Business Manager’s Report

report An Analysis of Inland Oil and Fuel Incidents in England and Wales the Oil Care Campaign, a consortium of key players from industry and watchdog organisations, finds that most spills are down to faulty or badly maintained tanks. There is also a reluctance to report spills allowing many to go undetected.

The implementation of regular checkups would go some way towards tackling offenders attempts at concealing their spills. Merlin Hyman, director of EIC, said: "Inland oil spills are the biggest cause of pollution incidents in the UK and cost many millions of pounds every year in damage to the environment - and this new report shows the real story is far worse than we thought. "It is vital the Government acts to put in place a statutory 'MoT' system for oil storage tanks. "It is disappointing that the Oil Care Campaign has seen fit to weaken this report by changing the recommendations to 'discussion points'. "Oil spills cause massive damage to the environment and we will never tackle them if serious recommendations are swept under the carpet."

UK, Somerfield to buy 22 petrol station convenience stores as fresh bid approach announced

Somerfield recently announced that they plan to buy 22 UK forecourt franchises for a £1.5 million cash payment and plan to invest £20 million in refurbishment over the next two years. The announcement, made comes as United Co-operatives said they plan to make an offer for the Somerfield and Kwik Save chain.

UK supermarket group Somerfield plc announced that it has agreed to buy 22 UK forecourt convenience stores from Fuelforce Limited amid further developments in the aciquistion bid for Sommerfield itself were announced.

Under the terms of the agreement, Somerfield will acquire the individual forecourt businesses as going concerns to include stock, goodwill and fixtures and fittings, at a total estimated value of £1.5million payable in cash.

Somerfield will also enter into leases with Fuelforce on all 22 sites. Following the proposed acquisition, Somerfield's Forecourt Convenience Store Portfolio will increase to 184 stores. This builds on the recent Texaco acquisition and follows the Group's stated strategy of increasing its presence in the UK Forecourt and Convenience Store Sector.

In addition to the acquisition cost Somerfield said that it intends to invest approximately £20million in redeveloping the forecourts over a 2year period. Once re-developed, the Portfolio will be branded and operated by Somerfield under its "Somerfield Essentials" format. Commenting on the transaction, Steve Back, Chief Executive of Somerfield, said: "We are very pleased to announce this acquisition which together with the Texaco acquisition further strengthens our retail position in the Forecourt Convenience Market".

The announcement comes as the UK’s second largest cooperative group, United Co-operatives, announced that it is weighing up an audacious bid for the 1,250 food stores in the Somerfield/Kwiksave chain. The Somerfield group is already the subject of interest from two other parties, including a consortium consisting of Icelandic retail group Baugur and property tycoon Robert Tchenguiz that analysts believe could value it at up to £1.2bn ( 1.8bn). A statement issued from United’s Rochdale headquarters said: “There can be no certainty that an offer will be made. A further announcement will be made in due course.”

Ironically, Somerfield made national headlines last autumn when a leaked internal document offered staff bonuses if they could help close their local Co-op store. The so-called dirty tricks dossier was later withdrawn with the company apologising to Co-operative Group Chief Executive Martin Beaumont for any offence caused. United recently announced sales of £1.9 billion and trading profits of £50 million for the year ended 22nd January. At the same time, the society said it planned to spend at least £200 million on acquisitions and developments over the next three years.

UK, MAG fights diesel spills on petrol stations

The Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) is putting pressure of garages to display stickers warning of the dangers of diesel spills. Thousands of 'Diesel Spill' stickers have been placed on pumps and trucks throughout the UK to remind drivers to replace fuel caps properly, but the group is still meeting resistance from forecourt staff, supermarket chains and oil companies. There is no legal requirement for fuel caps to be secured with chains or designed so ignition keys cannot be withdrawn from them unless they are properly secured. "Despite extensive campaigning on the danger of diesel spills for motorcyclists, the situation doesn't seem to have been resolved,"said MAG's Trevor Baird. "How hard is it for diesel tanks to be designed so that diesel cannot spill out of tanks or caps designed to prevent the problem. It's not rocket science."

MAG are also unhappy that spills are not being cleared from highways correctly with road authorities continuing to use sand and stone chippings. These create further hazards for motorcyclists.

UK, Stars Wars fans burnt by petrol-filled ‘Light Sabre’

A man of 20 and a girl aged 17 were engulfed in flames when a home-made Star Wars "light sabre" exploded and showered them with burning petrol. Mark Webb and Shelley Mandiville are thought to have filled a fluorescent tube with fuel to imitate the weapons in the latest Star Wars film Revenge of the Sith, released at the weekend. But their clothing caught fire and Mr Webb suffered 40 per cent burns.

Firemen were called to woodland near Hemel Hempstead, Herts, on Sunday and found them on the ground. Police think they had been filming themselves. Last night they were in a critical condition at a specialist burns unit at Broomfield Hospital, Chelmsford, Essex.

UK, Petrol retailers voice concerns over suppliers

The Retail Motor Industry Federation’s latest ‘Oil Company of the Year’ survey has found almost half the retailer respondents rated their relationship with their supplier as average or below average, and 28% said they would change suppliers, given a choice.

Smaller fuel distributors appeared to be better appreciated by forecourt