Rory Clarke, managing director of J.R. Rix & Sons, overlooking the company’s Hull fuel depot
Hull-based J.R. Rix & Sons grew turnover by 17% in 2017 with all companies in the Group reporting an improved performance on the previous year.
Group revenue increased by £60m to £407m in the 12 months to December 31st, 2017, with profit remaining stable at just under £5m.
Holiday home and lodge manufacturer Victory Leisure Homes continued to make inroads into the industry, growing market share significantly and increasing sales from £19.5m in 2016 to £26.5m last year. The company was bolstered by the strength of the UK holiday market and the weak pound.
The weak pound also combined with an increase in the price of oil prompting growth at the Group’s inland and marine fuels businesses. Rix Petroleum – the largest company in the Group – increased sales from £272m to £304m and maritime bunkering’s revenue increased from £25.4m in 2016 to £38m in 2017.
Rix Shipping, which manages the company’s shipping fleet and stevedoring operations in Hull and Montrose, saw turnover nearly double across the year from £7.2m in 2016 to £13.6m last year, and the Group’s car and commercial vehicle retailer, Jordans Cars, reported a slight growth in sales from £23.6m to £25.4m.
Managing director Rory Clarke described the performances as solid, adding that much of the growth had come from an increase in the price of oil.
“Overall Group turnover leapt by £60m with all divisions performing well. Although a number of external factors affect the performance of our businesses – the relative strength of the pound, the weather and the price of oil – good governance, keeping a close eye on costs and having a thorough understanding of the environment in which we operate are still key to driving growth.
‘’It is particularly pleasing that once again all the operating businesses within the group made a positive contribution to what was a good year for J.R. Rix & Sons.”www.rix.co.uk
Greenergy has reached an agreement with Oiltanking, a subsidiary of Marquard & Bahls, to purchase an idle biodiesel manufacturing facility located at Oiltanking’s site in Amsterdam. The acquisition of a third biodiesel plant will allow Greenergy to meet growing demand for waste-based biofuel in the UK and Europe.
The Amsterdam biodiesel manufacturing facility was built in 2010 to process vegetable oils but was never commissioned. Greenergy plans to carry out works over the next year to convert the facility to process waste oils rather than vegetable oils and then to add further production capacity.
“Demand for waste-based biodiesel is rising rapidly in the UK and Europe as a result of higher obligated biofuel inclusion rates,” explained Andrew Owens, Greenergy chief executive.
“Over the last few years we have scaled up our raw material supply chains and invested in our UK manufacturing facilities, increasing output through a variety of incremental investments. We are now leveraging these skills and capabilities to develop a third plant.”
Scotland is a key location for A&A with the company ‘pleased to now have a stronger presence in this region’
Adler & Allan has expanded its operations in Scotland by opening up a new depot and offices in Aberdeen to provide the region with easier access to its range of environmental, fuel, waste and asset management services.
Support available from the depot includes A&A’s 24/7 emergency response, covering flooding and polluting spills. Flooding in particular is a growing concern for many regions in the UK; A&A can provide 360-degree flood mitigation services for businesses, including flood mapping, risk assessments, defences and clean up.
In addition, customers can access asset protection, such as the refurbishment of essential equipment and sites, the toughest protective coatings and linings, waste transfer and disposal, fuel and forecourt services. The company also delivers a range of consultancy to help businesses comply with their environmental obligations and deal with specific issues, such as contaminated land.
“We are delighted to open our new depot in Aberdeen,” said Ken Salmon, Adler & Allan’s general manager for Scotland.
“As a business, A&A is committed to providing an industry-leading, fast and efficient service, nationwide. New locations mean this commitment can be better fulfilled, providing improved levels of service to our clients. Scotland is a key location for A&A and we are pleased to now have a stronger presence in this region.”www.adlerandallan.co.uk
Removing oil boilers from the ECO3 scheme would unfairly discriminate against rural households and could lead to even higher levels of fuel poverty said OFTEC CEO Paul Rose
OFTEC has welcomed last week’s announcement from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) that oil boilers will not be excluded from the next phase of the Energy Company Obligation scheme (ECO3) as initially proposed.
The decision follows responses by OFTEC and other stakeholders to the ECO3 consultation that underlined that removing oil boilers from the scheme would unfairly discriminate against rural households and could lead to even higher levels of fuel poverty.
