Fuel card company Arval has agreed to review its charges, following uproar by retailers in the wake of soaring fuel prices. In a statement issued to Forecourt Trader, Arval said it was talking to retailers about making changes to its current system. Danny

Four out of five forecourts in Scotland are in danger of losing their alcohol licences under new legislation. And the ramifications could spread to the rest of the country, retailers have been warned by licensing practitioner Chris Mitchener.

Soaring fuel costs have led to a new class of 'bilkers' in one East Midlands city. Forecourts in Leicester are reporting a growing number of people wearing hooded jackets going to the pumps, quickly filling jerry cans with petrol, and running off. And outlets in

ExxonMobil Corp is quitting the retail fuel market in the US, and sticking to wholesale operations. The company said the exit from its direct served - dealer and company operated - business would "include the conversion of a majority of

Concerns over handling biofuels on the forecourt were the hot topic at last month's Esso Dealer Forum, which was themed 'In Good Company'. The two-day event, held at The Belfry hotel in the West Midlands last month, included a series of seminars on topical issues, with the biofuels seminar proving extremely popular with retailers. Issues raised included how retailers should prepare their site for a delivery of the new controversial 'eco' fuels.

Manor Service Stations, number 19 in the Forecourt Trader Top 50 Indies 2008 listing, has won the contract to run the two service stations at Manchester Airport. The two sites, at Terminals One and Two, will be run by the Macclesfield-based business for 10

Harvest Energy has signed up three Jet-branded forecourts owned by Sectorsure Limited. The sites, Grange Filling Station, Rayleigh in Essex; and London sites Cricklewood Broadway Service Station and Goldhawk Road Service Station, will be rebranded over the next couple of months.

Mogas has certainly hit the nail on the head this month (see page 58) - as he does, let's face it most months - with his comments about everything happening at once. After all we've had ridiculously fast-rising fuel prices, falling demand, supplier price increases, tanker driver strikes, forecourts running dry, growing numbers of drive-offs and even a new kind of theft - 'hooded bilkers with jerry cans'. There's also the headache about biofuels and bugs; and the erosion of car wash business being valiantly tackled by the Car Wash Association. And that's just the forecourt side of the business.

Customers can no longer fill up at the pumps using their Arval fuel cards at Nuns' Bridges Filling Station in Norfolk. Due to rising fuel costs pushing up the amount of commission he was paying, the site's owner, Steve Jones, found he was running the service at a loss. But as there was still plenty of demand from

Oakdene Service Station is situated at Ulnes Walton, Leyland (between Chorley and Preston). It pumps Texaco fuel and has a Londis shop but what sets it apart is its prize-winning off licence.

There's a sense of panic on many forecourts these days with customers fuming at prices, blaming the retailer, but then queuing up if your prices stay a penny or two cheaper than the ones down the road for a few hours. Then there are tanker drivers threatening to cut off supplies and pumps covered as sites run out of fuel. There are epidemic quantities of drive-offs. A fortune in cash to count and bank every day. It's no surprise then that many operators say they feel totally stressed out trying to run their businesses 'as normal' in times that feel very far from 'normal'. The worst part of it is that there's no end in sight - welcome to the new reality of petroleum retailing.

Accepting cards can be a costly business

While major oil companies tend to hog the headlines with their various activities - sometimes good, sometimes bad - some of the smaller players in the market enjoy less of the limelight. One such company is ConocoPhillips - with its Jet-branded, dealer-only network - which, according to the company's dealer business manager, Patrick Hudson, has been busy working away seemingly behind the scenes, but focusing strongly on its core market of 'locally-based' service stations. Its network has 425 Jet dealer sites - that's more dealers than Shell (309), Esso (265), and Total (341).

Last summer's floods taught the industry one very important lesson: invest in a good insurance policy, or be prepared to pay the penalty. And those retailers who had prepared for the worst and had made sure they had a sturdy insurance policy in place fared best, no doubt heaving a huge sigh of relief that they hadn't just plumped for the cheapest premium.

When it comes to forecourts, first impressions are everything. If a motorist approaches your site and it looks shabby, they're likely to drive on to the next one. So forecourt maintenance should be top of the list for retailers in today's highly competitive market.

Gums and jellies now account for around 25% of sugar confectionery sales. According to AC Nielsen data, sales increased 4% in the past 12 months, which was slightly ahead of the sugar confectionery market as a whole.

Rarely a day goes by without alcohol being the subject of a news story in the national newspapers. It could be about the middle classes indulging in too much wine, or the grocery multiples being slammed for selling alcohol at too low a price. But whatever the story nothing seems to scupper the UK consumer's love of a tipple or two, which is good news for forecourts with off licences.

UK company Ecologia has developed what it calls a "ground-breaking remediation technique", which can be used to clean up forecourts.

Kruger Tissue is expanding its Da Vinci range of washroom products. There are four toilet tissue dispensers, including two twin roll models. The compact, transparent Arctic blue Versatwin has a gravity-assisted mechanism for a more ergonomic transfer to the second roll.

PayPoint has launched a credit and debit agreement with Lloyds TSB which aims to ensure retailers get the best deal on credit and debit card payments. The deal means retailers pay a maximum of 1.4% on credit card payments and 14p on debit cards.

The Fri-Jado Bake Basic 3P programmable oven, designed for small-scale baking needs, is now available exclusively from Equip Line.

Trident adds two new additions to its range this month: Sweet Kicks chocolate mint gum and Fresh mouth-watering gum, available in 'oooh peppermint', 'aahh spearmint' and 'coool lemon' flavours.

Diageo GB has announced that Guinness and Baileys Irish Cream will be joint sponsors of network films on Channel 4. The sponsorship is worth almost £5m and will run for a year from mid-July.

Mars Planets and social networking site MySpace (uk.myspace.com) have launched a search for the hottest new music-presenting talent in the UK through a radio show, MySpace Mars Planets Radio.

Ginsters has added a New York-style steak & cheese pasty to its range. The new snack is part of the company's Pasties of the World range and is also part of a brand relaunch - it replaces the company's Indian-style pasty.

Total has started stocking fairtrade Divine Chocolate in a 45g countline bar.

BP has added a number of limited edition lines to its Wild Bean Café range this summer.

Walkers has launched its SunBites and Baked better-for-you brands in sharing packs. The company says the move aims to capitalise on the growing number of consumers buying healthier snacks.

Haagen-Dazs has been named the official ice cream supplier of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships for the third consecutive year.

Fredericks Dairies has launched an exciting new product - Bassetts Jelly Babies Wobbly Lollies.

Leading stationery manufacturer Bic has teamed up with Forecourt Trader to give away one fully stocked free standing display unit containing a selection of Bic back to school stationery.

Summer 2008 sees the launch of two limited-edition Eastern flavour additions to the Pringles Rice Infusions range. The new sweet & sour and Peking duck with hoi sin sauce variants are both expected to drive increased "consumer engagement" with the UK's number one large sharing brand overall, and the Rice Infusions range in particular. The variants are available in store now until the end of the summer.

UK pretzel manufacturer Intersnack has revealed plans to relaunch its premium brand Penn State.

They say that the advantage of being experienced is that there are very few situations that catch you by surprise. Having been around the block a few times, when something crops up that seems extraordinary to others you can just give a wistful smile because you've seen it all before and, more importantly, you know how to deal with it.