in the UK are using Chip & PIN, some are still asking retailers if they can sign off the transaction. From February 14 retailers will be asked not to allow consumers to use this fallback option.” For more information on unattended payment systems go to www.openpaynews.com.

Can 1 + 1 = 3? Yes, I am certain it can. For example, when two enterprises come together the result may well be greater than the some of the original two parts. Would this be the case at the pilot BP/M&S Simply Food site at Hammersmith? Well, I went to have a look and to do a Stealthcheck.

It is becoming evident that as more retailers find themselves urged into multi-site operation, the one aspect of running these ‘site groups’ that seems to have been neglected is the administration and paperwork. The assumption seems to be that it’ll take care of itself – the sites have modern PC-based pos/bos systems so who needs a bookkeeper?

Pinning down fraud It might be happy Christmas any minute but this is an early Valentine for you. If you are not Chip and PIN compliant by next February 14 you will have to carry the can for any fraudulent use of credit/debit cards. I know, it’s not the most loving of messages but it’s for your own good. This warning was prompted by a call from Adrian Bowen who runs Penrhyn Beach Service Station near Llandudno, a business that he describes as “small and serving mainly elderly customers”. He has a perfectly adequate swipe machine and was ticked off that he would have to move from owning a machine outright to having to rent one for £80 a month or invest another £1,000 to buy a replacement to become compliant. He wanted to know if there were cheaper alternatives. Indeed there are. Adrian is a fully paid-up member of Garage Watch but hadn’t thought to contact the group. I spoke to Mark Bradshaw, founder and chief executive of Garage Watch, who said he would get in touch with Adrian to get him up to speed with what is on offer. Mark admits to a certain amount (actually a large amount) of frustration that many retailers don’t even seem to have got the message yet that they will have to upgrade. “A lot of them haven’t got off their backsides yet,” says Mark, “We’ve spent two years getting a solution together but there has been a very slow response even though we’ve sent it out in our newsletter. We’ve negotiated very good rates, a monthly scheme charge of £16.67, no set-up fee, no worries about maintenance and transaction charges of 1.5p per billed card and 1.19% on bank credit cards. And the machine (Htec Gemini) will do all the fuel cards. Retailers switching to this scheme will probably find that they are on a better rate than they are at present.” If you want to take advantage of this scheme ring Garage Watch on 01952 463 273. Whose side are they on? A couple of weeks ago I pitched up at Sainsbury’s to do my usual plod round the shop only to find the experience enlivened by alarm bells and security staff sprinting up the aisles after a bloke, who had clearly seen better times, trying to dodge and weave his way out. He, and his whisky bottle (or more correctly, Sainsbury’s whisky bottle), got caught and quite soon after that the long arm of the law arrived and swept him into a police van while two other officers stood near their police car alongside. Well, it’s what you’d expect when the customer makes off with high-priced goods, like whisky, or petrol, without paying. You wish eh? Compare that with Roy Devlia’s recent experience. His ‘customer’ walked blatantly into Roy’s forecourt store at Wordsley near Stourbridge in the West Midlands to say that he couldn’t pay for the £18-worth of petrol he had just put in his car. Roy doesn’t take cheques but asked the ‘customer’ for a cheque book and/or card that he could hang onto until the guy returned with payment. He complied with a cheque book full of blank stubs and an Electron card. A short while later he returned but only to threaten Roy with the police. In the end Roy called the police himself only to be informed that a) they weren’t interested and b) he had no right to retain the ‘customer’s’ cheque book and card. Eighteen quid’s worth of petrol is about the same price as a decent bottle of whisky isn’t it? Wine, women and song The new licensing regime came into play just before December giving the authorities the heebie-jeebies – as they clearly believe that the yobs will go into binge-mode for the duration of the festivities and thereafter. Christmas, in this country at least, is often associated with merriment. Tis the season to be jolly. And for those who got their Grandfather rights bang to rights I’m sure this will be the case in terms of seasonal sales. My condolences to those of you who ran afoul of the new licensing officer before you even got started by not filling in the forms correctly. That takes care of the ‘wine’ (and even the whine) element in my sub-heading. As to ‘song’ – did you know there were new rules? As most of you will be aware, if you play the radio or a TV or run ads in your store, you need to pay the Performing Rights Society (PRS) to do so (starting at £64 a year). This compensates performers, song-writers and composers. But, since 2003, Phonographic Performance Ltd (PPL) has had the right to collect copyright money on behalf of recording companies as well. You probably haven’t noticed this because the PPL only started to enforce this last month. They are currently mailing retailers to tell them that another £50 (at least) needs to be forked out each year. But, I hear you ask, what about the women? Well, it just goes with that headline. On the other hand, who makes Christmas go round? But on that note I wish you all, irrespective of gender, the very best of the season: goodwill, good sales and good cheer.

