The acquisition follows WCF’s recent move to merge its North West businesses under the Allan Stobart brand, and brings Easy Fuels (NE) Ltd into WCF’s wider fuels distribution family, which operates across multiple regions in the UK.
Established in 2018, by Leisa and Glenn Humphries, Easy Fuels serves domestic, commercial and agricultural customers from its base near Hartlepool.
Speaking after the announcement, Phil Murray, Chief Executive Officer of WCF, said: “This strengthens our fuel distribution presence in the North East and supports our ambition to continue to broaden our footprint in the areas we operate.
“As an employee-owned business, it’s important that the businesses we welcome into the group share our guiding principles. Easy Fuels’ customer focus, entrepreneurial drive and reputation for service align closely with our own, and we’re delighted to welcome Glenn, Leisa and their team to the WCF family.
“Our focus now is on bringing the businesses together smoothly, maintaining service continuity and sharing best practice, as we continue to invest in the long-term future of WCF Fuels.”
Business as usual
As part of the deal, Easy Fuels will join forces with the WCF Chandlers team, which delivers domestic heating oil and commercial fuels across Northumberland, County Durham, East Yorkshire, the East Midlands and East Anglia. Easy Fuels’ customers have been assured that it will be “business as usual” and that there will be no change in service or deliveries.
All Easy Fuels employees will transfer from their current base to WCF’s nearby Peterlee site to work alongside the existing team. Founders Leisa and Glenn Humphries will continue to work within the business in their existing roles.
Glenn said: “It was vital to us that Easy Fuels retained its identity and values as part of the acquisition, and that it was business as usual for both our customers and our team. Our staff are incredibly important to both myself and Leisa, and we remain fully committed to supporting the same dedicated team, delivering the same high standards of service to our customers who they all know and trust.”
Leisa said: “Joining WCF allows us to maintain that strong local focus while benefiting from additional operational support behind the scenes. This will help us invest further in our staff, recognise their ongoing commitment and support the long term growth of Easy Fuels, while staying true to the values the business has been built on from the very beginning.”
Alongside WCF Chandlers, WCF operates Allan Stobart Lubricants & Fuels which has depots at Raughton Head in North Cumbria, Hexham, Carnforth, Hawkshead and Carlisle, serving customers across Cumbria, Lancashire, Cheshire, Northumberland and south-west Scotland.
WCF Fuels is part of the wider WCF Ltd group of business which has a presence across the UK in more than 30 locations. Based in Brampton, Cumbria, the firm is also active in the leisure, retail and e-commerce sectors.
Images provided by WCF Ltd. Main image shows Leisa and Glenn Humphries from Easy Fuels, with Phil Murray and Paul Green from WCF