A history of UK petrol retailing: Dynamism versus Oligarchy

Abstract

The development of the retail petroleum industry in the UK has received little attention in the academic press. The area investigated forms part of the literature on retailing and relates to the supply chain of the major oil companies - the so-called Seven Sisters - which are vertically integrated. This industry is usually thought of as an oligarchy but there is significant exchanges of retailing sites as between the majors. Underneath at the 'competitive fringe' there is the 'tail' of smaller independents - opportunistic retail entrepreneurs who set up their own chains, and who buy product from the spot market or from the majors. It is therefore a novel finding that the industry is interestingly dynamic. We concentrate on the single product petroleum sprit or gasoline and exclude products such as lubricant oil, liquefied gases and so on. We also mention only in passing additional services such as mechanical repairs, tyres batteries and accessories and so-called C-stores (convenience stores). We therefore omit detailed discussion of the supply chain except where it serves to explain the motives and strategies of the participants. We take this data from the websites of major agencies and organisations in the industry to create a semi-chronologic record. In this regard the methodology is based on an objective 'historical methodology', such as Poole, Van de Ven, Dooley, and Holmes (2000:92) who, in Organizational Change and Innovation Processe,s set up six stages for historical method.