BLOWING OUR OWN TRUMPET YES I THINK ITS JUSTIFIED.
OPERATING IN SUCH BEAUTIFUL SCENERY THE NEW SCANIA IS IRWIN HUMPHREY’S PRIDE AND JOY.
Last July we were laden down by the highest oil price ever encountered it was hurting as cash reserves dwindled to finance oil purchases while the cash flow lagged a month behind. Then suddenly like the sun bursting out of a thundercloud the process reversed as we were plunged into the credit crunch aka RECESSION. From our perspective if this is recession bring it on, we are, having weathered the oil price superspike quietly prospering as are many of our customers, some of whom like us have seen it all before.
DELIVERING TO ONE OF OUR FARMING CUSTOMERS WHO PRODUCES BROCCOLI FOR SUPERMARKETS.
Along the way there have been a few failures invariably given our tighter credit controls introduced over the last couple of years unexpected. One in particular involved a quarry operation that had always paid religiously on the due date but went into administration the day before our cheque was due. Fortunately it would have been much worse had not one of the cut price operators pinched them off us at a suicidal rate leaving us with much less exposure than would have been normal. Working for nothing then not getting paid at all is not a business model that I would care to pursue.
OUR FUEL DELIVERIES ARE AN IMPORTANT LINK IN THE SUPERMARKET SUPPLY CHAIN
At last years Royal Cornwall Show we ordered a new rear steer Scania 6 wheeler as part of our policy of renewal and constant improvement. Scania came into the frame as a result of ERF being taken over by German truck builder MAN and discontinued. ERF were unique asd we could specify exactly what we wanted in each individual unit.
ONE OF OUR CHERISHED ERF’s SADLY NO LONGER AN OPTION SINCE THE MAN TAKEOVER.
Almost exactly 12 months later the truck is making a significant contribution to our delivery capacity. Growth in the last year has been such that we are currently in the process of ordering another of these impressive trucks to further strengthen our fleet. Additionally we are having two new Isuzu 7.5 ton units built to keep on top of the small tanker side of the business. Investment of this nature is seen as a vital element in cementing our strong position as a family owned local fuel distributor serving our local community in mid and west Cornwall.
THE NEW TRUCK IS ALLOCATED TO THE PENWITH AREA WHERE BENNETTTS FUELS WERE BASED.
One thing that has really come good is the Bennetts Fuels takeover as the massive economies and synergies reveal themselves in the bottom line. The new tanker is the first in the fleet to sport the new logo produced in house by Steve Holland which will be rolled out over the entire fleet in the near future. Image is important our distiinctive livery is widely recognised the length and breadth of our patch and is actually the cheapest advertising possible.
THE OLD BENNETTS LIVERY ONLY THE LOGO WILL BE RETAINED.
THE PRICE ISSUE.
Perversely fuel prices bottomed out in the midst of massive demand in February at around $32/$33 dollars per barrel which, realistically was probably too cheap justb as $147 dollars per barrel last july was too expensive triggering the recession for real.
OPEC has slashed production but in reality demand has slumped in sympathy due to the recession. Prices have more than doubled since February but remain at a level that can be lived with. While demand stagnates the only movements will be from speculative manipulation of the marketplace.
