Top 50 Indie Motor Fuel Group (MFG) has brought another former Murco manager onto its team with the appointment of Matthew Bird as operations manager.

Independent forecourt retailer Julian Holliss is embarking on an extreme triathlon to help raise funds for CLIC Sargent and the Derriford Childrens Cancer Service (DCCS).

Campaigning group FairFuelUK is urging motorists and businesses to contact their MPs and ask them to support a Budget amendment that would see the August 3ppl fuel duty rise scrapped.

More than six out of ten business drivers would not change their traditionally fuelled vehicle for electric power, according to a new survey by vehicle leasing and fleet management specialist, ALD Automotive.

Londis has launched a tool kit for its retailers to help them meet the high expectations of shoppers when it comes to standards, promotions, price, range and customer service.

The latest new motorcycle and scooter figures show last month sales overall were down 3.5% against April 2011. Sales of scooters of less than 50cc were down 9.6% in April, while 50cc-plus motorcycle sales have decreased by 2.5%.

The government could make up the decline in revenue collected from fuel duty and vehicle excise duty (VED) by raising the fuel duty rate by 50%, according to a new report by the RAC Foundation.

Three former Total dealers have rebranded to Gulf with a further 12 to follow over the next two months. These include Martins of Andover, Hampshire, and the 3.3mlpa Bishops of Bromyard, Hertforshire.

Morrisons will slash the price of fuel by 2ppl across its 300-strong network tomorrow, as wholesale oil prices continue to decline.

Budgens and Londis brand owner Musgrave Group has reported sales of €4.5bn up 1.6%, delivering a profit of €71m 1% below last year, in its financial results for 2011.

Tesco has today launched a new 5ppl off fuel promotion which will run until May 20. Advertised as 'a helping hand filling the car' the offer means for every £50 customers spend in store or online, they'll receive 5ppl of every litre of fuel.

One in eight motorists drive with a near-empty tank of petrol, with a quarter of 18-34 year olds admitting to being a ‘vapour trailer’, according to new research from breakdown organisation Green Flag.

South West England, the Midlands and parts of Yorkshire are no longer in drought and it’s unlikely that water companies will impose hosepipe bans in these areas over the summer, the Environment Agency has said.

A strike by tanker drivers has been averted today (Friday 11 May) with drivers voting narrowly to accept proposals tabled after eight days of talks at Acas.

Campaigning group FairFuelUK is ramping up support for its battle to see off the August 3ppl fuel duty increase which was waved through in the Budget this March.

Asda is cutting up to 2ppl from the price of fuel today, bringing unleaded down to 134.7ppl and diesel to 139.7ppl.

Oil tanker drivers working for distribution company Hoyer have backed industrial action short of a strike, in the ongoing dispute over minimum standards.

A West Midlands petrol thief on bail fled to New York but was arrested at Heathrow when he attempted to return to the UK.

Police in Herefordshire have confirmed that a man has been arrested as part of their investigation into a series of bilking offences that have been going on for over a decade.

A Wolverhampton man who stole a total of £674.80-worth of fuel has been jailed for 12 weeks.

Two petrol station canopies built in the 1960s have been given Grade II listed status by Heritage Minister John Penrose on the recommendation of English Heritage.

Nine out of 10 motorists blame the government for the record high cost of petrol and diesel, a new survey has found.

Top 50 Indie Brobot Petroleum has opened its first greenfield new-build in 20 years, bringing the number of forecourts in its network to 23.

AdBlue supplier Air1 has joined forces with Snooper to highlight AdBlue pump facilities on its Truckmate Pro satellite navigation system that guides truckers on safe routes avoiding low bridges, weight and width restrictions.

Top 50 Indie Motor Fuel Group (MFG) will be refitting the forecourts shops at all of its sites over the next 12 months.

The Brookfield Group has raised more than £11,000 for a children’s charity after three colleagues took part in the gruelling 26.2-mile London Marathon last month.

The number of local retailers considering making investments in their stores has increased, reveals a new survey conducted by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS). 

After only four months in his role as managing director at Top 50 Indie Motor Fuel Group (MFG), Jeremy Clarke is taking significant steps to improve the management and profitability of his group’s 48-site network.

The UK forecourt network has shrunk by less than 90 sites in the past year, according to figures released by Experian Catalist today.

Kenton Burchell has been promoted to the role of trading director for Musgrave Retail Partners GB. Burchell has been with the business for 13 years and began his career with the Londis store development and supply chain teams.

Despite predictions that cash will disappear within a few years, cash handling and money processing equipment supplier Scan Coin has launched a market report that paints a different picture.

Local shops have condemned government actions to force through its last-minute plan to liberalise Sunday trading rules for eight weeks this Summer. This was done despite concern and opposition expressed by MPs from all the main parties, says the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS).

BP has reported a slip in profits for the first quarter of 2012. It made $4.8 billion in replacement cost profit – adjusted for non-operating items and fair value accounting effects – compared to $5 billion in the previous quarter.

Fuel has become so valuable that it’s made it into the prize bank for a chocolate on-pack promotion. On May 14 Nestlé Confectionery’s Yorkie brand is launching a promotion offering shoppers the chance to instantly win a full tank of fuel.

Top 50 Indie Fraser’s Retail’s forecourt in Caterton, Oxfordshire has been building a good name for itself by striving to be at the forefront of community fundraising.

Owners at Scottish fuel distributor Gleaner Oils have confirmed there has been considerable interest from potential buyers after it was put up for sale last month.

Local shops are urging their MPs to vote down proposals to liberalise Sunday Trading rules across England and Wales.

Leading retail technology provider Torex Retail Holdings is to be acquired by Micros Systems, which provides enterprise applications for the hospitality and retail industries in more than 180 countries, and on all seven continents.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced its provisional decision that it does not plan to launch a market study into UK road fuel retailing at this time.

Local shops have called on Lords to reject moves to suspend Sunday Trading restrictions as figures released by the government fail to make a convincing case for the economic benefits.

Armed robbers knocked a forecourt worker unconscious with a hammer in an attack at the Silverdale BP site in Wilford, near Nottingham, on Wednesday morning. 

Costa Express and Shell UK have announced a long-term partnership to install Costa Express self-serve coffee bars in more than 550 Shell forecourts in the UK.

Harry Tuffins managing director Paul Delves said he had “mixed emotions” about leaving the business next Monday following the sale of the Top 50 Indie group to Midcounties Co-op.

Tanker drivers have been recommended to reject proposals tabled following eight days of talks at Acas, in a consultative ballot.

The immediate threat of industrial action by the Unite tanker drivers has been averted, as a final set of proposals was put forward in a bid to end the dispute last night.

Isle of Man retailer S&S Motors was named Forecourt Retailer of the Year at Palmer and Harvey’s annual Pro-retail awards last night.

Brulines Fuel Solutions is changing it name to Vianet Fuel Solutions (VFS), in line with its parent company Brulines Group, which has been renamed Vianet Group.

A new opinion poll carried out by YouGov showed strong support in Scotland for the introduction of plain packaging for tobacco products. When shown an image of a plain pack, twice as many smokers supported a move to sell tobacco products in plain, standardised packaging with the product name in standard lettering as the number of those who were opposed. The Scottish Government, in conjunction with the UK Department of Health are currently consulting on plain packaging after Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley’s official announcement on April 16.
 
The Poll was based on survey of 1,055 adults in Scotland and the results were
 

Leading fuel card and fuel management solutions provider Keyfuels has enhanced the service it provides its customers by creating a Site Locator application for smart phones that directs users to their nearest Keyfuels filling station.

ATM provider PayPoint, which operates over 2,500 ATMs nationwide, has identified significant differences in the way customers in Scotland use a cash machine.

Operators of convenience stores need to cash in on the fact that 93% of shopping trips in the convenience channel are for the ‘something for tonight’ mission, according to new research by Diageo GB.

Independent retailers are urged to apply for the chance to win eight exclusive scholarships at the prestigious Oxford Summer School Academy level worth more than £2,000 each.

Unite will return to talks at Acas on Monday April 23 as well as re-ballot more than 530 tanker drivers working for Hoyer Petrolog in a dispute over minimum standards.

Independent oil distribution company Oil 4 Wales has ended its first year on a high with the signing of two new retail garages.

Wincanton has said the proposals offered to Unite represent the limit of what it can agree and believes all balloted tanker drivers should be given the chance to have their say.

News that Unite tanker drivers had rejected proposals which would avert a strike sparked an uplift in fuel volumes yesterday, according to RMI Petrol.

Communities and shoppers respond better to independent retailers than to major multiples, but only if they harness their advantages, according to new research from ACS and Said Business School at the University of Oxford.

Police are appealing for witnesses after an armed robbery at a Jet forecourt in Longton, Staffordshire on Wednesday morning.

A 30-year-old Liverpool man has been given a suspended jail sentence after he admitted a nine-month spree of drive-offs from forecourts.

Barclaycard has today launched Barclaycard PayTag, a new way for people to pay with their mobile phone. Millions of Barclaycard customers will be offered the chance to make payments with any mobile phone by simply sticking a Barclaycard PayTag to the back of their handset.

Pro-retail 2012 will showcase new technologies, the latest trends in retail and what the future holds for the industry, when it opens next Tuesday and Wednesday at the International Centre, Telford in Shropshire. Evening entertainment will feature Tony Hadley, Go West, ABC and comedian Ed Byrne.