Much has been said about what Esso may or may not be up to in the UK – is it staying, going, losing its way? So who better to tell us than the proverbial horse’s mouth – Martin Todd, the company’s executive director of fuels marketing in the UK and Ireland. His message to the world is emphatic: “We’re staying in the UK. We have decided that this is a good business, we’ve got a very strong position in it, and we can do well in it.” Todd took on his current role four years ago after several stints abroad, most recently as convenience retail manager for the whole of Europe. “I returned shortly after Esso’s merger with Mobil which took place in 2000,” he says. “At that time the company was starting to work out its global strategy. My first job was to analyse the UK market, work out what was happening to it and how we were going to win in it – again.” Since the merger, ExxonMobil’s global vision has been to be the premier fuels marketing business in the world. Having lost ground to strong competitors such as the hypermarkets in the UK and France, and what it describes as ‘petropreneurs’ (entrepreneurs who came into the gasoline business from a c-store background) in the USA, this vision has required a radical transformation. Instead of having operations such as upstream, refinery, gas, lubes and retail in each country, the company created global organisations. One of those was fuels marketing, which includes marine, industrial, retail, aviation, distributor business, and three brands – Esso, Exxon and Mobil. So no longer is Esso made up of medium-sized, high-cost, full service retail companies around the world. It now describes itself as a global retailer with operating units in several countries following similar processes, using global systems. “The challenge of being a genuinely global retailer is huge,” stresses Todd. “The number of retailers who have made it on a global scale is quite limited. But we sell more retail motor fuel than anyone else in the world, and because of that it is logical for us to take the route of trying to go global by standardising and running the global business with local units. One of the strengths of going global is that you can use the best talents from wherever you can get them.” Hence Todd is very proud of his UK and Ireland team, which includes dealer-owned service station manager Timo Halonen from Finland; Heidi Disch, an American, in charge of company operations; and Brit David Richardson, the convenience retail manager. The big question has been – how does Esso respond to changing consumer demands while delivering a sustainable business for the company and its retailers in a highly competitive marketplace? To this end the company has undertaken much research and analysis on the fuel retailing market which has produced target markers of what it needs to achieve if it is to live – and prosper – alongside the hypermarkets. Says Todd: “It would be fair to say that profitability in the past few years has not been good. UK hypermarkets are the key competitive fact we’re all trying to deal with. However we believe that although it is a highly competitive business, we will prosper with our partners – our retailers. The hypermarkets are very formidable competition, but we can live with that so long as we take the resolute steps.” Those ‘steps’ form part of a retail strategy broken down into three main areas: the first being investment. “From 1979 to 1985 Esso rebuilt 1,000 service stations. We were the first to do that, the first to build bigger shops. Now it’s time to rebuild the core of that chain,” says Todd. “Is Esso going to invest in the retail business in the UK? Absolutely. In our company-owned chain we’re going to build ‘On the Runs’, typically on trunk road, transient, high-volume ‘destination’ locations. Why are we doing that? Because if fuel margins are declining, then we‘d better be building up our revenues elsewhere. On the Run is a global format – in our view the best format there is, and it’s got a long way to go. It has a lot of opportunities which we’re very excited about. “We are also going to continue to roll out the alliance with Tesco, typically – but not exclusively – on city centre-type locations with businesses around them; and neighbourhood sites with houses around them. We will have 140 sites by year end. “But a big, big chunk of investment is in technology. Look at any publication about Esso and you will see a fundamental belief in technology – that’s as true for retail as it is for geology in the North Sea. Technology is transforming this business and is allowing us to go global, manage at low cost, and allows us to believe that we can compete with the supermarkets at today’s lower margins.” The next element of the strategy is to implement and expand new operating models. Esso has already established the Retail Operating Company (ROC) for company-owned sites – there are currently 100 ROC sites in the UK. It will also continue the expansion of the Tesco/Esso alliance format – a completely different operating model in which Tesco operates the store, but also manages the forecourt as an agent. Esso also introduced the ‘Net Buyer’ (Platts plus) contract to the dealer segment two and half years ago – three quarter of dealers now use it. The third major element of the strategy is to find a way of reducing costs, by organisational restructuring – creating specialist centres