Petrol retailers say there is ‘plenty of fuel’ with demand to ‘return to normal levels’ in coming days

Published

3 years ago

September 27, 2021

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Petrol retailers hoping for a return to normal after motorists drained pumps over the weekend have faced yet more forecourt queues – as parts of the economy started to feel the strain.

In some areas, up to 90% of pumps ran dry, according to industry estimates – and there was little sign of the panic-buying diminishing on Monday, with consumers apparently ignoring pleas to stop.

That left industries from taxi drivers to the meat processing sector – and even non-league football – facing difficulties and prompted calls for healthcare workers to be given priority access to fuel.

The British Medical Association said there was a real risk that some would not be able to get to work.

But the Petrol Retailers’ Association (PRA), representing two-thirds of all UK forecourts, said that with many drivers’ tanks now full after the weekend it was watching for an “easing of demand”.

The government said there were no plans to bring in the army to drive lorries to deliver fuel to petrol stations though environment secretary George Eustice said the military’s contingencies unit was always on standby.

Mr Eustice said: “There does come a point – as we saw during a previous episode of panic buying during the pandemic on food – where things settle down and people get used to it, and return to life as normal again.

“The sooner people do that the better.

“The only reason we don’t have petrol on the forecourts is that people are buying petrol when they don’t need to.”

The crisis mushroomed after the disclosure last week that a few petrol stations had seen supply disrupted, due to the nationwide shortage of HGV drivers, prompting widespread panic-buying.

It was still in evidence for a fourth day on Monday, with roads gridlocked as motorists queued for more than an hour in some cases, with lines of cars trailing out of forecourts onto the public highway.

Some petrol retailers – Asda and EG group – have been restricting fuel sales to £30 a time.

Even if the buying frenzy does abate, motorists face a further headache as the price of Brent crude on international oil markets continued to climb, reaching a three-year high of just under $80 a barrel – likely to result in higher prices at the pumps to come.

Meanwhile the RAC, the motoring organisation, said it was aware of “a small number of retailers taking advantage of the current delivery situation by hiking prices”.

The industry has pleaded with consumers to stop panic-buying and sought to assure the public that, with fuel stocks at refineries and terminals at normal levels, it is only a shortage of lorry drivers that has restricted deliveries of fuel.

Gordon Balmer, executive director of the PRA, which represents independent fuel retailers, said: “Delayed deliveries and unusual buying levels have led to supply pressure and a number of forecourts’ stockouts.

“It is unlikely that the vehicles filled over the weekend will need refuelling again soon.

“As a result, we will watch carefully for a possible easing of demand and normalising of forecourt stocks over the coming days.”

RAC spokesman Simon Williams noted however that the panic-buying over the weekend meant every forecourt in the country now needs to re-stock at the same time, putting “unbelievable pressure on the supply chain”.

He added: “We urge drivers to only take the fuel they really need.

“Stock piling in containers only makes the situation worse for those who desperately need fuel as well as potentially causing unnecessary fire risks if not stored correctly.”

Among industries feeling the knock-on effect was the beleaguered meat-processing sector – already buffeted by recent crises such as a shortage of the carbon dioxide used to stun animals for slaughter as well as an exodus of foreign workers.

The British Meat Processor’ Association (BMPA) told Sky News that the petrol crisis had resulted in some companies missing key staff such as vets and meat inspectors.

“So far it has not caused any plants to completely shut but we are monitoring the unfolding situation very carefully,” the BMPA said in a statement.

Meanwhile one private hire taxi firm emailed clients to say its services could be affected to up to 48 hours, warning of delays and that it would not be able to honour some long-distance bookings.

Make UK, the manufacturers’ organisation, said there were anecdotal reports of some firms starting to have problems with the delivery of finished products – though it was unclear whether that was to do with fuel or the wider HGV driver problem that lies behind it.

The crisis has even taken its toll on the sporting world. Non-league Lewes Football Club said that owing to the fuel shortage and the difficulty for players, coaches and officials to attend the game, its mid-week fixture against Carshalton Athletic would be postponed.