Sign company Xmo Strata, which specialises in the re-branding and maintenance of signage on petrol forecourts, is adopting a sophisticated approach to root cause analysis as the next stage in its health and safety strategy.

Fuel tanker drivers will meet this afternoon to discuss proposals drawn up after six days of talks aimed at averting industrial action over terms and working conditions.

Tanker drivers employed by national fuel distribution companies have today (Wednesday 18 April) overwhelmingly rejected proposals tabled following six days of talks at Acas.

A balaclava-clad man who robbed a petrol station in Farnborough, Hampshire before crashing into a roundabout in a getaway car has been handed a prison term of 40 months.

Planned changes to alcohol licensing rules could discriminate against small businesses and undermine growing partnerships, ACS Public Affairs Director, Shane Brennan, has warned the Local Government Association.

The Department of Health has today published its consultation on plain packaging for tobacco products in the UK.

A new 'Think and Drive' plan to transform the creative thinking of Britain's drivers' has been launched by the AA to coincide with the start of World Creativity & Innovation Week (April 15- 21, 2012).

Hopes of an end to the threat of a tanker driver strike were raised following a statement from the conciliation service Acas announcing that a set of proposals had been reached.

What do motorists get up to in the car when alone behind the wheel? One third of drivers sing in the car, while 23 per cent just get lost in their thoughts, according to an AA/Populus poll of 21,408 drivers.
 

A significant increase in levels of staff theft and an alarming rise in the number of robberies in convenience stores over the past year has been revealed by the 2011 ACS Crime Survey.

The government has confirmed its consultation on the plain packaging of tobacco products will begin on Monday (April 16). In an interview with the Times, Health Secretary Andrew Lansely said the Government would pave the way for cigarette packets to be stripped of all branding.

ConocoPhillips has confirmed that there is currently no planned maintenance underway at its Humber oil refinery in the north east of England, and operations are running as normal.

Fuel volumes over the bank holiday weekend were significantly down against the previous Easter, according to figures released by RMI Petrol today.

Rontec Investments is planning to sell 18 petrol stations to Sainsbury’s, which would bring the supermarket operator’s network of forecourts to 284. A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “The decision by Rontec to sell these sites has provided an excellent opportunity for Sainsbury’s to add to its fuel business and further extend its convenience estate.”

Talks aimed at finding a solution to the fuel tanker drivers dispute are continuing today, holding off threats of industrial action as Unite’s deadline for announcing a strike draws closer.

Nisa has signed up 26 more forecourt stores in the past financial year, contributing to its best-ever recruitment figures.

“The first test for the Government’s Energy Resilience plan has been an embarrassing failure with potentially serious consequences for the economy,” said Brian Madderson, RMI Petrol chairman.

Crime on Britain’s forecourts cost fuel retailers £23.4 million in 2011, up from £22.5 million in 2010, according to figures revealed in the annual forecourt crime survey carried out by BOSS, the British Oil Security Syndicate.

Leading technology provider to the retail, convenience and fuel markets, is expanding its Convenience & Fuel Solutions (CFS) division is into new 10,000sq ft offices which will be officially opened on April 12.

Driving profit and legal requirements for delivery procedures will be among the topics discussed at RMI Petrol’s next regional meeting in Durham this month.

St Kew Service Station in Cornwall is already boasting positive results following its recent switch to the Gulf brand after eight years with Jet.

Talks aimed at resolving the fuel tanker drivers dispute and keep threats of strike action at bay have continued for a second day.

RMIP chairman Brian Madderson was snapped outside No 10 Downing Street this week on his way to a meeting with Susan Acland-Hood, senior policy advisor to the Prime Minister.

Diesel volumes have more or less returned to normal levels, according to the latest information released by RMI Petrol.

Fuel deliveries to filling stations should return to normal levels before Easter, according to UKPIA, the trade association representing the main oil refining and marketing companies in the UK which sources up to 90% of the UK's transport fuels.

Top 50 Indie Harry Tuffins has agreed to sell its network of forecourts and convenience stores to the Midcounties Co-operative Society.

A photo of a man poking fun at panicking petrol buyers has become the latest internet sensation.

Ram raiders have caused around £50,000-worth of damage to a kiosk at an Asda forecourt in Tipton in the West Midlands. They used a stolen Mitsubishi Shogun for the raid, which happened at 3.20am on March 27.

RMI Petrol has called for an urgent meeting with Secretary of State Ed Davey to discuss the current fuel crisis and medium and long-term strategy for the forecourt industry.

Unite the union will begin substantive talks with conciliation service Acas in a bid to resolve the oil tanker drivers’ dispute this Wednesday.

A tanker driver's blog has put declining safety standards and working conditions firmly at the heart of the dispute between Unite and tanker driver employers. 

Unite has ruled out Easter strike action by tanker drivers in a bid to focus on talks. The announcement came as the union confirmed it was ready to start substantive talks through Acas as soon as possible.

Motorists have pushed up fuel demand rapidly over just four days to yesterday’s unsustainable levels, according to RMI Petrol.

Goole-based family business Jos Richardson & Son has re-opened Longs Corner Service Station in Howden, Yorkshire, bringing its network of sites up to five.

Local shops are calling on MPs and Peers to oppose legislation introduced to remove Sunday Trading restrictions across England and Wales this summer.

Chaos on Britain’s forecourts has continued today as motorists followed confusing advice issued by government ministers to keep their tanks topped up, with one even suggesting using jerry cans.

RMI Petrol chairman Brian Madderson has spoken out in condemnation of the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) for its “complete lack of engagement with industry” in the lead-up to the Unite ballot results on Monday, which recommended strike action by fuel tanker drivers.

RMI Petrol has issued a guidance note warning that retailers need to undertake a formal risk assessment before permitting access to any new third-party tanker drivers.

Retailers are already reporting fuel shortages as motorists start panic-buying in response to tanker drivers voting in favour of a strike yesterday.

UKPIA has stressed that its members give high priority to safety issues within the industry, following criticism by the Unite union following a ballot in which tanker drivers voted for strike action.

Tanker drivers delivering fuel to forecourts across the UK have voted in favour of strike action, sparking feelings of shock  and surprise among petrol retailers.

Emergency plans have been drawn up for army drivers to deliver fuel to petrol stations in anticipation of a possible strike by tanker drivers.

The Scottish National Party (SNP) is to table an amendment to the Budget which it says would freeze future increases in fuel duty.

The average price of petrol at the pumps has now reached 140.20ppl, with diesel hitting a new record of 146.72ppl.

RMI Petrol has joined the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) as affinity group members. The deal, which gives RMI Petrol the same standing in ACS policy-making as symbol group members, takes effect from April 1 and is aimed at giving independent forecourt retailers comprehensive representation for their businesses.

Local shops and wholesalers have committed to support the government’s latest responsibility deal pledge to remove one billion units of alcohol from the market place.

The RMI Petrol's submission to the Office of Fair Trading will be one of many key topics covered on the Forecourt Live area at next week's Fuel and Forecourt Equipment Show at the NEC, Birmingham (March 25-27).

The Chancellor's decision to press ahead with plans to levy the deferred duty increase of of 3.02ppl from August 1 this year has been described as irresponsible by RMI Petrol chairman Brian Madderson, as he reviewed today's Budget speech.

ACS has condemned the Government’s decision to allow large stores to open late on Sundays during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, which is estimated will cost small stores of £480million.

The Chancellor’s decision to increase fuel duty in August was described as a “Budget Blow-Out” by the AA, whose research shows such increases will force two thirds of drivers out of their cars for some journeys. For almost one fifth of drivers these increases will hit their food budget as 18% of all drivers will have to cut back on grocery shopping.
 

The Forum of Private Business has welcomed the measures on tax and finance in today's Budget statement, but insists the smallest firms must benefit from new National Loan Guarantee and Business Finance Partnership schemes

 

The Government's Budget announcement of an 8% rise in tobacco duty, despite recent data from JTI warning that one in every four cigarettes smoked in the UK is not taxed, has stunned the tobacco manufacturer.

Fuel supplier Transglobal Fuels emerged as the Fastest Growing Large Business and Overall Fastest Growing Business at the 2012 Yorkshire Fastest 50 Awards, organised and sponsored by top 100 UK law firm Ward Hadaway in association with the Yorkshire Post.

RMIP chairman Brian Madderson will be at the centre of the action on the Forecourt Live area at next week's Fuel and Forecourt Equipment Show at the Birmingham NEC.

A Nottinghamshire forecourt retailer has warned that a lack of signs on a new road which bypasses his site is causing motorists to run out of fuel.

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has hit back at the government’s plans to extend Sunday trading during the Olympics period over the Summer.

A study into easing congestion on Britain's roads through private invesment in the national network is to be undertaken by the Department for Transport and Treasury. The announcement was made by Prime Minister David Cameron, who said innovative approaches to the funding of our national roads was needed. 

Police from the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate are investigating the theft of an ATM from outside a Murco forecourt in Whitstable.

Thieves broke into a BP forecourt in Buntingford, Hertfordshire and made off with thousands of pounds worth of tobacco, alcohol and cash.

Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire police have joined forces for a new operation which aims to tackle misrepresented number plates displayed on vehicles using the counties’ roads.

RMI Petrol has branded the news that David Cameron and Barack Obama are discussing plans to force down the price of fuel by releasing reserves of oil to boost global supply as more “smoke and mirrors” ahead of the budget next week.

Top 50 Indie, the Batley-based Brookfield group, shone at last night’s Convenience Retail Awards, organised by Forecourt Trader sister publications The Grocer and Convenience Store.

Duns Service Station in Scotland has been named winner of Jet’s annual ‘Aim4success’ awards, which recognise dealers’ commitment to providing high levels of service, safety, training and communication.

The government is considering plans to cut off uninsured drivers’ petrol supply by linking information using automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) at forecourts.

Forecourt Trader of the Year winners Mohsin and Zuber Issa have been named entrepreneurs of the year at the first English Asian Business Awards.

Murco Petroleum is benefiting from an advanced secure payment back-up service ensuring complete connectivity across all of its forecourts in the UK.

Family-run Scottish fuel distributor Gleaner Oils has been put up for sale by its owners, who want to retire from the business.

Murco Petroleum has announced four senior management appointments within its retail operations, filling the personnel gaps left by Jeremy Clarke and Jim Mulheran’s move to Motor Fuel Group at the end of December.

Top 50 Indie Motor Fuel Group (MFG) is changing its mode of forecourt operation from direct managed to commission operator.

Treasury officials are trying to spin their way out of the current debate over fuel duty by suggesting that they are giving £4bn back to the motorist by deferring previous duty increases, says RMI Petrol chairman Brian Madderson.

Fuel stations across North Tyneside are gearing up for a new initiative to halt fuel thefts supported by Northumbria Police.

Forty-eight roadside restaurants, consisting mainly of former Little Chef sites, are being brought to market by Christie & Co. This follows the announcment by Little Chef earlier this year that it was closing 67 sites around the UK.

Nisa has introduced a seasonal planning guide providing indepth planogram and ranging advice covering the relevant months and the key trading events they may present.

The number of forecourts in the UK continued to decline over the past year, falling to just 8,480 sites, according to the latest Retail Marketing Survey, conducted by the Energy Institute (EI).

Around 300 protestors braved heavy rain to support FairFuelUK’s mass lobby of MPs at Westminster yesterday in the campaign for fuel duty cuts.

A driver from Huntingdon has said he was left with a £500 repair bill for his Saab after filling up with the diesel at the Tesco forecourt in the town last month.

A forecourt in Sunderland has had its off licence extended so it can now sell alcohol around the clock.Despite five formal objections, Sunderland councillors have given the go ahead for Monkwearmouth Service Station to sell booze 24 hours a day.

Councillors in Wells-next-the-Sea in Norfolk are hoping the seaside town will get its first forecourt for more than five years.

A mother of five drove off from a forecourt after filling up because she had no money to pay. The Blackpool Gazette said Kelly Coles, aged 30, admitted making off without paying from Corton Beach service station in Blackpool last September.

A baby girl was born on a BP forecourt in Ashton-under-Lyne after her desperate parents spotted an ambulance filling up with fuel.

Fuel price campaigner Fair Fuel UK is encouraging a ‘mass tweet’ on Twitter at 1pm today, calling for lower petrol and diesel prices.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) has lent its support to Fair Fuel UK’s campaign to cut fuel duty, which has seen the campaigning group hold a mass lobby of MPs at Westminster today.

A training manual to help cashiers tackle crime on the forecourt has been launched by new company Counter Crime.

Measuring fuel consumption in miles per gallon (mpg) when fuel is sold in litres could be gone within a generation, AA research suggests.

With the price of diesel and petrol hitting record highs – 144.92ppl and 137.79ppl today – many drivers are putting off essential maintenance and servicing on their vehicles leading to an increase in some breakdowns, says the AA.

Forecourt retailers have made great improvements in preventing underage sales of alcohol, according to latest statistical analysis from Serve Legal.

The administrators of Coryton refinery owner Petroplus have told creditors that if refinancing and restructuring is not possible, a sale of the Essex refinery and closure are being explored as alternatives.

Palmer and Harvey has announced seven managerial appointments to further bolster its sales departments throughout the UK for symbol groups Mace and SuperShop.

The Musgrave Group has launched a group-wide strategy across Ireland, Northern Ireland and Great Britain, which aims to deliver one billion euro in own-brand sales by 2014.

The average price of petrol has reached a record high of 137.44ppl today, exceeding the last peak of 137.43ppl recorded on May 9 last year.

RMI Petrol has welcomed a commission appointed by the G20 nations calling for stricter regulation of price-reporting agencies to prevent the manipulation of oil markets.

The government’s pilot of a rural fuel duty rebate scheme giving motorists in Scotland’s Highlands and Islands a 5ppl discount on pump prices has come into force today.

News retailers have condemned the Office of Fair Trading’s decision not to conduct a full investigation of the news and magazines supply chain.

Local shops urged the Prime Minister to go further to reduce the burden of business rates following his statement to the House of Commons yesterday.

Two thieves have used a cloned fuel card to fill up with almost £1,000 worth of petrol at forecourts across Coventry.

A man who robbed an Edinburgh petrol station at knifepoint has been jailed.

A forecourt assistant in Essex was robbed of thousands of pounds at knifepoint by a masked man. According to the Basildon Recorder newspaper, the incident happened at Bell Corner Service Station in Stanford-le-Hope at around 1am on February 24.

The getaway driver in a raid on a forecourt ATM has been jailed for two years.

Latest estimates from Japan Tobacco International (JTI) have revealed that, on average, over a quarter (27%) of tobacco smoked across the country is non-UK duty paid (NUKDP), leading to revenue loss to the Treasury of billions of pounds. Although this latest data represents a continuation of a declining trend in NUKDP, JTI says tax increases in the Budget could undermine the progress that has been made.

An extra weekday of commuting, the school run and other car use, courtesy of the leap year, will generate an additional £56.3 million in fuel duty revenue for the Government, says the AA.

Fears over safety and growing instability in the fuel industry are pushing oil tanker drivers closer to national strike action,  Britain’s largest union, Unite, has warned.

Fair Fuel UK campaigners are meeting with the Treasury today to make a last-ditch plea for the government to axe the planned August fuel duty rise as diesel prices continue to soar, rising to a record 144.21ppl.

BP, Shell and Texaco have been named a Consumer Superbrand in the 2012 independent survey of over 2,000 British consumers undertaken by The Centre for Brand Analysis. The Superbrands ranking, now in its 13th year, claims to be an influential barometer of brand strength in the UK.

Fuel price campaigner Fair Fuel UK is holding a mass lobby of MPs at Westminster next week in a bid to convince the government to cut fuel duty.

Val Taylor, 72, of Crosspool Service Station in Sheffield has won Jet’s first-ever award for Sales Assistant of the Year.

Diesel prices hit a new record high today after continued rises over the past few days. The new record average price of diesel is 143.96ppl.

AA Ireland has launched a new discount fuel card – The AA Fuel Card – for its members which guarantees 2 cent off a litre of petrol or diesel at any of 320 Topaz service stations nationwide.   

Morrisons has trumped Tesco’s current 10ppl fuel price promotion with a new deal giving motorists 15ppl off petrol or diesel when they spend £60 in store.

The business community in the Scottish town of Newton Stewart, has vowed to fight plans for a new supermarket on the edge of town, the Galloway Gazette has reported. The newspaper said the majority of the 60-plus business people from the area who attended a meeting of the Newton Stewart Business Association on Wednesday night were against the development of a 30,000sq ft superstore with parking for 160 vehicles and a petrol station just off the A75 at Barnkirk.

Independents can fight back against the onslaught of the major supermarkets by playing to existing strengths and creating new ones, says independent retail analysts Verdict as it outlines strategies for survival for independent retailers.

Londis is targeting 20 range reviews across 300 stores for 2012, following a successful programme of 10 range reviews across 100 stores last year, which drove significant uplifts of up to 9%.

The rate of insolvencies fell from 0.11 per cent in December 2012 to 0.07 per cent in January this year – the same rate as in January 2011, according to the latest figures released by Experian, the global information services company.

Brulines Fuel Solutions (BFS) has concluded a major new contract with Top 50 indie Brobot Petroleum, to move the 22-strong group’s fuel monitoring from traditional statistical inventory reconciliation (SIR) to continuous fuel monitoring (CFM).

Shops and people will be connected to each other more than ever in the store of the future, according to IGD research. The report commissioned by Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd (CCE) and written by food and consumer goods experts IGD predicts:

Water shortages will impact service stations far more than any unregulated hand car wash operator, according to David Charman, chairman of the Car Wash Assocation (CWA).

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) is urging Chancellor George Osborne to take action in the Budget to stop the 5.6% increase in business rates, with the aid of new research conducted among local shop owners across the country. The polling reveals:

RMI Petrol is delighted to gain support from Rontec Investments, the UK's second-largest new independent group with 234 petrol retail sites, that was formed to acquire some of the downstream assets from Total at the end of 2011. 
Rontec has just signed up for membership of the trade association representing independent retailers. RMIP chairman Brian Madderson commented: "We have had terrific support from Snax 24 since the new-look association was launched in late 2009, and it is fantastic to now have similar commitment from Rontec."