The new ECO3 legislation, which comes into force on 1 October 2018, will allow limited oil boiler delivery to take place within the broken heating system cap and will also allow the repair of broken oil boilers within the 5% cap for all boiler repairs. This limit only applies to broken boilers not First Time Central Heating (FTCH). Oil boilers will not be allowed under first time central heating (FTCH), district heating, solid walled homes minimum, rural minimum, inefficient heating system replacements or innovation measures.
“This is an important win for low income and vulnerable off-grid households,” commented OFTEC CEO Paul Rose.
“As the key objective of ECO is to provide affordable warmth and help address fuel poverty, it would have been completely contradictory to exclude the repair or replacement of broken oil appliances when oil heating continues to be the cheapest form of heating available to off-grid households.
“We fully support the Clean Growth Strategy vision to phase out carbon intensive fuels from 2020 and believe the best way to achieve this for off-grid homes is the introduction of a low carbon liquid fuel alternative to oil which initial testing indicates, could run on existing oil boilers without modification.”www.oftec.org.uk
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Heat Heroes and FPS members look on as Heart of England Foundation’s Jen Tullet (l), holds the cheque for £11,594 alongside Dawn Shakespeare of the FPS
The Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS) – together with Midlands-based heating oil distributors, AID Fuels, Nolan Oils and Midland Fuel Oil – have been fundraising to help those in fuel poverty and have awarded £11,594 to four National Energy Action (NEA) Heat Heroes Award winners.
Organised by NEA, which works to end fuel poverty in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Heat Heroes Awards aim to recognise individuals who have gone ‘above and beyond’ to help people living in fuel poverty in their local community.
Having raised £11,594 from two years of fundraising events, the FPS and its members asked The Heart of England Community Foundation to administer the funds with the following chosen to receive £2898.50 each.
“We heartily congratulate all the winners of the NEA Heat Heroes Awards 2018,” said Guy Pulham, FPS chief executive.
“We’re pleased that with the help of our Midlands-based members, we’ve been able to raise a significant sum of money. We’re also impressed by the extraordinary efforts made by these four winners and have no doubt they’ll put the money to incredibly good use.”Coventry Citizens Advice Bureau – Natalie French, fuel poverty advisor intends to use the donation to continue to support people through the bureau’s telephone assessment and advice service; helping more people save money on their heating bills and become more energy efficient.Citizens Advice Derbyshire Districts – Russell Bosanko, financial capability officer helps people save energy; the money will be put towards staging a number of events and attending community events to provide energy advice and support to those most in need of assistance with fuel bills. Wolverhampton Homes – Alvina Ali, energy and climate change officer will address fuel poverty with a series of initiatives, products and services to help tenants and residents to budget and control energy consumption. Home energy visits are an essential part of delivering a customer friendly solution as they give us the tools we need to help support and protect vulnerable residents living in fuel poverty whilst helping them to sustain their tenancies.Marches Energy Agency – Davina Allen, project manager supports vulnerable clients by finding ways to cut energy bills, looking for good deals and reducing fuel debt – the money will provide additional resources for their independent phoneline service across Shropshire, Herefordshire and southern Staffordshire.
“We were delighted that FPS chose our Foundation to administer these funds,” said Tina Costello CEO of Heart of England Community Foundation.
“The Heat Heroes Award winners have done brilliantly to support those struggling in their communities and we are sure their fine work will continue!”www.fpsonline.co.ukwww.nea.org.uk/award-schemes
Hytek (GB) Limited, which consists of Hytek, IFC Inflow and Anglo Nordic Burner Products, purchased Pumptronics Europe Limited from previous owners, The Premier Group, in May 2018.
Hytek and Pumptronics, which were both established in 1985, will continue to operate in their current locations of Bishops Stortford and North Walsham respectively, and will continue to produce their own strongly identifiable products such as the Hytek Alpha pump range and the Pumptronics Zeon and C-series ranges.
“Hytek is very excited to have Pumptronics join the Hytek group,” said Nicola Stamp, group managing director of Hytek (GB).
“Whilst there is some overlap in both the product line-up and customer base, there are real benefits that joint ownership will bring to both brands.”
“Hytek has been a competitor for many years, however, we can be much stronger together,” said Andrew Olive, Pumptronics’ managing director.
“I look forward to seeing if there’s anything we can adopt that will improve our service levels to our customers. As far as product sales, ordering and manufacturing are concerned, the main message is business as usual.
“I look forward to working with Pumptronics in the future and to supplying both existing and new customers within the market,” added Hytek’s sales director, Andy Seal.
www.hytekgb.com
www.pumptronics.co.uk
Supplying directly to large commercial airports is part of the future growth strategy for Gulf Aviation
Adding toits existing portfolio of airport contracts, Gulf Aviation has secured a contract to provide fuel to Birmingham Airport. The deal significantly bolsters the existing fuel supply chain to the airport and will also include the refuelling of onsite vehicles.
