Retail

Compliance: The Super Fuel Powering Forecourt Retail Success

Published on 30 July 2025

Modified on 31 July 2025

3 min

As forecourts evolve from simple petrol stations to multi-service destinations, the complexity of running these businesses has grown dramatically. From EV charging and food-to-go to retail and parcel drop-off, today’s forecourts are hubs of convenience, and behind this evolution lies a critical success factor: compliance.

In a comprehensive new Forecourt Compliance Report, developed in partnership with Forecourt Trader, the role of compliance in driving operational excellence, reducing risk, and delivering business value takes centre stage. Here’s a summary of the key insights from the report.

The Rising Stakes of Compliance in Modern Forecourts

Today’s forecourt is more than just a refuelling stop. It’s a complex ecosystem, part mini supermarket, part EV charging station, part café, and part community hub. With this complexity comes a vast web of compliance responsibilities: fuel safety, food hygiene, age-verification, environmental protection, EV regulations, and more.

As Clare Scawthorn of the Petrol Retailers’ Association puts it, “Ensuring compliance may seem like a never-ending task, but it’s one of the most important.” Beyond avoiding fines, good compliance helps build trust with customers and regulators, making operations smoother and safer.

The Real Cost of Non-Compliance

Non-compliance isn’t just about penalties; it can damage reputations and relationships. Forecourt operators have faced fines ranging from £1,700 to £9,000 for issues like expired food or excessive equipment noise. But the deeper blow is often public exposure and loss of customer confidence.

The report highlights how today’s operators must manage rising staffing costs, unpredictable labour availability, and increasingly stringent regulations. Doing more with less has become the norm, making technology essential in maintaining compliance standards.

Digitisation: The Road to Operational Excellence

The old days of paper checklists and scattered communications are no longer fit for purpose. Achieving consistent standards across multiple sites requires streamlined communication and digital tools.

Digitising operations with platforms like Cegid Retail Store Excellence helps forecourt teams:

Access all tasks and checklists from one place
Stay aligned on brand standards
Quickly locate compliance information
Receive real-time alerts and oversight from HQ

The impact? Higher efficiency, improved safety, and fewer errors, all while empowering staff and strengthening brand perception.

Case Study: A Leading UK Forecourt Retailer

One forecourt retailer featured in the report made a complete shift from paper-based compliance checks to Cegid Retail Store Excellence. The results:

97% checklist completion rate
Over 160,000 checklists completed
Significant labour savings
More consistent audits and fewer breaches

With mobile-first tools, photo uploads, audit trails, and real-time alerts, the company now runs safer, more efficient stores, with peace of mind at head office.

AI: From Scepticism to Strategic Advantage

The report also explores how AI is helping forecourts move beyond manual tasks and into smarter operations. From generating site-wide communications to improving stock decisions and enhancing customer experiences, AI is now accessible even to smaller retailers.

Cegid’s AI tool, Cegid Pulse, uses retailer feedback to prioritise impactful AI use cases enabling fast, consistent, and targeted communication across large estates.

Conclusion: Compliance Is Not Just a Requirement, It’s a Strategic Advantage

In an environment where every second counts and reputations are hard-won, compliance isn’t a box to tick, it’s a business enabler.

By embracing digital compliance tools and AI-driven insights, forecourt retailers can unlock a host of benefits: better operational efficiency, increased customer trust, fewer risks, and improved margins.

As the report concludes, digitisation is the optimum solution not just for staying compliant, but for building resilient, future-ready forecourt businesses.

Click here to learn more about how Cegid Retail Store Excellence is helping forecourt retailers like BP, Harvest Energy and Ampol to simplify compliance and enhance their forecourt operation.

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