Top 50 Indie Park Garage Group has pledged its support to cancer charity CLIC Sargent with a new charging scheme for plastic carrier bags.

The price of diesel has hit a record high having rocketed by 10pp in just 12 months – an inflation-busting 7% rise – reports RMI Petrol.

The impact of record diesel prices will be felt by everyone as higher transport costs are passed on to business and consumers, warns AA president Edmund King.

The administrators of Petroplus’ Coryton refinery in Essex have today signed a tolling agreement, securing crude oil supplies for the next three months.

Car drivers in the UK will pay up to £2 billion more on the forecourt in 2020 if the government decides to increase the proportion of biofuels in petrol, according to new research commissioned by ActionAid and Friends of the Earth, undertaken by the Global Subsidies Initiative.

The AA has called for the industry to consider the introduction of a price regulator acting as an honest broker between fuel suppliers, retailers and consumers. The suggestion comes as average UK diesel prices have risen to 142.80ppl, a fifth of a penny shy of the record set in May last year (143.04ppl), according to the AA's February Fuel Price Report.

Off-site construction specialist, Yorkon, has completed another milestone for Tesco – its 50th modular petrol filling station (PFS) building for the global retailer.

A robber who launched himself through an after-hours serving hatch in a bungled forecourt raid has been jailed for six years.

Thieves used a stolen digger to demolish the wall of a Shell site in Epping, Essex and steal an ATM.

Police in Reading have been carrying out checks on motorists at a Morrisons forecourt in a bid to reduce drive-offs.

Shell is running a Valentine’s Day promotion offering motorists 5ppl off Shell V-Power unleaded or diesel.

One in five time-strapped British men are snapping up their Valentine’s Day presents from petrol stations, new research from Mace convenience stores reveals today.

RMI Petrol has brought another Top 50 Indie company into membership of the trade association – Somerset-based Symonds Forecourts.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced that inflation has fallen by 1.7% from its peak at 5.6% in September 2011.

A man who drove off from a forecourt without paying for petrol three times in one month has been banned from driving.

A masked raider threatened a forecourt employee with a Samurai sword in an attack at the Murco service station in Ingol, Preston, last Saturday night. The man threatened the worker with the sword before making off with less than £100 from the till.

A man armed with a knife robbed a Gulf petrol station in Dunnington, North Yorkshire on Monday morning.

Londis reports fresh sales up 26% year-on-year and plans to double sales in fresh foods over the next three years. 

Industrial action by tanker drivers – which has been affecting fuel supplies to Jet retailers for the past two weeks – has been called off following a successful meeting between representatives from the Unite union and transport company Wincanton.

Clear government guidance for businesses on what they should and shouldn't do during this snowy and icy period is to be welcomed, the health and safety advisor and employment law specialist Bibby Consulting & Support has said.
 
"One of the biggest misconceptions companies have is that if they attempt to clear paths on their premises and someone falls they are responsible and liable to an injury claim," said the company's managing director Michael Slade.
 
"The fact is, anyone can clear snow and ice to prevent slips and falls without fear of incurring demands for compensation, but they do need to follow certain procedures and have cleared the area carefully.

Fuel and petrol stocks will be hit if oil distribution employers fail to end the attack on tanker drivers’ livelihoods forcing strike action closer, trade union Unite has warned.

The Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) has written to Ministers calling for more help for local shops set to pay a whacking 5.6% rates increase from April.

Retailers are invited to Forecourt Trader of the Year Euro Garages’ head office in Lancashire for RMI Petrol’s next regional meeting on Wednesday February 22.

KSS Fuels has announced that the acceleration of new business wins and the successful integration of a major acquisition fueled record revenues and earnings for the first half of its fiscal year.

New Road Service Station in Wiltshire has transformed the site of an old World War One Nissan hut into a Budgens convenience store with Murco-branded forecourt and a Post Office.

The AA has launched an Eco Driving App, which could help motorists improve their driving techniques and save an average of 10-20% on fuel bills.

A lot more people are now planning before going out to do their food and grocery shopping, compared to three years ago, according to the latest IGD shopper research.

A forecourt manager dressed as a Smurf was mown down by a petrol thief at the Sainsbury’s in Trinity Road, Bolton. Dan Walker was collecting money for Comic Relief on the forecourt last year when he saw a man putting the pump nozzle through the back window of a car to fill up containers.

A 41-year-old man has been jailed for 18 months at Reading Crown Court for planning to steal number plates and fuel.

RMI Petrol has called for an investigation into “unjustifiable increases” to small rural retailers’ bulk fuel purchases from their wholesalers as the Wincanton drivers’ strike continues.

Oil supplies to Coryton refinery in Essex have been given a welcome boost as administrators acquire another shipment of crude to replenish stocks refined over the past 11 days.

Coryton has attracted more than 40 interested parties following the insolvency of its owner Petroplus, the government has confirmed.

Shell’s acquisition of two high-volume sites from Petrogas in a deal that saw the Applegreen retailer buy seven forecourts from Shell is proof of oil companies’ appetite to acquire “premium sites”, according to chartered surveyors the Nigel Lawrence Partnership (NLP).

Getting an environmental permit for petrol vapour recovery processes has been made easier for Scottish petrol stations, who have until the end of the month to register.

Subway has set out ambitious plans to increase the number of stores in the UK and Ireland to 2,000 over the next three years, with non-traditional locations such as forecourts leading the growth.

Top 50 Indie Fraser Retail’s Spar-branded forecourt store in Lower Earley, Berkshire sold 322 Cadbury Snowman selection packs in seven days after store development manager Nick Fraser, site manager Louise and her staff took part in an active selling workshop run by Capper & Co.

Londis has hailed 2011 as its most successful year for growth within its multi-site accounts business, with a number of forecourt operators signing up to the symbol group last year.

A shipment of crude oil is now being discharged at the beleaguered Coryton refinery in Essex, easing the threat to fuel supplies for a few more days.

Greenergy, the UK’s leading supplier of petrol and diesel, has today announced the start of petrol and diesel sales from its new tankage and distribution facilities in Cardiff. This follows completion of an 18-month project to refurbish an existing site and construct new tankage and rail facilities.

Top 50 Indie Motor Fuel Group (MFG) has joined RMI Petrol and signed up to the Big Oil service across its entire network.

Gerald Ronson is planning to expand his network by bidding for a collection of Welcome Break motorway service stations put up for sale by property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz.

Tesco has launched a 10ppl fuel promotion today – its biggest ever in terms of straight spend.

Top 50 Indie Roadside Group has revamped its site at Newcastle International Airport with a Nisa Local-branded forecourt store.

The government has been urged to step in to ensure continuation of fuel supply from Petroplus’ oil refinery in Coryton, Essex, which supplies 20% of road fuels in London and the Southeast.

Jet has responded to negative feedback about its alleged failure to plan for the expected tanker driver strike by opening up communications with dealers.

Jet’s retail marketing manager Patrick Hudson is leaving ConocoPhillips after nearly 28 years with the company – including 10 years in his current role.

There is no reason for the current tanker drivers strike which is hampering fuel deliveries to 380 Jet dealers, according to Chris Kingshott, managing director for manufacturing at Wincanton.

The Gibbs Garages sites at Woodstock and Banbury have re-signed with the Total brand – and six others are in the pipeline – as dealers warm to GB Oils’ style of operation, according to Jenny Lockwood, national accounts manager, GB Oils' Retail Division.

Top 50 Indie Petrogas is growing its UK network with the acquisition of seven freehold and leasehold sites from Shell, and disposed of two sites to the oil company in the same deal.

Troubled oil refiner Petroplus Holdings AG, Europe’s largest independent oil refiner and owner of the Coryton oil refinery in Essex, is to file for insolvency, following a failure to reach agreement with creditors to extend loan repayment deadlines.

Boyzone’s Shane Lynch has launched a new efficient driving campaign by leading fuels and convenience retailer Topaz.

Contingency plans are in place at ConocoPhillips depots around the country as strike action threatens fuel deliveries. The company said Wincanton tanker drivers – who launched seven days of strike action this morning – accounted for around 20% of the delivery drivers that use the ConocoPhillips terminals.

ConocoPhillips has let Jet dealers down by failing to plan for strike action by Wincanton tanker drivers, according to Top 50 Indie Brobot Petroleum.

Fuel supplies will be hit when seven days of strike action gets under way from dawn tomorrow (Tuesday 24 January). Oil tanker drivers, employed by the road haulage firm Wincanton, are set to walk out in the dispute over attacks on workers' pay, terms and conditions, as the company proposes to slash pay by up to 20 per cent and downgrade workers' pensions, according to Unite, the country’s biggest union.

A campaign to cap the annual business rates increase at 2%, in line with Government targets for inflation, is being launched by the ACS today.

The My Shop is Your Shop campaign is looking for local shops with a track record in community engagement to put themselves forward for the MSYS Community Retailing Award.

Calanike Retailing boss Kenny Webster is “absolutely furious” with Allied Irish Bank (AIB), following its shock decision to put his petrol retailing group into receivership, at the same time as placing his drinks manufacturing business – Sangs – into administration.

A forecourt flasher who was caught running naked from a petrol station after terrifying a woman driver has been convicted.