The government’s attempts to address the issue have included plans to allow 5,000 more lorry drivers into the UK under temporary three-month visas and the suspension of competition laws to allow fuel industry to work together to address shortfalls.

But they have received a lukewarm response from industry, with complaints that the moves fail to address long-term problems.

Rod McKenzie, head of policy for the Road Haulage Association – which says there is a shortage of 100,000 drivers – told Sky News that the temporary visa move “just about scratches the surface”.

Business

Vodafone and Three merger could get green light, says UK’s competition watchdog

Published

5 hours ago

November 5, 2024

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Vodafone and Three merger could get green light, says UK's competition watchdog

A £15bn merger between two of the UK’s biggest mobile networks could get the green light – if they stick to their commitments to invest in the country’s infrastructure, the competition watchdog has said.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the merger of Vodafone and Three had “the potential to be pro-competitive for the UK mobile sector”.

Announced last year, the proposed £15bn merger would bring 27 million customers together under a single provider.

The watchdog previously warned that tens of millions of mobile phone users could end up paying more if the merger went ahead.

However, the two groups recently set out plans to protect consumer pricing and boost network investment.

The CMA has now laid out a list of “remedies” required for the deal to go-ahead.

They include the networks committing to freezing certain tariffs and data plans for at least three years to protect customers from short-term price rises in the early years of the network plan.

Stuart McIntosh, chair of the inquiry group leading the investigation, said on Tuesday: “We believe this deal has the potential to be pro-competitive for the UK mobile sector if our concerns are addressed.

“Our provisional view is that binding commitments combined with short-term protections for consumers and wholesale providers would address our concerns while preserving the benefits of this merger.

“A legally binding network commitment would boost competition in the longer term and the additional measures would protect consumers and wholesale customers while the network upgrades are being rolled out.”

Today’s announcement is provisional, with a final decision due before 7 December. The inquiry group is inviting feedback on today’s announcement by 5pm on 12 November.

The CMA also published a list of potential solutions – which it called remedies – to issues it identified with the merger.

If the networks want the merger to go ahead, the watchdog requires Vodafone and Three to:

• Deliver a joint network plan to set out network upgrades and improvements over eight years;

• Commit to keeping certain existing tariff costs and data plans for at least three years to protect customers from price hikes;

• Commit to pre-agreed prices and contract terms so Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) – mobile providers that do not own the networks they operate on – can obtain competitive wholesale deals.

Vodafone and Three are two of the biggest mobile firms in the UK, and their networks support a number of MVNOs including Asda Mobile, Lebara, Voxi, and Smarty.

Responding to the watchdog’s announcement, a spokesperson for Vodafone on behalf of the merger said: “The merger will be a catalyst for positive change.

“It will bring significant benefits to businesses and consumers throughout the UK, and it will bring advanced 5G to every school and hospital across the country.

“The merger is also closely aligned with the government’s mission to drive growth and to encourage more private investment in the UK.”

Earlier this year, Three’s chief executive hit out at the UK’s “abysmal” 5G speeds and availability as he urged regulators to approve the company’s merger with Vodafone.

Robert Finnegan noted his firm’s “cash flows have been negative since 2020 and our costs have almost doubled in five years, meaning investment in [the] network is unsustainable”.

“UK mobile networks rank an abysmal 22nd out of 25 in Europe on 5G speeds and availability, with the dysfunctional structure of the market denying us the ability to invest sustainably to fix this situation,” he added.

Business

Bosses rail at business secretary over ‘avalanche of costs’

Published

20 hours ago

November 4, 2024

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Bosses rail at business secretary over 'avalanche of costs'

Business leaders expressed frustration with ministers on Monday amid a growing budget backlash that bosses said would trigger an “avalanche of costs” and leave them with no choice but to slash investment and increase prices.

Sky News has learnt that bosses of large retail and hospitality companies and trade associations told Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, that last week’s budget risked damaging consumer confidence and exacerbating challenges facing the UK economy.

Among the dozens of companies represented on the call are said to have been Burger King UK, Fuller Smith & Turner, Greene King, Kingfisher and the supermarket chain Morrisons.

