Q&A with Moiz Vas: "Petrol stations need to be prime destinations"
We speak to Moiz Vas about the upcoming event 'Retail’s Best Forecourt & Convenience Partners', which takes place on March 22 in Worcestershire, and the state of industry. Moiz Vas, an independent retailer who has a family business of forecourts and convenience stores in Norfolk, has created a series of events ‘by retailers, for retailers’.
Q. What sets ‘Retail’s Best Forecourt & Convenience Partners’ apart from other industry events?
A. Retail’s Best is organised by petrol dealers for petrol dealers.
Q. How has the event grown over the last five years?
A. The industry support from top quality suppliers and operators wanting to get involved with Retail’s Best has increased significantly. We have a growing network of retailers and forecourt operators that want to help shape our future, contribute and get involved with Retail’s Best and their enthusiasm has attracted further support far and wide from the industry.
Q. What are the benefits of having retailers meet up with each other in this kind of environment? Is it hard to avoid the competing nature of some of the participating companies?
A. They want to share good practice and get valuable insight from like-minded operators on how to tackle a business problem.
They get invaluable insight and feedback from like-minded operators on their experiences working with the exclusive suppliers that are participating in the room at that particular Retail’s Best.
More than anything, it’s about developing your business, finding solutions and learning ways of doing things and sharing obstacles experienced in your business. We have instances of someone with 100 sites who has learned from someone with only a handful of sites.
Is it hard to avoid the competing nature of some of the participating companies? It could be, but it isn’t. We value the input from all our participators and value the fact that they respect the Retail’s Best rules. And that’s what makes it works.
Q. From a supplier's point of view, why is it important to attend this event?
A. Retail’s Best is attended strictly by decision makers. We work closely with suppliers and guests to ensure that the right people are in the room together.
Q. At the exhibition, what type of products will attendants be able to find?
There will be a combination of new and innovative products and services that will add value to the majority of operators. They have all been carefully selected because they provide a solution for ‘this moment in time’ because they are innovative or because they are a new concept in products and services.
Q. Alternative fuels and electric vehicles will be the main topic of discussion. Many retailers feel like the effects of these are sometimes overstated. How important is this issue for the forecourt industry?
A. It is of the utmost importance. Customer behaviour is set to change and is already changing. We’ve seen how these behaviours have affected retail over the years, for example shopping online or going to the super stores. We need to prepare ourselves when the market changes. With the introduction of EV, customers will have a much larger choice of where to recharge their car – it won’t simply be filling stations. If we don’t make the most of our filling stations to make them the prime destinations, then we’re going to be left behind!
Q. In your view, and setting aside alternative fuels, what are key challenges facing the British forecourt industry right now?
A. How do we continue to make our sites the prime destination for refuelling your vehicle? It’s all been about the convenience offer until now. Now it’s going to be about the food to go offer and the customer experience. Plus, how we remain commercially viable with labour costs going up and where can we introduce cost savings in our businesses.
