Archived news.

Planning road travel around the London Olympics 2012

Posted: 09/07/2012

The 2012 Olympics are almost upon us and the excitement is already reaching fever pitch. At the same time there has been a rush of scare stories about the capital's ability to deal with the extra traffic and security measures, with the press gleefully predicting total road traffic chaos. But 70% of the capital's road journeys won't be affected in any way (1) and road works will be banned throughout the festivities, so the news isn't all bad!

In fact preparations have been going on for months and there are plenty of resources available to help fuelGenie fuel card fraternity weather the short-lived but intense Olympic storm.

Transport for London's Freight Journey Planner

Transport for London's crack Olympic Road Freight Management Team has updated its comprehensive TfL journey planner so it covers the fine details of road closures and traffic restrictions during the event, and also details the petrol stations that will be closed during the Olympics for security reasons.

The TfL freight planner deals specifically with journeys within the M25 and lets freight operators specify the size and weight of vehicles to avoid low bridges and low emission zones. The guide is also designed to help drivers plan compliant routes for single and multiple destinations. All you need to do is enter the postcode, address and Point of Interest (POI).

If you're travelling in from outside the capital, the Planner calculates the best route taking all the restrictions into account as well as pinpointing the nearest legal stopping points to each destination. Restrictions will vary from day to day, so it's vital to type in the right travel time and date. You'll find more information here, including a detailed FAQ page. The journey planner isn't a scheduling tool and can't suggest drop-off and collection sequences, so you will still need to use your regular logistics software for that. Alternatively, you can visit https://api-portal.tfl.gov.uk/ for more advice.

The TfL planner will be updated regularly, and you can find the latest version here.

Check Transport Direct for more information about road closures and restrictions

Transport Direct also provides details of road closures and restrictions as well as modelling expected levels of congestion. It also includes real-time travel news for the whole of Britain.

Get ahead of the games...

The getaheadofthegames website predicts the Olympics' impact on London's roads and provides interactive tools for drivers. It's a handy destination for sensible advice about extra traffic as well as the latest news about temporary road changes. Here's a link. The site details Olympic Road Events, access for local residents and businesses and the Olympic Route Network (ORN) / Paralympic Route Network (PRN), the roads that link the various games venues and non-competition sites.

Sources:

A fuelGenie fuel card is a perfect glove box accessory for White Van Man

Posted: 19/06/2012

The term White Van Man was coined by Sarah Kennedy during her Radio 2 show back in '97. And since then he's become a legend on our roads.

The small business landscape

As a sole trader or micro-business, people like you are the backbone of the British small business scene, generating a massive £35 billion a year for the UK economy. It's a fascinating picture. According to the Federation of Small Businesses there are four and a half million small businesses in Britain with SMEs making up 99% of the total (4). Our SMEs employ an estimated 13.8 million people and a fifth of all UK enterprises – 876,000 of them - operate in the construction industry.

But four years of recession, credit crisis and fuel price rises have taken their toll and saving money on everyday running costs is more important than ever. Especially when you drive your white van an average of 9,426 miles (3) a year.

A look at the average white van man

A recent survey (1) revealed that around 75% of British van drivers don't stray too far from their home base. They're local businesses and tend to focus on urban environments. Which means your average per-mile petrol costs are higher than, say, someone who drives long distances on motorways.

Most drivers see their van as a business tool, with just 22% of white van traffic attributed to fleets and couriers. Which means your van is vital for your business. If you can't afford to run it, you're in deep trouble. And 26% of you are self-employed, which makes cutting fuel costs even more important for your pocket as well as your peace of mind.

The AA Insurance Van Value Study (2) showed that 59% of drivers believe their van is essential to the smooth running of their business. And 24% said they'd lose an average of £362 per day if their van was out of action. That's a lot of cash with more than 2.5 million white vans in Britain (3) at any one time!

All of which makes fuel cards a worthwhile tool to help shave as much as possible off your business's variable costs, even more so when you choose a fuel card like ours, where drivers can also collect handy Tesco club card points and Morrison miles.

We recently analysed every fuelGenie fuel card transaction that took place over a year, looking at around 1,000 businesses and 20,000 vehicles. Our results showed that 88% of fuel transactions took place within 5 miles of a fuelGenie site, which is good news for white van men and women everywhere. And a massive 64% of transactions took place just 2 miles from a garage where people like you can use our fuel cards.