Some Eastern European hauliers are allegedly welding extra tanks to their tractor units to bring cheap diesel into the Southeast and sell it on the black market.

Spar’s Pentwyn forecourt store has successfully bucked the trend during the traditional January slump by replacing its festive display with a full S-Budget range, according to store manager Christine Lewis.

Despite the strains on the consumer purse, the increasing high-street presence of small-format supermarkets and the summer’s social unrest, the independent convenience retail sector continued to hold its own in 2011, says Christie + Co’s Business Outlook 2012.

A ground breaking project to ensure the UK is well-positioned for the commercial roll-out of hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles has been launched, business minister Mark Prisk announced today.

John Williamson has been appointed as the new chief executive of Topaz, Ireland's largest fuels and convenience retailer. The announcement was made today by the company's chairman, Neil O’Leary.

Shell has signed a card acceptance agreement with Valero Energy to offer euroShell card customers the opportunity to fill up at UK Texaco-branded sites.

Glasgow-based Top 50 Indie Calanike Retailing Ltd, founded by managing director Kenny Webster in 1998, is in receivership, and seeking interest from potential buyers.

Shell and flexible workspace provider Regus have announced the trial of a joint programme that could see Regus business lounges open at Shell petrol forecourts on motorways across Europe.

Residents of Kielder in Northumberland are celebrating after hearing about plans to re-open the area’s only petrol station. It closed in 2008, leaving the residents with a 35-mile round trip to get fuel.

New figures showing the increasing cost of retail crime and the alarming increase in reported verbal and physical abuse of retail workers are evidence of the need for government, Police and communities to take retail crime seriously, says the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS).

Thieves used a stolen pick-up truck to make off with an ATM from a Wirral forecourt. The incident happened at the BP garage in Spital in the early hours of Friday, January 12. Officers were called to the site on Brimstage Road at around 1.35am.

Top 50 Indie Petrogas has signed a 20-year lease agreement to operate former Forecourt Trader of the Year Jonathan James’ two sites in Chatteris, Cambridgeshire.

Research from YouGov’s Mobile Wallet study reveals low awareness and usage rates for contactless card technology, indicating that banks and retailers need to do more to increase usage of the technology, according to the study.

Top 50 Indie the Carsley Group is supporting the ‘Help for Heroes’ charity across its network with a raffle to give away three mountain bikes.

Nisa has announced a year-to-date sales increase of 3.1% for the 39 weeks from April 2011 until December 2011, driven by existing members purchasing an increasing amount of products through Nisa’s Central Distribution Services (CDS).

The Treasury has confirmed that the 5ppl relief on fuel purchases as part of the rural fuel duty rebate scheme that kicks off on March 1 does not include VAT.

Last year was a tough one for fuel and convenience retailers, and 2012 is unlikely to be much better," said Neale Smither, BP's UK supply and retail manager, as he considered the year ahead.

Patron Capital, the pan-European institutional investor focused on property-backed investments, has confirmed its acquisition of Top 50 independent fuel retailer Motor Fuels Group Limited (MFG) in a joint venture with a new management team backed by oil industry veteran, Alasdair Locke.

RMIP's fuel price monitoring system, Big Oil, has seen the steepest and fastest-ever rise in wholesale costs over the festive period. From Monday 19 December to Thursday 5 January the cost of diesel increased by nearly 4.50ppl and unleaded petrol by as much as 5.00ppl with 20% VAT to be added.

ACS is calling on retailers from across the convenience sector to complete the 2011 Crime Survey. The survey addresses a range of issues including burglary, crime reporting, robberies and physical violence, and verbal abuse.

BP has praised staff at its petrol station in South Mimms for acting quickly and safely when a burning car entered the forecourt in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Chief executive of Topaz, Eddie O’Brien, is to resign in order to return to an international role and take up a senior position with DCC.

Petrol sales, which were down 2.4 billion litres in the first nine months of 2011 compared to 2008, look set to collapse further in 2012, according to a new report by the AA.

Murco’s retail marketing director Jeremy Clarke is moving to the Motor Fuel Group as managing director, and taking other Murco excutives with him, including dealer sales manager Jim Mulheran.

RMI Petrol has kicked off the New Year by writing to the Chancellor with a Briefing Paper urging reform of fuel tax ahead of the deferred duty increase on August 1. As detailed in the Autumn Statement on November 30, this will be 3.02 pence per litre (ppl) plus 20% VAT making a total increase of 4.00ppl at the pumps.

All of the claimants challenging the English ban on displaying tobacco products in shops, including JTI UK and JTI Sweden, have notified the English High Court that they will not be continuing with their judicial review challenge.

Euro Garages, current Forecourt Trader of the year and one of the UK's largest operators of petrol forecourts and convenience stores,  has appointed James Thornton as finance director.

Guidance on how retailers should comply with the new tobacco display ban regulations in England, which come into force on April 6, 2012 for stores above 280 sqm, has been published by the Department of Health.

A teenager who allegedly drove off without paying for his fuel was subsequently killed as police gave chase. Police were called after the driver of a purple VW Golf drove off without paying from a BP forecourt in St Leonards, Dorset at 10pm on Saturday night (Dec 17).

Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, Eric Pickles has today confirmed Government plans to introduce a new income retention scheme for local authorities which promote business growth in their areas from April 2013.

Fuel retailers can now register for the rural fuel duty rebate pilot scheme, following confirmation of the legislation in Parliament. The pilot was given the go-ahead last month by the European Union, to start in March 2012. It allows for a 5ppl tax discount to apply on fuel sold in Scotland’s Inner and Outer Hebrides, Northern Isles, the islands in the Clyde and the Isles of Scilly.

Former Liberal leader Lord Steel of Aikwood has called for Britain to follow the French and display the price their competitors charge for petrol, in a question to the House of Lords about fuel prices at motorway service stations.

Police have arrested three men after CCTV images were released of an armed robbery that took place at an Esso garage in Portland, Dorset on December 12.

A forecourt flasher who was caught running naked from a petrol station after terrifying a woman driver, has pleaded guilty to five offences.

A forecourt in the Magherafelt area of Co Londonderry selling illicit fuel has been closed down by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). Officers raided the site and tested samples of the fuel from the diesel tanks. As a result, a 17,000-litre fuel tank and the forecourt pumps were seized, along with 2,300 litres of contaminated fuel.

The new Fuel Vapour Recovery Stage II EU directive is set to come into force on January 1, 2012, following consultation with local authorities and industry bodies, in particular RMI Petrol.

Faisal Rana of Leeds-based United Petroleum UK won £1,000 at the Xmo Strata Forecourt Safety Awards. Faisal won the award for providing a constant improvement in health and safety on forecourts. The judges lavished praise on the comprehensive package of ideas, systems, processes and thoughts which went into a programme which collectively he calls the 'Goal Zero Initiative'.

Arval UK has announced the sale of AllStar Business Solutions Ltd (AllStar) to FleetCor Technologies, Inc (FleetCor), a leading independent global fleet card provider, for £194m.

Top 50 Indie Bishop Retail has been sold to to KSC Worldwide Ltd, following completion of a deal with the Stamford Group. The sale will see KSC take ownership of the nine sites in the North East of England trading under the Harvest Energy and Mace brands.

A 23-year-old student from the West Midlands has been ordered to carry out 150 hours of community service after he was found guilty of a series of drive-offs.

Shopper spend stalled in November despite supermarkets' continuing lure of price cuts, money-off vouchers, fuel discounts and still further use of promotions, according to the latest retailer performance figures released by Nielsen.

Local shops have welcomed plans to change the way that businesses experience ‘frontline enforcement’, set out by Business Secretary Vince Cable. Plans include:

Independent retailers are being urged to give evidence to an Office of Fair Trading investigation into the acquisition by Shell of 253 former Total sites from Rontec.

BOSS has launched a pioneering project with Strathclyde Police to help fuel retailers in rural communities tackle crime on their forecourts.

A beautiful baby girl who announced her arrival into the world in dramatic circumstances at a petrol station in North County Dublin has returned to the Topaz site two weeks later to meet staff who were on duty that night.

Nisa has made a significant investment in its consumer marketing and brand building for the second year running with the production a new TV advert.

UKPIA has published a new study looking at the future role of the refining and downstream industry.

All of Britain’s road vehicles will be battery powered by 2050, according to proposals by energy secretary Chris Huhne.

Palmer and Harvey is launching its first-ever price-match pledge, as part of a major pricing shake-up to dispel the myth that buying from cash and carry outlets is cheaper than buying from a delivered wholesaler.

Starbucks is to open 200 new drive-thru coffee shops in the next five years – 100 of which will be operated under licence by Top 50 Indie Euro Garages.

The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) and Jet service stations across the country have launched a safe driving initiative to advise motorists on handling winter driving conditions.

Jet is seeing more and more independent forecourts joining the brand. In this quarter alone, the brand has welcomed a further 10 service stations to its network in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Greater London.

Harvest Energy is setting its sights on Scotland and the North East with the appointment of Gary Conway as sales manager for independent fuel retailers.

January's planned fuel duty rise will be cancelled, Chancellor George Osborne announced in today's Autumn Statement.

ACS has welcomed the pro-growth initiatives in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, which include a two-year deferral scheme for planned business rates increase in April 2012, extension of small business rate relief until April 2013, a £40bn National Loan Guarantee Scheme, and the deferral of the 3ppl increase in fuel duty.

