PetrolPlaza Talks: Service stations in the age of COVID-19
The first PetrolPlaza online roundtable brought together leading retailers and suppliers to take a look at the present and future of the forecourt and convenience store business in the 'new normality'.
As a number of countries begin to ease up lockdown measures, retailers are still faced with the question of what the ‘new normality’ will be like. Fuel and convenience retailers are doing their best to adapt to new legal requirements and consumer behaviours while suppliers strive to provide the technology to make those changes possible.
For the first episode of PetrolPlaza Talks, we were joined by Jörg Heilingbrunner, Managing Director at Scheidt & Bachmann GmbH, Joe Boyle, Director at FreshStop, and Brian Madderson, Chairman of the UK's Petrol Retailers Association (PRA).
The online roundtable starts by exploring how government and the industry have dealt with COVID-19 in the United Kingdom, Germany and South Africa. The panellists also discuss the new role that petrol stations and convenience stores are playing in their communities, how companies like FreshStop are adapting their stores to ensure social distancing as well as business continuity, and what changes will be accelarated by the pandemic.
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Discuss
I really enjoyed the first round table discussion. Very interesting to hear the views from around the World. Inevitably it concentrated on the short term future in the light of the 'new normal' coming out of the Covid pandemic. With the number of forecourts reducing, can I suggest a second part of the discussion that expands on the future of the forecourt in providing a multi fuels (including electric) refuelling and convenience hub.
Glad you enjoyed it, Crispin. That is a topic we will definitely be exploring in the near future. Our next session will be on Cybersecurity & Data Protection at petrol stations.