in various countries that focus on repetitive processes. “We’re going to have sales organisations in one country – such as the one I head in the UK – and service provided to those sales organisations from wherever. This has involved huge cost savings but massive change,” confirms Todd. “The other part of cost reduction includes divestment of non-profitable retail sites, which has been a major programme for us. We have sold 220-240 company-owned sites in the past three years.” A big focus for Esso in the coming months will be dealer recruitment – 200 dealer sites have gone from the network in the past two years, leaving 360 in total. “We plan to grow our dealer business, and we wish to sign new dealers now,” stresses Todd. “What can we offer them? We are a world-class brand, and a long-term supplier in the UK with the best supply logistics. It may not have been thought important in the past, but if many of our competitors are leaving, then it becomes important for a dealer who signs a three- to five-year contract. Although some of the competitors who have left are still in the dealer business, I think you should question whether it’s for a staged withdrawal. Esso is not withdrawing. “The second thing is that our low-cost structure guarantees competitiveness. We always were the lowest-cost supplier to the market, and we always will be. We’re prepared to take the very radical decisions – such as the restructuring – in order to guarantee we will be the lowest cost. What that should mean for a dealer, is that he is going to get a competitive price from us.” Other things to tempt the dealer, according to Todd, are the competitive card offering with industry-leading fraud protection; and driver-controlled deliveries and automatic stock replenishment to reduce on-site operating costs. Todd claims the dealer deal – Net Buyer – is the clearest and most transparent in the market: “What you see is what you get. We have daily pricing – the dealer calls in and gets his wholesale price from us – and now has the responsibility to choose where he or she wants to price. Our contract is very clear – no smoke, no mirrors. “Dealers also get the benefit of spin-off – how their Esso brand will be viewed when a lot of Esso sites around them get heavy investment, as is happening in London. We don’t now invest in the manner of ‘wherever you are, we’re coming’. We invest on a focused approach. In 2003 we started investing in the east and west of London and will have 55 On the Run sites by the end of this year.” Planning is currently under way for further ‘focus’ markets, which again provides efficiencies in terms of construction contracts. “When we’ve built the focus market we start to spend the money on media, so in 2006 we should see some above-the-line spend on On the Run as a brand in the Greater London area,” confirms Todd. The planning process also identifies the sites that are not going to make it – sites for redevelopment are based on much higher fuel volumes and are highly dependent on shop sales. “If you’ve got the location, then you put in the facilities,” says Todd. “Seventy per cent of what’s important to a customer is location – it is still the prime driver for fuel. The second thing tends to be price. Then a large number of other items jostle for third, fourth and fifth place and those include customer service, the facility, the fuel brand – the quality perception of the fuel.” The On the Run sites offer a bright, spacious shopping environment and include a contemporary café offering freshly prepared hot and cold food, and Costa Coffee. They target busy working drivers needing quality refreshment quickly – the staff mantra is ‘fast, fresh and friendly’. They are run by store managers employed by ROC UK, which provides a structured training and career progression programme. “Esso UK has never had company operations before. We had Dart – which allowed the retailer/agent to manage the shop using his stock. But we couldn’t see a way to manage the costs and the safety aspects. However, we think we have got the answers, a lot of which is enabled by technology such as CRUSO – a proprietary wet stock monitoring system; and GROC which enables us to run sites on a central managed basis with automated accounting, pricing and re-ordering of dry goods. It enables store managers to be more customer focused.” Esso also launched a new fuel brand in November 2004 – Energy. “The fuel brand isn’t the most important thing customers put on their list,” says Todd. “It doesn’t mean it doesn’t have a role – it does, that’s why we launched Energy. Our view is that the Esso brand is the strongest in the UK. We haven’t spent the money in the past 10 years pushing the brand as our competitors have pushed their brands, but it has very high spontaneous awareness – because of the tiger and so on. When we launched Energy, we made sure the customer understood that ours was a quality brand. The key thing is that we may be entering a period when the fuel quality could be more important – and now we’re talking about things like biofuels. “Our strength and our size guarantee that whatever is coming we’ll be part of it – whether it’s new fuels or new technology,” stresses Todd. “Whatever it is, we’re going to be in there. Change brings uncertainty and we are learning how to manage this better. But – we remain the strongest UK brand and we want to grow our dealer business.”

