The RAC has been particularly vocal regarding high prices and the Competition and Markets Authority has recently highlighted that there is ‘ evidence of feather and rocket pricing’ resulting in consumers missing out on potential savings.. The RHA has campaigned about the need for an essential user rebate as seen in Europe but with prices falling and the government looking to cut costs where possible, this seems unlikely to happen in the near future.
Petrol v carrots
So how has this affected our seasonal friend, St Nick? Last year Right Fuel Card calculated the huge costs that could be faced if Santa’s sleigh was run on petrol bought in the UK. We’ve worked with Santa again to analyse the potential fuel costs of the Big Night this year and demonstrate the huge increase the man in red would have faced if he didn’t have access to reindeer magic.
Over 6 years, Santa’s diesel cost would have increased a whopping 49%, or 39%1 if he had been using petrol. On the other hand, the price of carrots has fallen 6%2. Working on a basis of 8kg per reindeer (we’re counting nine including Rudolf) the carrot bill cost for the big night would have been £4320 – which is significantly less than a £5bn+ fuel bill!
Of course, if magic wasn’t real, Right Fuel Card would have ensured Santa got the best deal on fuel and provided him an invoice to use on his VAT rebate. With an example saving of 5p per litre, North Pole Manufacturers Ltd could have saved over £150k plus their VAT rebate on top!