Motorway services provider Moto has undertaken a major investment programme at its Lymm site, upgrading all HGV refueling facilities to provide a faster and more reliable service.

A rural fuel duty rebate pilot scheme has been given the green light from the European Union, to start on March 2012.

Many rural petrol stations are being faced with massive rate increases of between 100%-400%. The news comes from an initial review of the impact of the 2010 Rating List on rural forecourts by Barber Wadlow, in association with RMI Petrol.

Euro Garages, this year’s Forecourt Trader of the Year winner, and one of the UK’s largest independent forecourt retailers, has joined RMI Petrol.

Former BP executive Ramsay MacDonald has been appointed director of retail at GB Oils, the DCC Energy subsidiary which has recently taken control of the Total dealer network.

The Car Wash Association (CWA) is rolling out its WashMark kitemark designed to act as a barometer for quality car washing facilities.

Nisa’s new Loco symbol group concept will be available to forecourt retailers.

Spar wholesaler Blakemore Trade Partners retail training centre, The Guild Academy, has launched a new apprenticeship scheme designed specifically for the convenience retail market.

Four out of five MPs support giving communities greater powers to use the planning system to stop their high streets becoming 'clone towns'. These findings are revealed today by the Association of Convenience Stores, as it sets out a three-point plan to revive flagging high streets.

A new trend for small stores to perform better than the large supermarket stores has become apparent in the October retail sales figures from the Office for National Statistics. They showed that sales volumes increased in small stores by more than five per cent, while large stores showed a small decrease in volumes over the month.

Customers of Stans Supermarket, in St Martins near Oswestry, can get their petrol for as little as 120.9ppl and diesel for 129.9ppl. That’s because the independent superstore is running an offer where shoppers who spend £50 or more in the store get an extra 7p off per litre. And Stans’ current pole sign price is 127.9ppl for unleaded and 136.9ppl for diesel.

Tesco’s use of money-off-fuel activity to drive custom has extended to its garden centre chain, Dobbies. Until very recently, customers were being given 5p off per litre of fuel vouchers for Tescos when they spent £50 or more at Dobbies.

RMIP chairman Brian Madderson has again written to Chancellor George Osborne – as he prepares for next Tuesday's Autumn Statement – recommending “in the strongest possible terms” cancellation of the planned fuel duty rises in 2012 on road transport fuels.

Local shops have welcomed new proposals to protect business customers against unfair energy contracts.

The proposals, announced by Ofgem this morning, are due to be part of a consultation which looks to introduce the following measures:

MPs voted unanimously to pass a motion demanding that the government puts the two fuel duty rises planned for January and August next year on the back burner.

Pauline Irvine of Henderson’s Spar/BP forecourt in Lagan Valley, Northern Ireland, has been voted Sales Assistant of the Year in the forecourt category, and also triumphed by winning the Community award, in a competition run by sister magazine Convenience Store. The awards event was held at The Dorchester Hotel, with TV celebrity Anthea Turner making the presentations.

Service stations in Torfaen will get greater support from Gwent Police following the launch of Forecourt Watch in the area.

ACS has called on retailers, retail staff and suppliers from across the convenience sector to support the new petition for Government action to support people carrying PASS approved ID.

Food and drink prices have contributed to the slowdown of the official rate of inflation – the CPI – in October, with most items (except fish) becoming slightly cheaper over recent weeks, according to IGD's chief economist, James Walton.

Jet and LV= SOS Kit Aid are thanking Jet dealers and customers for the overwhelming support shown for the recent ‘Drop Kick Your Kit’ campaign. In September, 56 sites across the country encouraged customers to donate rugby kit in order to help disadvantaged children and young adults in Africa. Over 2,500 items of kit were collected in total during a period of three weeks – nearly 600kgs worth of rugby gear!
 

ConocoPhillips Limited has announced that it is restructuring the UK and Ireland marketing business.  Employees and contractors have been made aware of the plan, which is expected to better reflect the market place and deliver on the company’s desire to continuously improve customer facing activities.

Transport and logistics group Bibby Line has acquired the remaining 49% share of Costcutter Supermarkets, and established a subsidiary Bibby Retail Services.

MPs will debate a motion to lower fuel prices at 3pm today in the House of Commons after more than 100,000 people signed the Fair Fuel UK e-petition.

The UK food and grocery convenience sector is set to grow to £42.2bn in five years’ time, according to figures revealed today by IGD at its Convenience Retail Conference.

Forecourt retailers have dramatically improved their performance in preventing underage sales of alcohol and cigarettes by adopting best retail practices, according to independent test purchasing company Serve Legal.

Retailers with car wash facilities are invited to attend a meeting held by the Car Wash Association on November 21, 2011 to discuss responsible vehicle washing.

Londis pre-Christmas sales have exceeded £1m for the first time. The sales accounted for Christmas orders placed by Londis resellers with Musgrave GB for confectionery and grocery ranges and included orders received for the Halloween period.

Former managing director of Spar UK, Jerry Marwood, is returning to the symbol group as managing director of Spar wholesaler Blakemore Trade Partners.

Kärcher Vehicle Wash is offering free servicing, warranty or chemicals to operators who order its buy-time SB Wash-E by the end of the year.

GB Oils has completed the acquisition of certain oil distribution assets that were previously owned by Total in Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands from Rontec Investments.

Top 50 Indie Symonds Forecourts has launched a management training academy to develop a pool of future managers and supervisors from within the business.

BP is aiming to attract gaming customers into its stores by being among the first to sell Call of Duty: Modern Welfare 3, which goes on sale at one minute past midnight on Tuesday, November 8.

UK cash machine supplier, InfoCash, says the average transaction time for customers using its latest generation of ATMs will be around 28 seconds. It’s an improvement of more than 15 seconds on the previous average and means that using an InfoCash machine at a location such as a pub or a convenience store will give access to cash at the same speed as an ATM at a high- street bank.

UKPIA, the trade association representing the main oil refining and marketing companies in the UK, will launch its new publication on the contribution of the refining industry in Wales and the UK, at a reception on November 2 at the Wales Millennium Centre, hosted by Paul Davies AM. The RT Hon Carwyn Jones AM, First Minister of Wales, will make a keynote address.

RMI Petrol has today warned the government that average fuel prices could hit 150ppl by next summer.

Consumers in the UK/Ireland, Germany and Australia show far less enthusiasm for new payment technologies, such as contactless and mobile, than those in the Middle East and Poland, according to research commissioned by First Data Corporation, a leading specialist electronic commerce and payment processing. Traditional payment methods (cash, debit card, credit card) remain the primary preference for making purchases.
 

Retail Ireland, the IBEC group that represents the retail sector, has called for tax reform and a better resourced Garda and Revenue response to illegal diesel laundering.

New shopper research from IGD shows the number of shoppers claiming to go to discount stores like Lidl and Aldi has increased over the past year, and is set to increase further.
 

UKPIA welcomes the Energy and Climate Change Committee’s recommendations on oil refining and compulsory oil stocks.

Air1, Yara International’s AdBlue brand across Europe, announces a price increase for its AdBlue, effective from November 1, 2011.

At a meeting of small businesses with Nick Clegg this morning, ACS Chief Executive James Lowman called on the Deputy Prime Minister to extend the moratorium on new employment legislation to more businesses, and to reduce burdens from local government and enforcement practices.

Independent forecourt retailers in parts of the UK are being encouraged to reduce their costs by signing up to a free solarPV electricity scheme which uses their canopies and shop roofs.

Harvest Energy has secured a five year motor fuel supply and branding agreement with WJ King (Garages) Ltd, which has eight forecourts stretching across South East London and North West Kent.

The Government was today warned about the serious consequences of their proposed Duty increases by Brian Madderson, RMI Petrol chairman. In his letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, he detailed concerns for the independent petrol retailing industry ahead of the Autumn Statement. Although the previous Government’s 'escalator' will be replaced by a 'fair fuel stabiliser', the precise mechanics of this new scheme have yet to be announced.

A new fuel brand has appeared on a Lancashire petrol forecourt, and is likely to appear on another 10 sites next year.

A decline in petrol and diesel sales coupled with the desire to reduce costs is forcing Europe’s fuel retailers to convert service stations to unmanned sites, finds Verdict, part of the Datamonitor group. By 2013, one in ten service stations across Europe won’t have any staff at the forecourt leaving motorists to pay for their fuel using automated payment technology. 

Greggs has agreed a trial with motorway service provider Moto to open bakery shops in motorway service locations.

Latest research by food and grocery analyst IGD reveals that sales in online grocery retailing are set to hit £11.2bn in 2016, almost twice the estimated value for 2011 of £5.9bn. At the end of this year, the online grocery market will account for 3.8% of total grocery spend in the UK and is projected to increase to 6.0% by 2016.

Independent retailers must avoid the temptation to buy illegal stocks of beer to compete with supermarkets’ irresponsible promotions, says the Federation of Wholesale Distributors (FWD).

Ian and Sue Cruickshank, owners of the recently rebranded Ponton Main Service Station on the A1, Great North Road, at Grantham, have reported an 80 per cent increase in fuel sales since the site received its Harvest Energy livery.

HIM research & consulting has appointed former Forecourt Trader of the Year Jonathan James as associate consultant with immediate effect.