Rural winner of the year 2005 - Sharon McKenna The Vivo Templepatrick forecourt in County Antrim really must be getting it right – this is the second year in a row it has won an award in our rural category and this year it has gone one better to be named overall winner of the group. However, Sharon McKenna, until recently manager of the site, says that winning won’t make the team complacent. “We’re delighted to win another award.” she says. “It keeps you motivated. It’s brilliant for staff morale. They’re very proud of their shop.” The BP-branded forecourt is situated on the edge of a village, around 12 miles from Belfast, but is also on the main route to Belfast International Airport. The site is one of 39 forecourts owned and operated by Henderson Retail in Northern Ireland. Sharon joined the company eight years ago after completing a degree in business studies. She ran the Templepatrick site for just over two years and has recently moved on to manage a convenience store in Cullybackey. Her management style is to try and stay out of the office as much as possible and to focus on the shop floor. “I think the staff and customer service at Vivo Templepatrick was what made us stand out,” she says. “Also the product range set us apart from other forecourts. You could come and do your weekly shop.” Indeed, Sharon oversaw a partial refit, which introduced higher shelving and increased the product range by over 300 lines. As well as a full grocery offering and freshly baked bread, the 4,300sq ft store also boasts a sandwich bar and hot food counter, a butchery, Post Office and a dry cleaning service. Forecourt facilities include a drive-through car wash and jet wash. The site opens from 6am to midnight, seven days a week and has 36 full- and part-time staff. Forecourt and shop turnover is £120,000 a week, with fuel volumes around 72,000 litres. Not content with just one award, the site was also named best multiple village store at sister publication Convenience Store’s Top Shop Awards last month.

Car washes can offer retailers high margins of up to 80%, but many retailers don’t give the car wash the attention it deserves – perhaps because it lies outside the shop, which has become the focus of many forecourts these days. As a result, many machines aren’t being used to their full potential, with factors such as maintenance and inadequate marketing hampering what should be a straightforward profit generator. Peter Spencer, managing director of car wash supplier Atlantis, says: “The car wash is the biggest revenue earner on the forecourt today. For a wash of £4 or £5 in revenue, you’re only talking about a cost of 40p, so if you’re doing 15 cars an hour it’s more profitable than fuel, cigarettes etc and that’s why it’s so important to keep it operational.” And improvements in technology mean that machines are becoming more reliable, making it easier than ever for retailers to maximise profits. Atlantis’ Spencer says: “Most developments have been in the computer or ‘brain’ side of the car wash to make it more reliable, easier to operate and cheaper to maintain. For example on Karcher’s CB1, the motors and gearboxes are sealed for life so there can be no problems with water ingress. We’ve installed this machine at a site in Eastleigh, for example, and 11,000 washes later it has yet to break down.” Further advancements in technology mean car wash times are getting quicker too, again helping to maximise profits. WashTec’s interim managing director Steve Jeffs says: “High-speed machines such as WashTec’s Juno, which can wash up to 18 vehicles per hour, are consistently shown to be the leading car wash profit earner with high-volume sites.” One company that is using technology to make life easier for retailers by reducing car wash complications is PSD Codax, which specialises in car wash control systems. Managing director Graham Round says many retailers have seen reportable incomes increase by up to 60% following the installation of Codax, which automates car wash transactions, eliminating the need for tokens and cards, which in turn reduces error. Round explains: “PSD is working with major retailers to link the Codax control unit direct to the station’s retail control system/POS making life easier for the sales assistant and eliminating the need for manual reconciliation of the revenues/usage. All sales usage data is delivered to head office via the retailers’ back-office system.” Round reckons these control systems can help retailers remove the inherent problems associated with traditional tokens such as: handling, counting and the cost of replacements and less customer confusion with token/card acceptor systems. Automation also makes for a much more accurate transaction, adds Round: “Currently tokens/cards have a real value attached to them when being held behind the sales desk and must be counted as stock every shift – with a Codax ticket the value is applied at the time of sale and a record of the sale is reported.” He adds: “We can offer retailers an improved understanding of how many washes are sold and the turnover associated with the machine’s use.” Codax systems can also be helpful to multi-site dealers who wish to streamline their car wash sales. “We can introduce a consistent access unit (customer interface terminal) across all of the stations, regardless of machine manufacturers avoiding confusion and to better enable retailers to run and control car wash promotions,” says Round. But although technology is offering retailers a helping hand in getting nearer to top profits, retailers shouldn’t neglect the basics – day-to-day housekeeping remains crucial when it comes to car washes. Ryko’s UK sales manager Graham Currie says: “It is of great benefit to the car wash operator to keep the wash bay clean and free from litter, as the customer will not visit an untidy car wash site.” And WashTec’s Steve Jeffs adds: “Bay cleaning is extremely important, not only in terms of Health & Safety but also in reducing breakdown problems caused by debris in the wash bay.” Products So what are the latest machines on the car wash market? Well, after pulling out of the car wash industry for a while and going back to the drawing