While pumps are a crucial piece of equipment for every forecourt operator, the market had attracted very little scrutiny from outside the industry until a major upheaval during 2016. Dimatix materials printer dmp 2800 manual. The year began with a US conglomerate, Dover Corporation, taking over the product divisions of Tokheim Group, which makes dispensers and electronic equipment. This meant it owned one of the big three manufacturers of pumps sold in the UK market, although Tokheim Solutions UK, which is the exclusive distributor in the UK, remained a separate company. Then, in early summer last year, Dover announced that it was also buying Wayne Fueling Systems, and this is when the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) took an interest.

The CMA said it was concerned that a deal for Dover Corporation to take over Wayne's entire business could limit competition in the UK fuel pumps market, explaining: 'Other than Dover and Wayne, there is only one other significant supplier of fuel dispensers in the UK (Gilbarco), with other suppliers lacking sufficient scale to constrain the merged entity.' It threatened a lengthy full inquiry into the deal unless Dover could come up with a remedy. Dover won the CMA's approval by selling Wayne's UK distribution business to Petrotec Group, a pump manufacturer based in Portugal, which already had a presence in the UK market. Following a short transitional period, the British company is now officially called Petroassist UK. It will continue to be the authorised distributor of Dover Fueling Solutions for Wayne pumps and solutions for UK and Ireland, but will now provide a much wider range of products and services to its customers and markets.

Although it is a part of the Petrotec Group, Petroassist UK will retain its current management, processes and personnel. Head of business development, Barry Onions, says one of the new products it will be introducing in the UK in the forthcoming months will be the new Petrotec Progress II range of pumps, offering a comprehensive range with a model to fit every application and budget. Onions says: 'The Progress II range offers flexible solutions such as the ability to supply combination diesel and AdBlue dispensers in a compact framework, which would be ideal for smaller forecourts or where retailers require cost-effective combinations of nozzles such as AdBlue Truck and Passenger Car on the same dispenser. 'The Petrotec Progress II range features our latest electronics for a superior reliable and long-lasting calculator.' The Progress II range is available with features such as automatic temperature compensation (ATC), stage 2 vapour recovery, medium-, high- and ultra-high flow rates along with special grades such as AdBlue and LPG. Alistair Clarke, managing director of Tokheim Solutions UK, says the changes which have occurred in the market should make little discernible difference for customers.

He states: 'We'll be just as competitive and aggressive as we ever were. If anything, from a pricing point of view, customers will benefit from an increasing competitive spirit.' His company is the exclusive distributor for Tokheim equipment in the UK and he says there is a steady stream of innovations in the pipeline. Two of the latest releases are best suited to high-volume sites serving trucks, but Tokheim's vehicle detection solution is aimed squarely at the dealer market and has two potential uses. It can be used as an energy-saving measure, only activating pump lighting when a vehicle approaches. However, Clarke says that some dealers do not want to dim their forecourt lighting, especially with low-energy LED lighting, because customers want a bright, welcoming forecourt and won't enter otherwise. Another use is that it can activate the advertising loop on pumps equipped with screens.