Gulf Aviation – Certas Energy’s aviation brand – will provide a supply of Jet A1 fuel to the airport, which is one of the busiest in the UK, servicing more than 13 million passengers every year.
“We’re thrilled to confirm our partnership with Birmingham Airport,” said Alex Murphy, head of Gulf Aviation which has been supplying the UK aviation market for more than eight years.
“We’ve grown as a business by listening to our customers and developing services and solutions that respond to their needs and that help them run their companies more efficiently. It’s something I know Birmingham Airport were impressed with and it played a key part in their decision-making process
“Gulf Aviation will continue to have strong ties to private and business airfields alongside flying clubs; however, supplying directly to large commercial airports is certainly part of our future growth strategy,” added Alex.
Bob Graham, operations director at Birmingham Airport, said:
“This new partnership comes at a really exciting time for Birmingham Airport as we continue to expand the number of carriers and destinations we offer and position ourselves as an attractive airport for carriers looking to expand services into the UK.”
Essar has invested over $850 million since acquiring Stanlow in July 2011
Essar Oil (UK) Limited, which owns and operates the Stanlow Refinery, has reported robust financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31st 2018.
The refinery remains a key national asset, producing over 16% of the UK’s road transport fuel demand. Throughput in FY18 was 7.19 MMT, a reduction of 20.9% on FY17 due to the major turnaround in Q4.
The refinery completed the execution of all project upgrades during the turnaround. It is expected the margin improvements will yield an incremental margin of US $75 million to US $80 million annually in the prevailing market.
Essar’s optimised reconfiguration to a single train site, material diversification of the crude slate and an ongoing focus on margin booster initiatives in recent years resulted in a delta over the benchmark margin of US $4.00/bbl, as against under US $1.00/bbl in 2012.Operational and financial performance: Key Indicators
With 88% of those off-grid having an EPC rating of E, F, or G these homes are generally unsuitable for a heat pump installation, says Neil Schofield, head of government affairs at Worcester Bosch. Credit: gollykim
According to a recent analysis of Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) ratings, the Committee on Climate Change’s (CCC) ambition to use heat pumps as a way of lowering the heating emissions of homes off mains gas is flawed.
Responding to the launch of the Committee’s 2018 Progress Report to Parliament, Neil Schofield, head of government affairs at Worcester Bosch, argues that the push for heat pumps to be prioritised is in need of a “reality check”.
“One of the main issues with the CCC’s recommendations is that they are informed by carbon performance alone, and not by practicality or cost,” commented Neil Schofield.
“We really need a reality check, as the figures we’ve seen suggest that heat pumps simply aren’t suitable for an overwhelming majority of homes.”
Worcester Bosch’s close examination of EPC figures published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government found that less than 12% of the 640,536 properties without access to the mains gas network have an EPC rated C or above. This leaves over 550,000 properties without sufficient insulation for a heat pump installation.
The Government’s Clean Growth Strategy has been widely criticised for its suggestion that oil boilers are to be phased out, with many claiming that renewable alternatives are simply too complicated and expensive.
With a heat pump working at a lower temperature than a boiler, insulation plays a vital role in allowing a property to be heated sufficiently. The characteristics of off mains gas properties with an energy rating of D or below, will therefore generally be unsuitable for a heat pump installation.
Neil added: “The heating industry has long held doubts over the government’s plans for those in off mains gas areas, but these numbers really do emphasise just how flawed that ambition is, and how impractical heat pumps are as a truly viable alternative to an oil boiler. A heat pump can offer numerous benefits for those living in new build or well-insulated properties, but 88% of those off-grid simply don’t fit into either of those categories, with an EPC rating of E, F, or G.
“We are in full agreement that heating needs to be decarbonised but need to remember that it’s the fuel that carries the carbon, not the boiler.
“All the evidence suggests that the best way for us to decarbonise heat from rural homes is to use reduced carbon fuel alternatives. Turning to fuels such as bio-kerosene, biopropane, or even Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (HVO), would allow us to continue to rely on the boilers that so many homeowners are familiar with; focusing our efforts on replacing old, inefficient oil boilers with new, high-efficiency condensing models.” www.worcester-bosch.co.uk/professional/products/boilers
Discover more in the Tank Storage Association’s recently published Annual Review for 2018. The publication gives an overview of the bulk liquid storage sector in the UK, and information about the TSA’s activities throughout the last year.
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