Mr Reynolds is said to have acknowledged that Rachel Reeves‘s inaugural fiscal statement had “asked a lot” of British business, with James Murray, the financial secretary to the Treasury, understood to have described it as “a once-in-a-generation budget”, according to several people briefed on the call.

One insider said that Nick Mackenzie, the chief executive of Greene King, had highlighted that the increase in employers’ national insurance (NI) contributions would cause “a £20m shock” to the company, while Fullers is understood to have warned that it would be forced to halve annual investment from £60m to £30m as a result of increased cost pressures.

Rami Baitieh, the Morrisons chief executive, told Mr Reynolds that the budget had exacerbated “an avalanche of costs” for businesses next year, and asked what the government could do to mitigate them.

Sources added that the CBI, the employers’ group, said its impact would be “severe”, while the British Beer & Pub Association added that there was now a disincentive to invest and flagged “a tsunami” of higher costs.

The range of comments on the call with ministers underlines the scale of discontent in the private sector about Labour’s first budget for nearly 15 years.

Only a small number of interventions during the discussion are said to have been in support of measures announced last week, with the Federation of Small Businesses understood to have praised the doubling of the employment allowance, which would see many of the smallest employers having their NI bills cut by £2,000.

The Department for Business and Trade has been contacted for comment, while none of the companies contacted by Sky News would comment.

Business

Retail giants face food price hikes dilemma after budget

Published

1 day ago

November 4, 2024

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Retail giants face food price hikes dilemma after budget

Two of Britain’s biggest food retailers will this week face pressure to publicly disclose whether they expect a fresh spike in prices next year as the industry grapples with huge tax hikes imposed in last week’s budget.

Sky News understands that Marks & Spencer (M&S), which will unveil half-year earnings on Wednesday, and J Sainsbury, which reports interim results the following day, are collectively facing an additional bill of close to £200m as a result of changes to employers’ national insurance contributions (NICs) announced by Rachel Reeves, the chancellor.

Industry sources said the pressure on pricing would be “intense” given the thin margins on which the big supermarkets already operate.

“Food price increases from next April are inevitable,” said one.

The warning comes a day after Ms Reeves told Sky News that “businesses will now have to make a choice, whether they will absorb that through efficiency and productivity gains, whether it will be through lower profits or perhaps through lower wage growth”.

Pointedly, she did not highlight the prospect of higher prices at the tills, with some retailers now weighing whether to explicitly blame the government for impending price increases – a move which will trigger renewed inflation in the UK economy.

The grocery industry is expected to be among the hardest-hit by the changes to employer NICs, particularly after the chancellor slashed the threshold at which businesses become liable for it to just £5,000.

Tens of thousands of people employed part-time in the sector earn between that sum and the current threshold of £9,100.

The first major retailer to report financial results since the budget will be Primark’s parent, Associated British Foods (ABF), on Tuesday.

Insiders downplayed the risks of price hikes from Primark given its track record of absorbing inflationary pressures without passing them on to consumers.

ABF’s additional employer NICs bill is expected to be in the region of £25m, according to one analyst.

Overall, the retail sector could end up paying billions of pounds of additional tax given the scale of its workforce.

Ms Reeves has vowed to raise £25bn extra annually from the changes to employer NICs.

In addition to that, the rise in the national living wage will add a further burden to the financial pressures facing the retail industry.

Prior to the budget, Stuart Machin, the M&S chief executive, urged the chancellor not to increase taxes on it, calling them “a short-term, easy fix”.

“When I hear about plans to increase national insurance, a tax with no link to profit which hits bigger employers like us and our smaller suppliers, I’m concerned.

“The chancellor was right in the past to call national insurance a tax on workers.”

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, will hold talks with British business leaders later on Monday about the impact of the budget.

A number of executives will be given the opportunity to ask questions on a call in which more than 100 companies are expected to be represented, although one boss who is critical of many of the budget measures said they were likely to be prevented from voicing their concerns publicly on the call.

ABF, M&S and Sainsbury’s all declined to comment.