board, Karcher launched its CB1 machine in March this year, targeted at independents as well as supermarket sites, where reliability is paramount. Peter Spencer, managing director of Atlantis, which distributes Karcher in the UK, says the emphasis of the CB range is on reliability and ease of maintenance as well as attention to aesthetics and low noise. In addition, a common platform of components across the range keeps the price down for retailers. Importantly for indies, the CB1 fits into an 8.5m bay (most are 10m) and its modular construction means it can be built and assembled inside the bay so that it can get into tight spaces. The CB1 costs from £32,000 delivered and installed, and Spencer reckons because of the exceptional reliability, the whole-life costs are lower. “Service cost, for example, is £1,800 a year – half that of our competitors. And lots of parts come with a two-year warranty rather than the standard 12 months,” he says. The high-pressure CB machine, the CB2, meanwhile, launched in September, while the CB3 – which will be available as a ‘touchless’ wash – will launch next spring. Over at Istobal, and the company says retailers are currently showing lots of interest in its top-of-the-range M18+, which has a wash and dry time of two minutes 20 seconds and fits into a standard 9.5m wash bay. The speed of the wash is achieved by the use of five brushes – four vertical and one horizontal – instead of the normal three and the use of six separate dryer nozzles to achieve the best results. Meanwhile, the company’s ever-popular M12+ has been updated, with up-rated dryers and more programme flexibility, which Istobal says makes it ideal for quieter sites. Ryko International reckons it is also seeing retailers opting for higher specification machines – such as its Excel (three-brushes) or Premier (five-brushes) ranges. Sales manager Graham Currie also says retailers can’t get enough of a coloured detergent called Tri Foam, that has caught the consumers’ imagination. He says: “Tri Foam is a very popular revenue-enhancing product, which covers the vehicle with three jets of coloured detergent foam. It gives your customer a very visual and pleasing experience, encouraging them to return time after time. This option has been adopted by Tesco across its entire car wash network, enabling the retailer to gain an additional £1 for a top wash.” Wilcomatic’s best-selling rollover wash unit is Christ’s Primus C150, which was introduced to the market three years ago. Wilcomatic has now built on that success and introduced the Christ Primus Racer car wash, which can be configured to the customers’ specific requirements. Wilcomatic describes the single gantry car wash as “a powerful combination of design and advanced technology” and a spokesperson says: “Its ability to work as a multi-gantry machine has enabled us to meet the needs of our customers. When this is combined with the increased drying speed it allows operators to maximise their throughput and increase revenue.” Use of the latest technology means that this car wash – which comes in a choice of colours – has an ‘intelligent’, multi-functional control unit for information management, servicing and maintenance as well as automatic fault diagnostics. Particular features of the Racer package include telescopic arms that allow you to apply multiple applications at any time; single pass upgraded high-power dryer; four high-pressure pumps instead of two to allow high pressure in one, delivering up to 85-bar water pressure. Wilcomatic also has a new chemicals range, which it says is more suited to the latest brush technology. All its shampoos are now mildly alkaline for increased cleaning power and its coloured foams now have non-staining dyes. Meanwhile, WashTec’s most popular machine is the WashTec Pro, which has sold more than 5,000 units worldwide. The fully modular machine has the latest technology fitted as standard and WashTec says it is ‘infinitely programmable’. The company’s latest compact machine for low-volume sites is the Bravo, which starts at £26,000 with options including dryer, wheel wash, foam, high pressure, underchassis and token or Codax. The Evo, meanwhile is WashTec’s economical car wash which it says offers increased profits with low-maintenance costs for medium-volume sites. It includes the latest software technology and has numerous options available. Finally, the Juno is the high-speed double-gantry machine, which has a wash and dry time of under three minutes. It is ideally suited for wash volumes in excess of 1,200 per month. Service The service contract is a crucial consideration with a car wash as not only does down-time dramatically affect profits, but it puts off future customers from coming back. Atlantis’ Peter Spencer says: “The customer comes once or twice and if the car wash is out of action they will simply go somewhere else. “I think one of the biggest things for an operator is the amount of time the car wash is out of action and how much it will cost over five years (the life expectancy of today’s machines) and how much you will earn over five years, which is the most important thing.” WashTec’s Steve Jeffs says: “Retailers should always take out service contracts which include regular servicing and uptime guarantees. WashTec offers guaranteed uptime, guaranteed response and regular servicing intervals up to six times per annum.” Most suppliers offer some type of service package, although details will vary from company to company, so make sure you are satisfied with what’s on offer. Wilcomatic, for example, offers third-party maintenance contracts with national coverage. It says it has a first-fix rate of 97% cent and an average response time of 6.5 hours from the call. All its vehicles are fitted with satellite tracking systems, which allow the nearest engineer to be allocated to the appropriate breakdown. Engineers receive instructions via electronic data transfer, and vans can be electronically searched for specific parts, reducing machine downtime. Istobal, however, has shunned third-party maintenance. Dave Lindon explains: “What sets Istobal apart is its policy on service back-up. Many competitors have tried to be “all things