An independent store has launched a price war with the multiples by selling what it claims is the cheapest fuel in Britain. Stans Superstore, which operates from a single outlet in the Shropshire village of St Martin, near Oswestry, has slashed 4p off the price of a litre of unleaded petrol and is offering a further 7p discount if customers spend £50 in store.


The offer means a litre of unleaded petrol will cost 99.9p when using the voucher and a litre of diesel 112.9p, down from 119.9p. The business would lose money from the deal, which runs until 12 October, admitted Andrew Faulks, one of the third generation of his family to run the store. It was currently losing more than 1p a litre on unleaded and 0.5p on a litre of diesel before the 7p deal was taken into account, he said. However, it was worth it, he said.

“We’re surrounded by multiples and we often use fuel deals to attract customers to the store, such as 4p on £40,” he said. “The multiples regularly offer 5p on £50 deals – we’ve just gone one step further. It’s off our own backs but we certainly boost sales when we run offers like this. Last weekend sales were up around 8% in our main store.”

The offer is being heavily promoted on local radio stations and in local newspapers and, as yet, no other multiple had matched the deal. However, although the 7p offer would run until mid-October, Faulks admitted he could be forced to increase forecourt prices sooner than expected after the price of oil jumped more than $16 to $120.92 a barrel on Monday, the biggest one-day gain on record. The price of the retailer’s next fuel delivery would determine if the price rose, he added.

Earlier this month Morrisons slashed petrol prices by 3p per litre, prompting Asda and Tesco to follow suit. Stans Superstore is ranked 40th on The Grocer’s Top 50 ranking of the UK’s leading grocery independents. It recorded a 2% increase in turnover last year to £16.1m.