What are the business benefits of a fuel card for white van man and woman?

In a nutshell:

References

Avoid HMRC tax code confusion – Use a fuel card!

Posted: 19/06/2012

Are you a company car driver? If so, it's probably a good idea to check your HMRC tax code carefully. Why? The industry-leading publication Fleet News recently conducted a poll (1) in which a shocking 80% of drivers surveyed had been given an incorrect tax code in relation to their company vehicle.

3% of 18 million tax codes incorrect

So what has been going on? HMRC have admitted that as many as 3% of the 18 million tax codes they've issued for 2012/13 might be incorrect, putting around 360,000 codes under question. The organisation has defended itself by blaming taxpayers for supplying inaccurate information, which led to the wrong tax codes being issued.

Who is responsible – the tax payer or HMRC?

Employers should report driver earnings and benefits accurately in the first place, and HMRC then make the calculations based on the information supplied. A car allowance is treated as income, taxed at the time, but fuel use is based on the real-life amount of fuel you use, and the tax is collected the following year from information supplied on your annual P11d form. This leads to two questions that ought to concern those who use a vehicle in their everyday field of work:

Thank goodness for fuel cards!

Thankfully there's one sure-fire way to help you get it right. With a fuelGenie fuel card you can easily track the money you spend on fuel, and our HMRC compliant reporting makes filling in your end of year accounts a doddle.

What about the future?

Fleet News has called for affected motorists to sign a petition demanding a thorough 'drains up' review of the way HMRC processes tax codes, to help improve tax code accuracy. In the meantime, whether or not you suspect your code is incorrect it's always wise to check your 'notice of coding change' letter as soon as you receive it, and contact HMRC immediately if anything seems off-key. In the words of Fleet News magazine's 'The Insider' (2), "What does concern me is how many employees are prepared to believe their tax code must be right because HMRC issued it."

Sources:

fuelGenie expand their fuel forecourt network

Posted: 31/10/2011

Following the opening of three Morrison's Supermarkets this now brings the fuelGenie network to over 1000 locations.

By the 4th November the following petrol sites will open

Morrisons Bathgate – Opened 14th October
2 Linkston Way
Bathgate
West Lothian
EH48 7XN

Morrisons Leigh – Opened 28th October
Leigh Sports Village
Sale Way
Leigh
WN7 4JY

Morrisons Wrexham – Opens 4th November
Ruthin Road
Wrexham
LL13 7TU

Almost one in thirty SME employees falsely claims expenses

Posted: 09/03/2010

Workers in finance sector are worst offenders

London, 9th March 2010 - Almost one in thirty SME employees has falsely claimed expenses according to research commissioned by fuelGenie, the first ever business fuel card exclusively for use at multiple supermarket forecourts. At a time when business profits are under immense pressure, small businesses need to have robust expense practices in place – failure to do so will have a significant impact on a company’s bottom line.

Sarah Keane at fuelGenie said: "The fact that UK SME employers are allowing any employees to falsely claim expenses is astounding given the current economic situation. SME owners need to clamp down on staff dishonesty – their number one objective right now should be to control costs and conserve cash to prevent profits being further eroded – false expense claims undermine this goal."

Worryingly, the research found that workers in the finance sector are the most likely to lie about their expenses with nearly one in five (18.2%) admitting to having falsely claimed expenses. This means that for a finance SME with 200 staff, around 36 employees could be dishonestly submitting expenses. The figure for finance SME employees was significantly higher than for any other industry sector.

Younger employees, in the 16-24 yr old age bracket, are also the worst offenders when it comes to lying about their expenses, with 8.3% having falsely claimed an expense. Older employees (45-54 yr olds) are the most honest – 98.2% submit honest claims.

Sarah Keane says: "There are a number of measures employers can take to prevent employees from falsely claiming expenses. For example, managers should never accept expenses without a valid receipt and those who authorise expense payments should be trained so they know when to challenge a claim. Companies should also ensure that they have sound, up-to-date expense practices and that all staff are fully aware of them."

Keane continues: "One way for SMEs to control expense submissions is to provide staff with an expenses card and a clear set of usage guidelines. For example, managers can offer staff a fuel card for business-related petrol, such as the fuelGenie card, which provides an easy way for businesses to carefully track, measure and control fuel usage and expenditure."