to all men”, and concentrated heavily on third-party maintenance, which ultimately loses them focus on their own machines, and response times and effectiveness can suffer. “If you buy an Istobal machine, you get the best equipment and you deserve the best service, that is why Istobal only services Istobal machines. We stay totally focused on our customers as they are our top priority at all times” Istobal offers a parts and labour warranty of up to five years. “All the service visits and breakdown calls are included too,” says Lindon. “The only items the customer needs to budget for is chemicals and brush replacement.” Meanwhile, MB Car Wash, an independent rollover share-wash provider, reckons buying a machine on revenue-share guarantees you excellent service back-up as the company has a vested interest in the profits. “It is not just getting new quality equipment but being with a committed wash partner that counts,” says the company’s James Boret. “The success of the retailer and ourselves hinges on rapid fault repair, minimal down time, best quality chemicals and promotional marketing.”

British consumers are spending more money than ever on entertainment – and not just on eating out or drinking down the pub. They’re shelling out to be entertained in their homes and cars. As such they’re demanding DVDs and CDs at an astonishing rate. Market forecasts estimate that 196 million DVDs will be sold this year as well as 179 million albums. For most forecourts sell-through DVDs and CDs offer the best profit opportunity. Rental DVD can work but only if you’ve got a large housing estate close by and a lot of local trade. Richard Whalley, commercial director at Choices UK Local (formerly Video Box Office), says home and in-car entertainment items can sell very well in forecourts: “Audio for use in the car is the most obvious link and works especially well; but increasingly portable DVD players are being used to entertain children in cars. Plus DVDs and CDs also do very well in forecourts as impulse and gift purchases.” Choices is cashing in on the gift purchase market with a bumper range of lines for Christmas. Its seasonal catalogue is packed with new DVD, music and games titles, gift sets and promotions, with recommended retail prices starting at just £2.99. The new DVD titles include recent box office hits like Magic Roundabout, Hitch, Team America and Robots, all for £9.99. There are kids’ Christmas film favourites too, available in singles and 10-unit seasonal counter display units, with prices starting at just £4.99. Pricing is obviously a sensitive issue, especially as the supermarkets and online entertainment specialists are selling new-release DVDs at knockdown prices. But Paul Murphy, head of sales at Total Home Entertainment (THE), says: “Pricing in the grocery multiples puts a huge focus on entertainment and key titles, and we believe this brings a great benefit for all retailers – to take advantage of the raised consumer awareness.” Murphy adds that THE makes sure its ranges allow retailers to compete on price with the multiples and high street stores. Richard Whalley admits that in forecourts there is sometimes a temptation to premium price, but he says if you can show your customers good value, this generally increases sell through.  DVDs sell very well on promotion, with consumers buying them to add to their collections or as gifts for others. Choices runs regular promotions and pre-Christmas has a ‘2 for £10’ offer on 12 titles including Chicken Run and Just Married. Individual selling price is £5.99. The films come in a free-standing display unit, on a sale or exchange basis and offer profit margins of up to 33%. There is also a ‘2 for £12’ offer featuring recent releases and two-disc special-edition titles. Individual selling price is £7.99 and again the films come in a free-standing display unit, on sale or exchange with profit margins of up to 40%. Meanwhile Choices Christmas music offering comprises a 20-unit counter display unit for £40.80 plus VAT. The unit contains four titles encompassing traditional carols, classic crooners, party favourites and sing-alongs. Rrp is £2.99. A new product area for Choices is combined DVD and book gift sets. There are three sets available: Golf’s 35 Greatest Ever Moments; Football’s 25 Greatest Ever Matches; and a Go Fishing Special DVD. Rrp is £9.99. Richard Whalley says: “We believe our Christmas package is the strongest on the market. By venturing into new areas such as books and gift sets, we are tapping into the valuable stocking filler impulse territory and providing neighbourhood retailers with an opportunity to earn extra revenue. “All forecourt sites have the potential to benefit from home entertainment and our range of products are all on full sale or exchange giving retailers confidence to trial different product mixes. We also provide a full range of merchandising options to suit all locations.” THE’s Paul Murphy adds: “My advice to forecourt retailers is to ensure they offer quality product and make the most of the impulse gifting opportunity by finding extra space for dumpbins in store. Our experience at Christmas shows a huge opportunity for gifting so I urge retailers to place displays at the front of their stores to maximise sales.” For convenience stores, the ‘big night in’ has brought extra revenue as consumers rent or buy a DVD and pick up a bottle of wine or some beer and snacks for that night’s entertainment. But for forecourts, in addition to home entertainment, there’s the in-car entertainment (ICE) opportunity, which is driving sales of both CDs and DVDs. And that’s because more new cars feature sophisticated entertainment systems where passengers can each have their own screen and watch their own choice of DVD or play computer games. Mintel’s In-car Entertainment report (March 2005) talks about ‘systems convergence’ where combined systems offer entertainment, navigation and communications, all in one. Then there are the ‘plug and play’ systems which enable consumers to use their non-car systems, such as iPods, inside their vehicles. All these systems create extra demand for music and film, and that demand could create extra profit for you.

