Latest news with #TomDant
Yahoo
12-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Petrol stations run dry after oil refinery collapse
Petrol stations are running out of fuel after the collapse of one of Britain's biggest oil refineries cut off vital supplies. A financial crisis at the Lindsey Oil Refinery, owned by Prax Group, has unleashed chaos across a string of forecourts near the plant in Lincolnshire, some of which have been unable to secure any supplies for more than a week. The supply crunch has been triggered by a halt in fuel deliveries from the site, which was taken over by the Official Receiver after Prax collapsed. This has left many local petrol stations in disarray as they battle to source more expensive alternatives to remain open, leading to unexpected financial losses. Tom Dant, managing director at Gill Marsh forecourts in Lincolnshire, said his three garages were without fuel for at least eight days in the wake of Prax's failure. 'It is a complete mess,' he said. 'The communication has been less than poor. We can't get anything from the refinery. They have no tankers or drivers, which means there is no way that they can supply us.' Mr Dant remains locked into a five-year supply contract despite Prax's failure, preventing him from sourcing a new fuel partner. This means he has to rely on more expensive short-term supplies, which he said have already cost him £50,000 in lost profits. Bullwinkle's Garage, another nearby forecourt in Lincolnshire, is also facing similar problems. A spokesman for the business said they went five days without any petrol because of the collapse. Both petrol station businesses said they were blindsided by the company's failure, echoing complaints made by Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, earlier this month. At the time, Whitehall officials said they were repeatedly assured that the refinery was not under immediate threat. However, Mr Dant questioned why ministers were not aware of the problems at Prax sooner. It comes after The Telegraph revealed that the company had been battling cash flow problems for more than a year owing to a £250m tax liability with HMRC. It is understood that Prax had approached the Government for support in 2024, although their request was denied. Signs of financial stress had also emerged at the company earlier this year when Prax started pulling direct debits from customers days earlier than planned. 'For us, how has it reached the point that the Government let them run an £250m unpaid tax, and it had not been probed before now?' said Mr Dant. Mr Miliband has since ordered a full investigation into the circumstances behind Prax's collapse, including 'the conduct of the directors'. This is likely to raise questions over why the owners of the refinery, Sanjeev Kumar and Arani Soosaipillai, were paid a £3.6m dividend the year before it collapsed. The Telegraph revealed last week that authorities are currently unclear as to the whereabouts of Mr Soosaipillai, who is the chief executive of Prax. The Official Receiver was contacted for comment. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Telegraph
12-07-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Petrol stations run dry after oil refinery collapse
Petrol stations are running out of fuel after the collapse of one of Britain's biggest oil refineries cut off vital supplies. A financial crisis at the Lindsey Oil Refinery, owned by Prax Group, has unleashed chaos across a string of forecourts near the plant in Lincolnshire, some of which have been unable to secure any supplies for more than a week. The supply crunch has been triggered by a halt in fuel deliveries from the site, which was taken over by the Official Receiver after Prax collapsed. This has left many local petrol stations in disarray as they battle to source more expensive alternatives to remain open, leading to unexpected financial losses. Tom Dant, managing director at Gill Marsh forecourts in Lincolnshire, said his three garages were without fuel for at least eight days in the wake of Prax's failure. 'It is a complete mess,' he said. 'The communication has been less than poor. We can't get anything from the refinery. They have no tankers or drivers, which means there is no way that they can supply us.' Mr Dant remains locked into a five-year supply contract despite Prax's failure, preventing him from sourcing a new fuel partner. This means he has to rely on more expensive short-term supplies, which he said have already cost him £50,000 in lost profits. Bullwinkle's Garage, another nearby forecourt in Lincolnshire, is also facing similar problems. A spokesman for the business said they went five days without any petrol because of the collapse. Prax collapse Both petrol station businesses said they were blindsided by the company's failure, echoing complaints made by Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, earlier this month. At the time, Whitehall officials said they were repeatedly assured that the refinery was not under immediate threat. However, Mr Dant questioned why ministers were not aware of the problems at Prax sooner. It comes after The Telegraph revealed that the company had been battling cash flow problems for more than a year owing to a £250m tax liability with HMRC. It is understood that Prax had approached the Government for support in 2024, although their request was denied. Signs of financial stress had also emerged at the company earlier this year when Prax started pulling direct debits from customers days earlier than planned. 'For us, how has it reached the point that the Government let them run an £250m unpaid tax, and it had not been probed before now?' said Mr Dant. Mr Miliband has since ordered a full investigation into the circumstances behind Prax's collapse, including 'the conduct of the directors'. This is likely to raise questions over why the owners of the refinery, Sanjeev Kumar and Arani Soosaipillai, were paid a £3.6m dividend the year before it collapsed. The Telegraph revealed last week that authorities are currently unclear as to the whereabouts of Mr Soosaipillai, who is the chief executive of Prax.
BBC News
06-07-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Lincolnshire garages run out of petrol after supply issues
The owner of three petrol stations says his garages have run out of a fuel as a result of an oil refinery going into Dant of Gill Marsh Forecourts said all three of his sites at Ulceby Cross, Partney and Bilsby in Lincolnshire ran out of unleaded petrol on Thursday. The government said an agreement had been reached to keep the Lindsey refinery at Immingham operating and resume deliveries despite filing for insolvency on 29 June. The Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) acknowledged there may be delays to deliveries and advised motorists to "shop around". The Lindsey Oil Refinery is owned by Prax Group which filed for insolvency on 29 are 420 employees at the refinery, whose jobs are now at risk. According to the government, Lindsey is the smallest of the UK's oil refineries producing fuel. It is next to the Phillips 66 Humber refinery, which is the dominant fuel supplier in the region. In a statement on Friday, a spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: "The UK is well supplied with fuel – the site is right next door to one of the biggest and most efficient refineries in the country, and stock levels are normal across the UK."However, Mr Dant said his garages were supplied by Harvest Energy which was also part of the Prax Group."Even if there's product there, we still couldn't get that product," he said. "It's very hard, because there are quite a few of us in the same boat," he added."There's loads of garages around us that are now starting to run out because obviously the remaining refinery, Phillips 66 can't just double their production overnight," he retailer said he expected the supply problems to last at least two weeks, but hoped to have secured some fuel from Liverpool by the end of next week."Obviously there's a great deal of extra cost for us to get that, but at least we'll have some products to sell," he said.A PRA spokesperson: "The PRA is currently in contact with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and also Harvest Energy. "We are aware that Harvest Energy (Prax) have allowed their dealers to source product from alternative suppliers whilst clarity is sought on supply from Lindsey Oil Refinery. "Whilst there may be some delay to deliveries there is no shortage of product and motorists are advised to shop around."Listen to highlights from Lincolnshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.