The research, commissioned by fuelGenie and undertaken by Opinion Matters, was carried out amongst 549 adults who work in UK Micro and SMEs and who are able to claim expenses.

About fuelGenie

fuelGenie is the first ever business fuel card exclusively for use at multiple supermarket forecourts. Today, it is accepted at around 1,000 Morrisons and Tesco stores across the country. fuelGenie has been designed, built and will be run by Atos, an international IT services company. For more information and to apply for a card, visit www.fuelGenie.co.uk

Opinion Matters / Tickbox.net

Opinion Matters / Tickbox.net is a leading market research organisation, carrying out consumer, corporate and niche market surveys online amongst a 55,000+ UK member panel. Opinion Matters / Tickbox.net follow the codes of the MRS (Market Research Society) and are fully registered and compliant with the Data Protection Registrar.

SMEs lose £1.18bn of possible VAT reclaims each year

Posted: 07/12/2009

Bad expense practices costing businesses valuable money

London, 6th December 2009 – UK VAT registred SMEs are missing out on 1/4 of potential VAT reclaims due to sloppy expense practices, according to research commissioned by fuelGenie, the first ever business fuel card exclusively for use at multiple supermarket forecourts. Professor Stephen Roper, Centre for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Warwick Business School, estimates that this equates to £1.18bn in lost fuel VAT reclaim potential.

Sarah Keane at fuelGenie said: “Petrol is the most common expense claimed by UK SME employees (60.5%) yet one in four fuel expenses are submitted without a receipt. SME owners need to clamp down on lax attitudes to expenses or risk losing much needed cash at a time when profits are under extreme pressure. Ensuring corporate expense policies are followed is something that can have a big effect on a company's bottom line.”

Breaking the data down by region, the research found that when it comes to fuel-related expenses, SME employees in Scotland are the worst, with 40% never submitting a receipt, so 2 in 5 fuel VAT reclaim opportunities are lost in Scotland. Scottish employees were closely followed by SME employees in the South West (32.4%) and the South East (31.9%).

Employees working for SMEs in Northern Ireland came out on top, with a surprising100% always submitting a receipt. SME employees in Wales followed close behind, with only 6.35% admitting to never submitting a receipt.

When it comes to fuel expenses, older SME employees (45-54yr olds) are the worst offenders with nearly one third (31.2%) never submitting a fuel expense receipt. Employees in the 16–24 age bracket exercised the most robust expense practises with 84.2% always or sometimes submitting fuel expense receipts.

Surprisingly, SME employees working in the legal sector are the worst offenders across all the industries, with 60% never submitting a receipt with fuel expenses.

Stephen Roper, Professor of Enterprise at the Centre for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises, Warwick Business School, said: “The fuelGenie research highlights just how important it is for SMEs to have strong financial management. During times of economic difficulty, one of the main reasons why SMEs go under is because they run out of cash. However sound a business is in other ways, successful cash flow management should be a key priority as it is crucial to success.”

Sarah Keane at fuelGenie continued: “When it comes to fuel expenditure, one way in which managers can better control cashflow is by offering staff a fuel card, which provides an easy way for businesses to carefully track, measure and control fuel usage and expenditure. The employer pays the overall bill centrally (removing the need to collate, process and store masses of receipts) and also receives detailed management information about usage.”

Sarah Keane continues: “fuelGenie is all about saving businesses time and money whilst making the process of petrol purchase and expense tracking hassle-free. fuelGenie users benefit from one monthly bill with a VAT breakdown to make it simple to reclaim VAT.”

Notes to editors:

The lost VAT reclaim potential figure was calculated through a combination of fuelGenie research, publicly available information and survey data owned by Warwick Business School.

The survey, commissioned by fuelGenie and undertaken by Opinion Matters, was carried out between 16th – 22nd October 2009 amongst adults who work in UK SMEs and who are able to claim expenses.

Opinion Matters / Tickbox.net

Opinion Matters / Tickbox.net is a leading market research organisation, carrying out consumer, corporate and niche market surveys online amongst a 55,000+ UK member panel. Opinion Matters / Tickbox.net follow the codes of the MRS (Market Research Society) and are fully registered and compliant with the Data Protection Registrar.