With the Met Office predicting a big freeze and cold and flu rates set to soar, over the counter medicines (OTC) will be vital this winter. The distress nature of the category and continuing government policy that encourages self-medication means that forecourts are well placed to pick up their share of any extra trade. Consumers now expect to be able to treat common complaints themselves and the forecourt convenience store can provide quick, hassle-free access to a range of remedies and other healthcare essentials. Longer opening hours and easy parking make your store likely to be the first port of call if the chemist is shut – after all, who wants to waste time queuing in a supermarket for a packet of painkillers? And since healthcare is usually a distress purchase, these products are less price sensitive. According to Crookes Healthcare, manufacturer of Nurofen and Strepsils, the OTC market is worth £2bn and growing, making it a ‘golden opportunity’ for retailers. Healthcare within the convenience sector is already worth £252m – up 3% on the previous year – and the profit margins on many products are very favourable. Big brand names should form a major part of the forecourt healthcare fixture – people expect to see them and they act as a signpost to the section. Katherine Brown, marketing director for Wyeth Consumer Healthcare, makers of Anadin, explains: “Brands are even more important for OTC medicines in the convenience sector, more so than in multiple grocers. In the convenience sector, OTC medicines are often a distress purchase because consumers need to use them there and then and so they are looking for a brand they know they can trust. In the analgesics sector the top five SKUs deliver 57% of sales and they are all leading brands. Importantly for the retailer, brands deliver far greater profits than own-label equivalents.” However, Brown believes that consumers also like to have a choice of products rather than just the single leading brand in a particular category. “In analgesics, for example, shoppers expect not only to have a choice of brands but also to choose from the different active ingredients on offer – aspirin, ibuprofen, paracetamol or a combination product,” she adds. Convenience retailers should therefore try and stock at least a basic range with all key ingredients offered. Brown suggests Anadin Extra 16s (a combination product) and Nurofen Original 16s (ibuprofen) and ideally a third product, such as Anadin Paracetamol. The key healthcare categories for the convenience sector are pain relief, cold & flu, throatcare, and heartburn & indigestion. Children’s pain relief is also an important distress purchase, and Calpol Infant Suspension 100ml bottle has recently been granted a licence to switch from pharmacy only, to the general sales list. According to manufacturer Pfizer, the bottles are the most widely recognised line in the Calpol range – the top selling children’s medicine – and the preferred format for in-home use. While a good core range should be available all year round, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare (GSK) highlights the importance of seasonal products – hayfever and allergy for late spring and summer, with greater emphasis on cough, cold and sore throat products in the winter months. Smoking cessation products, such as Niquitin CQ, are also worth stocking, especially for January, when New Year resolutions kick in. Over-indulgence is another category requiring extra attention around this time of year. Sales peak over the festive season, according to GSK’s ‘Stomach, Heartburn & Indigestion Category Report 2005’, and on Christmas Day the local petrol station is often the only shop open. GSK’s report says that over-indulgence products tend to be a ‘grab and go purchase’ and can benefit from dual siting next to Christmas stock. Product development in the category taps into this ‘grab and go’ shopper mentality. Gaviscon Cool tablets, made by Reckitt Benckiser, are now available in modern-style handy packs, which come in shelf-ready packaging. Bisodol, made by Forest Laboratories, is now available in a 20s pocket pack, said to have been designed specifically for the convenience sector, and again the product comes in a display pack to attract customers at point of purchase. GSK’s Andrews brand is also now available in an oval plastic pack. As the country braces itself for the coldest winter for more than a decade, cold and flu will be the key category within healthcare. Indeed, a spokesperson from Reckitt Benckiser, makers of Lemsip, says the company expects to see an uplift in sales this winter as the number of people suffering from cold and flu symptoms is forecast to be higher than last year. Lemsip is the number one brand in cold and flu, and Lemsip Max – which is celebrating its 10th birthday – is the top-selling product, according to IRI figures. This year the brand is backed by a £7m advertising campaign, with a new animated television advert