Thank you to all those who have recently contributed with comments. This post stems from one such, on 29 November. And it’s somewhat timely, given the chancellor’s decision to increase petrol by 1¼ p at midnight yesterday morning.
During both Tesco’s pre-construction phase and the period when it was submitting what was to be its failed enlargement application, there was a noticeable groundswell of people who, though not necessarily either pro- or anti-Tesco, did comment that the best thing Tesco could do was build a petrol station in Rhuthun.
This, it seemed, stemmed from the disillusionment with petrol prices at Rhuthun’s two existing service stations.
There’s no doubt that petrol is more expensive in Rhuthun than in surrounding towns. Those who commute out of Rhuthun will probably only use local pumps as a last resort (e.g. take the anonymous comment of 29 November, “Personally I do not use any petrol stations in Rhuthun as they are 3p to 5p more a litre than stations in Yr Wyddgrug/Mold”).
Compare these current costs per litre, rounded up to the nearest penny, noted this morning.
Why this difference?
Here are some reasons. Smaller garages often buy petrol at a wholesale price that exceeds Tesco’s and other supermarkets’ retail price. Add to this the smaller volume in sales, over which the smaller garages’ need to spread their overheads, and it’s easy to see why small filling stations cannot compete. Look at the smaller stations that have closed in the Rhuthun area in the past ten years – Jet in Rhuthun (Slater’s), Llanbedr, Pentre Llanrhaeadr (recently) and probably more.
This, then, may account for the c.3p difference between Rhuthun’s pump prices and those in surrounding towns. Fuel bills are therefore some three per cent more expensive. This amounts to some £1.50-£1.80 per full tank on an average car.
This is worth saving. But in doing so, by buying outsode Rhuthun, are we simply exacerbating the situation? What if one or both of Rhuthun’s filling stations were to close? Hard to imagine and probably unlikely, but it *could* happen.
At the announcement that Llangollen’s last remaining of two petrol stations was to close, we commented in October 2005 that “a small rural garage can no longer compete with the petrol giants. With Sainsbury's and especially Asda and Tesco engaged in a price war, and always keenly priced in any case, it's little wonder that the Llangollen pumps will soon run dry.”
Llangollen’s 3,000 residents now need to travel 13 miles to Wrexham for fuel (which is presumably where they were filling up, rather at Llangollen).
Even with all the recent talk on the environment, we still need a network of petrol stations. We ignore Rhuthun’s at our own peril.
During both Tesco’s pre-construction phase and the period when it was submitting what was to be its failed enlargement application, there was a noticeable groundswell of people who, though not necessarily either pro- or anti-Tesco, did comment that the best thing Tesco could do was build a petrol station in Rhuthun.
This, it seemed, stemmed from the disillusionment with petrol prices at Rhuthun’s two existing service stations.
There’s no doubt that petrol is more expensive in Rhuthun than in surrounding towns. Those who commute out of Rhuthun will probably only use local pumps as a last resort (e.g. take the anonymous comment of 29 November, “Personally I do not use any petrol stations in Rhuthun as they are 3p to 5p more a litre than stations in Yr Wyddgrug/Mold”).
Compare these current costs per litre, rounded up to the nearest penny, noted this morning.
| Rhuthun (Esso) (pre-fuel tax increase?) | 89p |
| Rhuthun (Texaco) | 90p |
| Dinbych (Morrison's) | 88p |
| Dinbych (Shell) | 86p |
| Yr Wyddgrug/Mold (Tesco's) | 86p |
| Yr Wyddgrug/Mold (Shell) (pre-fuel tax increase?) | 85p |
| Yr Wyddgrug/Mold (Esso) | 87p |
| Llandudno Junction (Tesco's) | 85p |
Why this difference?
Here are some reasons. Smaller garages often buy petrol at a wholesale price that exceeds Tesco’s and other supermarkets’ retail price. Add to this the smaller volume in sales, over which the smaller garages’ need to spread their overheads, and it’s easy to see why small filling stations cannot compete. Look at the smaller stations that have closed in the Rhuthun area in the past ten years – Jet in Rhuthun (Slater’s), Llanbedr, Pentre Llanrhaeadr (recently) and probably more.
This, then, may account for the c.3p difference between Rhuthun’s pump prices and those in surrounding towns. Fuel bills are therefore some three per cent more expensive. This amounts to some £1.50-£1.80 per full tank on an average car.
This is worth saving. But in doing so, by buying outsode Rhuthun, are we simply exacerbating the situation? What if one or both of Rhuthun’s filling stations were to close? Hard to imagine and probably unlikely, but it *could* happen.
At the announcement that Llangollen’s last remaining of two petrol stations was to close, we commented in October 2005 that “a small rural garage can no longer compete with the petrol giants. With Sainsbury's and especially Asda and Tesco engaged in a price war, and always keenly priced in any case, it's little wonder that the Llangollen pumps will soon run dry.”
Llangollen’s 3,000 residents now need to travel 13 miles to Wrexham for fuel (which is presumably where they were filling up, rather at Llangollen).
Even with all the recent talk on the environment, we still need a network of petrol stations. We ignore Rhuthun’s at our own peril.
Tags:
Petrol