Brian Madderson is continuing the RMI Petrol’s quest to better inform motorists about crude oil and fuel prices following an article in the business section of the Evening Standard yesterday.

RMI Petrol is planning a return to Northern Ireland in Spring 2012 following its first regional forum in the region for at least 15 years.

Parts of Britain are in danger of becoming ‘fuel deserts’ as the number of petrol stations hits a new low, new research from Palmer & Harvey has warned.

Record pump prices between April and June helped UK retail petrol sales fall 77% faster than in the first three months of this year, new research from the AA reveals.

RMI Petrol has appointed property firm Barber Wadlow as advisers to its members in all property-related matters.

Independent newsagents will be marching on 10 Downing Street next Wednesday (October 12) to hand over the Press for Reform petition organised by the National Federation of Retail Newsagents.

Sainsbury's has launched its latest fuel promotion, offering customers the chance to save 10p per litre of fuel when they spend £60 or more in a single transaction instore or on groceries online at Sainsbury's.

Top 50 Indie MRH completed the sale of its Pace Fuelcare subsidiary to DCC plc on the September 30. The business sold 455 million litres of fuel in the year ending September 26, 2010 and operates from 19 locations across southern England with a fleet of 83 road tankers and 201 employees.

Competition regulators must intervene to break up the newspaper and magazine supply monopoly that harms retailers and consumers, says the Association of News Retailing (ANR). Publishers and wholesalers are currently granted special treatment under competition law for their supply of product to retailers, and the OFT is considering whether to conduct an in-depth review of this decision.

Palmer and Harvey’s ‘Curry on Laughing’ charity event raised £13,000 for retailers devastated by the recent riots.

Retail bosses at DCC have sought to reassure Total dealers about its intentions, following last month’s announcement of its agreement to buy Total’s oil distribution assets from Rontec – Gerald Ronson’s Snax 24-led consortium.

More than half of a group of 27 Jet dealers in the south west who got together in the wake of ConocoPhillips’ announcement to withdraw from the region, have now signed, or committed to, new suppliers, according to Barrie Richards of St Blazey Service Station.

RMI Petrol has submitted a list of concerns about the government’s planned pilot of a 5ppl fuel duty rebate for the Scottish islands to the Treasury following feedback from retailers at its regional meeting in Inverness last month.

The NFRN is to meet with senior executives from the Guardian to discuss face to face the newspaper publisher’s recent decision to cut retailer percentage terms.

DCC plc, the sales, marketing, distribution and business support services group, which owns Gulf Retail in the UK, has reached conditional agreement with Rontec Investments – Gerald Ronson’s Snax 24-led consortium – to acquire certain oil distribution assets currently owned by Total in Britain, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

An e-petition calling for cheaper petrol and diesel has garnered over 92,000 signatures so far – just 8,000 short of the number required for it to be debated in the House of Commons. As such it is the third most popular e-petition after ones calling for ‘Convicted London rioters should lose all benefits’ and ‘Full disclosure of all government documents relating to 1989 Hillsborough disaster’.

A service station in East Sussex has welcomed new owners following the freehold sale by retail business advisors Christie & Co.

The Texaco brand has beaten nine other suppliers to scoop the Best Branded Supplier in the Non-foods, Fuel and Drinks category of the recent Co-operative Retail Trading Group (CRTG) Charity Supplier Awards Dinner. It came in at the top of the field ahead of industry leaders that included Diageo, Imperial Tobacco, Hallmark and Coca-Cola.

A new draw-based lottery game with a top prize of up to £100,000 is now rolling out into thousands of retail outlets across the UK.

RMI Petrol has named the date for its Cardiff retailer meeting. It will take place on Tuesday, October 11 at the Legacy Hotel, Merthyr Road, Tongwynlais, Cardiff CF15 7LD.

Two more electric vehicle charging points have been opened on Welcome Break’s motorway services network this week.

Shell and Waitrose have announced a two-site trial of a new joint format that will see Little Waitrose convenience stores on Shell forecourts later this month.

To celebrate its 25th anniversary Costcutter has launched two new store fascias that will be rolled out across the group early next year.

A Lincolnshire Spar retailer is already seeing sales at his new forecourt store rocket, thanks to its combination of cutting-edge services and a focus on family history and the local community.

BP is claiming a 'first' with its newly launched digital marketing platform for its forecourt stores.

Palmer and Harvey is calling on the retail industry to join them in raising money for retailers devastated by the recent riots.

A West Yorkshire independent retailer has almost eliminated drive offs by naming and shaming suspects on posters outside his forecourt.

Independent retailers are invited to attend RMI Petrol’s upcoming regional forums in Inverness and Belfast this month.

Major Irish fuel and convenience brand, Topaz has agreed an exclusive supply deal with greeting card publisher and franchisor, Card Connection. Card Connection’s four franchisees based within the region will now deliver and merchandise the company’s range of greeting cards to 120 Topaz forecourts throughout the Republic of Ireland.

The Association of Convenience Stores has called for the support of the influential Communities and Local Government Select Committee as it calls for Ministers to make crucial improvements to the new National Planning Policy Framework.

Spar UK has announced that Martin Agnew, joint managing director of the Henderson Group, will take over as chairman of the Spar Food Distributors (SFD) Board this month.

Footfall at motorway service areas increased by more than 12% over the August bank holiday weekend, according to new research from car insurance expert Confused.com and MSA Extra Service Stations.

Top 50 Indie Simon Smith Group has set a date for the start of its next knockdown rebuild forecourt development.

Ireland’s largest fuel supplier, Topaz, has announced a new distribution deal with Q8Oils worth almost €12.8m.

Nine out of 10 shoppers expect food prices to be more expensive in the year ahead, according to the latest research from IGD ShopperTrack. And they are planning to use several strategies to help them manage their budgets.

Spar is gearing up to support world-reigning motorsport champions and their vehicles as they take over Cardiff for Red Bull’s Speed Jam event.

RMIP chairman Brian Madderson has written to the Daily Telegraph complaining about "misleading" information provided by Justin King, CEO of Sainsbury’s. King wrote a piece for the Business Section of the newspaper on August 23 which contained, what Madderson claims was "misleading information about the amount of the pump price for fuel going to the Treasury".

Top 50 Indie, MRH, is having to relocate one of its forecourts in the West Midlands because Sainsbury is extending one of its stores.

Dorset-based Peregrine Retail has opened its second forecourt – a main road with an innovative canopy designed to look like the wing of an airplane.

More than 14,000 Jet customers have signed in-store pledges within two weeks as a result of 72 Jet sites around the country joining forces with road safety charity Brake to launch Jet’s ‘20 is Plenty’ campaign.

Goole-based family business Jos Richardson & Son has purchased BP-branded York Road Garages with Costcutter shop on the A19 at Escrick, near York from Escrick Ltd for an undisclosed sum.

BOSS has introduced Payment Watch, a scheme to help UK fuel retailers recover losses incurred by ‘no means of payment’ incidents.

The Road Haulage Association’s (RHA’s) demand for an immediate 5ppl cut in fuel prices has been dismissed by RMI Petrol.

Thieves who fill up and drive off from service stations using stolen number plates are the target of a new scheme launched by police and partners in Slough, Berkshire.

RMI Petrol is calling for more evidence of ‘unfair pricing’ by oil companies and supermarkets following an invitation from the Office of Fair Trading to make an ‘informal presentation’ of its claims.

Independent oil distribution company Oil 4 Wales and breakdown rescue company Dragon Rescue have joined forces to develop a 24-hour fuel stop at Cardiff Docks.

Top 50 Indie MRH Retail has called on PSD Codax, the developer of token-free control systems for car care equipment, to help tighten its control of carwash sales.

The Association of Convenience Stores has welcomed the Prime Minister’s announcement of a package of measures to help communities and businesses affected by the recent riots in England.

Three men have been jailed for a total of eight years and eleven months after admitting conspiracy to steal tens of thousands of pounds worth of fuel from petrol forecourts across the Midlands.

A Jet petrol station on Dudley Road in Winston Green, Birmingham has become a crime scene following the death of three men after they were hit by a car in the early hours of this morning.

Small businesses believe going green can boost their bottom line – but see tax and red tape as major barriers to becoming more environmentally friendly, according to Forum of Private Business research.

ACS has called for government to promote the message that ‘people are more important than property’ in a meeting with Home Secretary Theresa May yesterday afternoon.

Riot police broke up an attack on a Texaco-branded site on Mare Street in Hackney last night and other petrol stations around London were forced to close as rioting intensified.

Speed is not an important factor for 97% of motorists in considering whether they would use High Speed Rail, according to an AA/Populus poll of 16,850 Automobile Association members.

Euro Garages, the privately owned forecourt retail group chaired by former Asda chief executive Andy Bond, has reported continued growth in sales and profits and announced a £110m funding agreement to step up its site acquisition programme.

The Subway chain has announced that 3,000 jobs will be created in the next five years as part of its plans to treble the number of non-traditional outlets across the UK and Ireland.

HM Revenue and Customs are to clamp down on stores suspected of selling counterfeit alcohol with a series of raids across the UK.

Lord Sugar’s Amscreen, the UK’s largest nationwide digital out-of-home network owner, has announced that it has acquired the entire sales and marketing operation of Digicom.

