Fuel Oil News March 2018 | Page 7

News WEX Europe Services celebrates third anniversary Malcolm Joyce now manages a company with customers in the UK, Italy, Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Luxembourg who collectively have more than one-and-a-half million fuel cards and purchase two billion litres of fuel annually S ince WEX Europe Services (WES) was founded three years ago, the owner and supplier of the Esso Card™ has evolved signifi cantly after acquiring the assets of ExxonMobil’s European commercial fuel card offering. The company now manages more than 90,000 fuel card fl eets in eight countries across Europe, with its primary aim being to sell its fuel card and telematics solutions to small, medium and large fl eets across a multitude of business sectors. “The business has changed greatly from when we founded the brand three years ago,” said managin g director Malcolm Joyce. “WEX was a strong brand in the US, but not in Europe, so we’ve had to work hard to ensure WEX Europe Services has become more well-known across the continent. “We’ve built modern headquarters in Crewe, which is home to more than 150 members of staff, and we’ve opened seven WES offi ces around Europe. A key milestone was achieved in the UK after WES announced that customers would have access to 40% of UK forecourts following a fuel card acceptance agreement between Esso Petroleum and BP Oil UK. This deal meant holders of an Esso Card™ could pay for fuel in more than 3,300 participating BP, Esso and Shell service stations. The company has also added more products to its customer offering such as WEX Telematics, a fl eet management tool that allows businesses to manage their staff and control costs more effi ciently. Exhibiting at various trade shows, WES has been determined to demonstrate it is the partner of choice for businesses’ fuel card needs. “Over the next three years, the goal is for the Esso Card™ to go from strength-to-strength,” said Malcolm. “We have the infrastructure in-place to achieve that goal, so it’s up to us to deliver on our current products and then look at the next move forwards.” In search of the best solutions V enice is the location for the 2nd edition of the European Fuels Markets & Refi ning Strategy conference which takes place on 21st-22nd March. Among the conference agenda items will be an in-depth insight into the global fuels’ markets; the future of transportation fuels; the implications of disruptive technology on oil demand; the future of bunker fuels in the MARPOL regulation context, with John Cooper, managing director of Fuels Europe evaluating air quality in Europe. A limited number of attendees will also have the opportunity to visit ENI’s Green Refi nery at nearby Porto Marghera. JET customer hits the jackpot I n late December a JET forecourt in Hull hit the headlines after selling a winning National Lottery scratchcard to Melissa Ede, a local taxi driver whose fi ancé had recently proposed to her. Melissa, who won a life- changing £4 million when she bought the scratchcard with her change after fi lling up before an evening shift, has appeared on the Jeremy Kyle show and is a vocal advocate for Hull’s transgender community. JET cashier Colleen Milner, who served Melissa, has worked at the forecourt for almost two decades. “Melissa took the scratchcard back to her car before coming back in to say: ‘I will never have Winner Melissa Ede, a regular customer at JET to work again!’ She got in the car and then came back about half an hour later and got us to check it again. Melissa has been a regular customer for years and we’re delighted that she won – she’s bought a fair few scratchcards over those years.” “I’ve even been tempted to buy one myself,” said Solly Patel, the JET site’s owner who saw a marked increase in scratchcard sales following the win. Fuel Oil News | March 2018 7