featuring Lemsip packs coming to life to become a cold/flu superhero. The Lemsip Max hot drinks range has also been extended to include a new blackcurrant flavour. GSK’s Beechams brand is number two in the cold and flu category, with Flu Plus its best-selling line. Easy-to-pour stick sachets have been introduced to the hot drinks range for this year, and Flu Plus and Beechams All-in-One will be the focus of a £5.4m support package, including TV advertising. One of this year’s most interesting developments in the battle against colds and flu comes from Kimberly-Clark, which has launched Kleenex Anti-Viral tissues – said to kill the bugs that cause colds and flu. Claimed to be a UK first, the brand uses a patented super premium 3-ply tissue design, with a moisture-activated middle layer that is treated with a clinically proven anti-viral formula. The product is being backed by a £3m marketing campaign. Toiletries As part of their overall healthcare offering, forecourts also need to stock a good core range of toiletry products. Once again brands are essential, both in terms of popularity with consumers and to highlight the section. Tracy Faulkner, trading manager for healthcare at Londis, stresses the importance of a range which focuses on quality products at reasonable prices. “Health and beauty products can be very profitable,” she says. “Margin will average between 25% to 30% and with products generally being over the £1 or £2 mark this can equate to a healthy cash profit. However, retailers need to remember to remain competitive and not over price products.” In haircare, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Dove and Alberto Balsam are key brands, says Faulkner, and shampoo should be merchandised next to the relevant conditioner to maximise sales. In deodorants Sure, Lynx, Right Guard and Soft & Gentle are top sellers, she says, with aerosol sprays the preferred format, although a small offering of roll-ons should also be available. In shaving, Gillette is the leading brand for both men and women. Femcare is a must-stock, and all formats should be covered – tampons, towels and liners. Always and Tampax are the leading brands. Condoms are another key product for forecourts. Durex is by far the biggest selling brand, with a share of more than 99% of the category in company-managed forecourts and 93% in independents, according to figures provided by manufacturer SSL Healthcare, and sales have increased over the last year. Durex Extra Safe and Fetherlite 3s are the best sellers in the convenience sector.

Panasonic System Solutions has unveiled its latest range of equipment including CCTV, IP cameras and EPoS solutions, as well as iris recognition and digital signage. An innovative solution for the retail sector is the company’s WINICS Retail software – which can link till transaction data with employee activity as recorded from CCTV cameras, to help tackle fraud from both staff and customers. The solution works by using the relevant EPoS data and specific CCTV evidence, which can be tracked down to location, cashier, transaction and time. The search facility allows users to look for recordings based on a number of parameters, including product, operator, voids, refunds and sales trends. The software allows data to be analysed by local, area or head office management at any location using a router over a Wide Area Network. With security forming the bulk of the product portfolio, Panasonic's latest surveillance cameras include the Super Dynac III Series. First introduced in 1997, Super Dynamic technology enables Panasonic cameras to capture top quality images even in harsh lighting conditions. The first two models in the range are the WV-CP480 Colour Fixed Camera (pictured) and a Colour Dome Camera, which are said to offer 24-hour surveillance with unprecedented realism. Intelligent processing means that the cameras can think and act independently, for example Automatic Back Focus adjusts focus when switching from colour to monochrome operation, ensuring continuous delivery of clear, sharp images day or night. 01344 853223

Cadbury Trebor Bassett’s Easter 2006 range focuses on special gifts, while the ever-popular Creme Egg is back in store and on TV screens from January 1. This year’s collection aims to build on the success of Cadbury Easter Egg Delight, the premium shell egg range launched for 2005. The luxury shell egg category saw significant growth last year with Delight the best seller. The range is extended for 2006 to include a product at the competitive £4.99 price point. The new egg comes wrapped in an organza silk bag and contains six individual truffle eggs. The range is supported by a £4m multi-media advertising campaign. In the filled egg category, Creme Egg remains the market leader and is the single best-selling chocolate snacking product between January and Easter. New pos and in-store units are available to help retailers create space efficient, eye-catching displays. 0870 191 7343