Customer data from Collect+ reveals that people are increasingly using the service to send and receive parcels outside working hours.

ACS has welcomed Business Secretary Vince Cable’s announcement today that a number of retail regulations will be cut.

Royal Dutch Shell announced second quarter 2011 earnings of $8 billion compared with $4.5 billion the same quarter a year ago. The company's CEO Peter Voser said the rise was driven by increased energy prices and Shell's operating performance.

Independent forecourt retailer Charles Richards, who runs St Blazey Service Station in Cornwall with his father Barrie, is helping the government with flood prevention.

Staff from Top 50 Indie Sewell Retail are taking part in a skydive on Sunday July 31 to raise money for Peace One Day.

Forecourt owners should be wary of installing hand wash people on their forecourts, Dave Lindon, business development director at Istobal has warned.

Euro Garages, one of the UK’s largest independent operators of petrol forecourts and convenience stores, has completed the redevelopment of Rivington Services on the M61, previously called Bolton West Services.

Welcome Break’s South Mimms services on the Junction of the M1 and M25 has become the first site on the motorway to offer an electric car-charging point for electric vehicles.

Amscreen, the UK’s largest nationwide digital media network owner, is expanding to foreign shores for the first time following a deal with BP Europe SE. The contract will see digital signage screens installed in forecourts across the continent initially in Germany, Poland, Luxembourg, Switzerland and Austria.

Harvest Energy has announced a five year motor fuel supply and branding agreement with the 16 forecourt Cornwall Garage Group. The Cornwall Group’s sites stretch from the West Country into Sussex, London and the Home Counties and into the Midlands.

BP has announced profits of $5.3bn (£3.2bn) in the three months to 30 June as higher oil prices offset a fall in production.

Oil companies need to up their game in the €72 billion European fuel cards market, as independent issuers use innovation to build market share, according to the latest research from Datamonitor.

Just 215 electric cars were bought under a Government scheme to encourage the take-up of green vehicles in its second three months of operation, according to a new report by the RAC Foundation.

ConocoPhillips’ board of directors has approved pursuing the separation of the company’s Refining & Marketing and Exploration & Production businesses into two stand-alone, publicly traded corporations via a tax-free spin of the refining and marketing business to ConocoPhillips shareholders.

Ashdene Service Station in East Sussex has become the first forecourt in the UK to win the My Shop is Your Shop Gold Award for Community Retailing.

Today sees the opening of Somerset-based Symonds Forecourts' latest site in Wells, Somerset.

The first Turtle Wax branded Christ rollover car wash in the UK went straight from its launch at the IFFE exhibition to the Jet forecourt at Rockingham Road, Corby in Northamptonshire, owned by Brobot, one of the UK’s top 50 independent forecourt owners.

Independent ATM provider, Cashzone, has announced an early contract extension to 2017 for providing fully managed ATM services to Roadchef, one of the UK’s ‘big three’ motorway service area operators .

HM Revenue & Customs is urging forecourt retailers to remind students that they may not have to pay tax on the money they make from summer jobs.

Top 50 indie Peter Brough has called for independent retailers to join together to form their own fuel brand and cut out the expensive middleman – the oil companies.

Forecourt Trader of the Year winners Bhupa and Lata Gohil are supporting two of their local schools with a loyalty voucher scheme similar to the ones run by Tesco and Sainsbury.

Contaminated petrol has caused major problems for customers at two of Sainsbury’s petrol stations in the North East. The incidents happened at Cramlington on June 28 and Durham on July 1.

Londis is investing £4m to expand its fresh food business this year, including giving the entire Londis fleet full chilled capacity for the first time.

Association of News Retailing (ANR) has renewed its call for a market investigation into the news industry after retailer margins on the Daily Mail were cut to 23.2% from 24.2%, meaning that retailers will benefit by only 0.66p per copy from a 5p price rise to consumers. This move comes alongside an increase in Carriage Service Charges by Smiths News of 4.8%.

Forecourts across Cumbria are being asked to support a new campaign to stop parents smoking in their cars.

The 10ppl fuel promotion that triggered a price war between the supermarkets last week is nothing new – Top 50 Indie Harry Tuffins has been doing it for three years.

Palmer and Harvey has appointed Martyn Ward, former consumer healthcare company SSL International regional managing director for Northern Europe, as sales and commercial director.

Parcel service Collect+ has helped drive footfall and boost revenue at 132 forecourt stores, according to new research by the company.

Former Forecourt Trader of the Year Jonathan James has confirmed that two of his sites in Cambridgeshire are up for sale.

Tesco has upstaged Sainsbury’s 10ppl fuel promotion with its latest offer giving motorists 15ppl off fuel in return for £50 spent in store.

Sainsbury’s has kicked off a fuel promotion today giving shoppers 10p off every litre of fuel when they spend £60 or more in store.

Jet dealers in the southwest have expressed disbelief and disappointment that ConocoPhillips has decided to withdraw from the region by the end of the year, and branded the timescale for exit as inadequate.

ConocoPhillips has confirmed that it is withdrawing the Jet brand from the southwest of the UK.

Rontec Investments LLP, a consortium comprising top 50 Indie Snax 24 and partners Investec and Grovepoint Capital, have today signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire Total’s retail and fuel distribution business in the UK.

MRH (GB) is sporting its own new fuel brand – Torq – on five forecourts in Scotland, in the absence of a competitive oil company deal.

RMI Petrol is preparing to meet with the Treasury at the end of this month to give its views on the government's outline proposals for a Fair Fuel Stabiliser. The Coalition proposes to replace the Fuel Duty Escalator introduced by the previous government with a Fair Fuel Stabiliser that will see the 1ppl duty increase scrapped if the global price for crude oil increases above a certain level.

More than 100 independent BP retailers have expressed interest in the company's new Essentials convenience offering, launched at the recent BP dealer convention in Athens. The new offer will operate alongside the Wild Bean Café concession, and form part of BP's new Advanced Dealer Offer which includes fuel and the Nectar loyalty scheme. The company describes the package as a "market-leading combination of assets". The Essentials brand is designed to enable BP's independent network to benefit by sharing in the marketing, operational and trading benefits of a more consistent look and feel in-store across the network.

Peers in the House of Lords have dismissed an amendment prohibiting the sale of alcohol in forecourts as part of the Committee stage of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Bill.

Asda has set a national price cap of 128.7ppl for unleaded and 132.7ppl for diesel today, as part of its strategy to be the first retailer to drop pump prices and the last to put them up when wholesale prices fluctuate.

The transition to a lower carbon environment presents its own challenges and is not going to happen overnight, stated UKPIA president, Brian Worrall, at the launch of the organisation's 2011 Statistical Review of the downstream oil industry.

Shell UK Ltd's agreement to acquire 254 petrol retail sites in the UK from Rontec Investments LLP (the Snax 24 Consortium)  for a total cash consideration of around $400mln (£240m), is the biggest single expansion of Shell's fuel retailing network in the UK.

Seventy five Jet sites have teamed up with road safety charity Brake to launch Jet’s ‘20 is Plenty’ campaign to improve road safety for children. Jet’s aim is to encourage a community-wide commitment to driving at a maximum speed of 20mph in built up areas.

Tokheim has been selected as a global supplier of fuel dispensers for Shell service stations. The implementation of the agreement, which will run until 2016, has already started with the first  installations in the Benelux, Germany, Italy and the UK.

The ACS Forecourt Seminar, chaired by Forecourt Trader editor Merril Boulton, aims to give essential insights to forecourt retailers and spark the debate on the most effective ways to succeed in a difficult market.

Spar wholesaler AF Blakemore has pledged to invest £3m to bring independent retailers savings worth an average of £7,500 per store.

Spar wholesaler James Hall is forging ahead with its plans to promote fresh foods and in-store investment, with a host of new initiatives to help build their business with retailers.

BP will be rolling out MasterCard PayPass contactless payments terminals across its forecourts in the UK over the next two years.

A Belfast forecourt has been knocked down and rebuilt in a £1.5m project funded by its owners – B&C Litter – and Ulster Bank.

Peers in the House of Lords have supported calls from the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) to put retail diversity and sustainable development on the face of the Localism Bill.

Top 50 Indie Carsley Group has awarded delivered wholesaler Convenience Distribution Group (CDG) a contract to supply car care and lubricant products across its network.

A safety passport scheme that has reduced serious and fatal accidents on petrol station forecourts for the last ten years has been refreshed and relaunched.

Chevron has launched its own investigation into the explosion at its Pembroke refinery in which four men died. The inquiry will run in tandem with the Health and Safety Executive’s investigation.

Top 50 Indie Harry Tuffins has earned a My Shop is Your Shop Gold Award from the Federation of Wholesale Distributors for its work in the local community.

With the newly re-structured Forecourt Trader of the Year Awards 2011 under way, retailers are rushing to meet today's deadline in the hope of being

Tesco is offering 5ppl off fuel in return for spending just £7.98 on two packs of own-label toilet tissue.

Former Forecourt Trader of the Year Jonathan James was interviewed about the bullying tactics of energy companies on Radio Cambridgeshire this morning.

RMI Petrol has claimed that the emergence of two-tier fuel pricing in the UK is severely damaging the independent petrol retailing sector and is calling for another OFT inquiry.