The Fragmented Forecourt: Episode 4 – Live from The Forecourt Show: Local agility meets global control

Forecourts across Europe are evolving in very different ways. While UK conversations often centre on merchandise, convenience, and site-level optimisation, markets like Germany and the Netherlands reveal a more complex picture shaped by regulation, fleet payments, data, and the growing distance between fuel brands and day-to-day operations.

Recorded at the Forecourt Show, this episode brings together Ghermaine Henry from Aevi and industry perspectives shaped by deep experience across European fuel markets to explore what UK operators could learn from what is happening elsewhere. From brand divestment and the rise of group operators, to vendor lock-in, fragmented fleet payments, and growing fraud concerns, the discussion looks at how operational reality is diverging from traditional fuel retail models.

Rather than focusing on innovation for its own sake, the conversation centres on where value is actually being created. Why large brands are investing where revenue already exists, why EV investment is being approached more cautiously, and how digital payments, data, and customer engagement are becoming more important than physical infrastructure alone.

In this episode, we explore:

• How forecourt priorities differ across the UK, Germany, and the Netherlands
• Why large fuel brands are divesting from site operations and relying more on regional operators
• The growing challenge of vendor lock-in and the cost of inflexible payment landscapes
• Why fleet payments, data visibility, and roaming matter more in European markets
• The rise in skimming and fraud risk and the need for real-time and post-transaction screening
• How fragmented payment ecosystems increase operational friction for operators and customers
• Why EV investment is not always a revenue driver for major brands
• The shift toward digital payments, mobile access, and data-driven customer engagement
• What fuel and payments professionals can learn from retail’s focus on engagement and relevance
• Why customer experience, adaptability, and support now matter as much as hardware stability

This conversation is grounded in the practical realities of modern fuel retail: layered ownership models, slow escalation paths, disconnected stakeholders, and technology that often remains unchanged for years. It highlights why visibility, control, and local agility are becoming just as important as global consistency.

If you work in fuel retail, fleet, payments, or mobility and are navigating fragmented ecosystems, diverging regional demands, or the challenge of staying relevant to changing customer expectations, this episode offers a pragmatic perspective on where forecourts are heading and what needs to change to get there.

The Fragmented Forecourt: Episode 3 – Live from The Forecourt Show: EV promise meets forecourt reality

Forecourts and convenience retail sit at an increasingly awkward intersection. They are expected to reflect changing consumer habits, support new technologies like EV charging, and respond to health, regulatory, and economic pressures, all while running on infrastructure that was never designed for this level of complexity.

Recorded at the Forecourt Show, this episode brings together Matt Oldham from Attenda and Ghermaine Henry from Aevi to explore what is really changing on UK forecourts and what is proving harder than expected. From shifting product mixes and healthier convenience options, to the realities of EV charging economics and unreliable customer journeys, the conversation cuts through assumptions and looks at what is actually happening on the ground.

Rather than focusing on distant future visions, Matt shares what retailers and suppliers are seeing right now. Why health and wellness products are becoming more prominent, where EV expectations are running ahead of operational reality, and why payments and technology robustness remain critical foundations that too often get overlooked.

In this episode, we explore:

• What the Forecourt Show reveals about the current state of retail and supplier priorities
• The rise of health-focused convenience and why alcohol sales may be softening
• Why EV charging presence at industry events may be declining
• The economic and operational challenges of making EV charging work for forecourt operators
• How customer journey failures, authorisation issues, and unreliable tech damage trust
• Why payments and infrastructure robustness matter more than novelty in new services
• How longer EV dwell times are reshaping forecourt layouts, concessions, and customer expectations
• What unattended retail and age verification could unlock for 24/7 forecourt models
• Where retailers should focus now to avoid compounding complexity later

This conversation is grounded in today’s realities: pressure on margins, fragmented technology choices, and customers who only notice payments when something goes wrong. It highlights why simplifying foundations, choosing resilient partners, and designing for real customer behaviour matter more than chasing every trend.

If you work in forecourt retail, convenience, EV charging, or payments and are navigating shifting consumer demands alongside fragile infrastructure, this episode offers a practical view of what is changing, what is stalling, and where attention should be focused next.

The Fragmented Forecourt: From Petrol Stations To Mobility Hubs

Fuel and convenience forecourts have quietly become some of the most complex retail environments in the UK. Multiple ownership models, legacy pump technology, growing convenience offers, EV infrastructure, and an expanding mix of attended and unattended payments have created an estate held together by workarounds rather than design.

In this episode of The Fragmented Forecourt, Matt Oldham from Attenda joins Ghermaine Henry from Aevi to unpack why fragmentation is not a failure of operators, but the natural outcome of decades of layered decisions and competing priorities.

Together, they explore how forecourts have evolved from simple fuel stops into convenience destinations and emerging mobility hubs, and why payments sit at the center of making that shift work for both operators and customers.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why forecourts are fragmented by design, from ownership models to on-site concessions and legacy POS
• How adding EV charging, food, car wash, and unattended services increases complexity behind the scenes
• Why customers do not care about payments until something breaks and what that means for experience design
• The operational and cost challenges of running multiple payment solutions across one site
• Why standardizing payments across fuel, retail, and unattended services is a critical first step
• How EV dwell time changes the economics and purpose of the forecourt
• The growing importance of customer understanding and data in environments where ownership is shared
• What the future forecourt could look like as sites evolve into local mobility and retail hubs

Rather than chasing a perfect future state, this conversation focuses on practical realities. How operators can simplify what they already have, reduce friction across payments, and create a foundation that supports whatever comes next, whether that is EV growth, new services, or entirely new forms of mobility.

If you work in fuel retail, convenience, mobility, or payments and are grappling with legacy systems, fragmented estates, or the challenge of modernizing without disruption, this episode offers a grounded perspective on where to start and what really matters.

Retailers keep chasing best of breed tools, but every new integration adds complexity, slows teams down, and chips away at value. The result is a brittle, tangled Frankenstack that nobody truly owns and everyone struggles to maintain.

In this episode of Under the Stack, Leni Hakvoort, Head of Product at New Black, and Victor Padee, CRO at Aevi, unpack why retail tech becomes so fragmented, why change is so hard to drive internally, and what actually happens when retailers delay modernization for too long.

Drawing on real retail scenarios and years of hands‑on product leadership, they break down the hidden cost of fragmentation, from siloed decision making and outdated loyalty systems to the operational drag of “just enough to keep it running.” They explore how disconnected systems erode customer trust, stall unified commerce, and make it nearly impossible to deliver the experiences shoppers now expect as standard.

This episode breaks down:

• Why best of breed decisions often create the Frankenstack retailers fear
• How feature‑based vendor selection leads to brittle, over‑integrated environments
• Why organizational silos slow down modernization and block long term strategy
• Why unified commerce is no longer a differentiator but a minimum expectation
• How loyalty programs fail when they are generic, slow, and disconnected
• What retailers really risk when they delay architectural change

If you are navigating unified commerce, tech modernization, customer loyalty, or the complexity of retail transformation, this episode is a must‑listen.

Payments are mission-critical for ISVs — but they’re also heavy, slow, and expensive to build.

In this first episode of Under the Stack, we go under the hood of one of the biggest decisions ISVs face as they scale: should you build your own payments stack, or buy and integrate instead?

Drawing on real-world examples and decades of payments experience, we explore the true cost of going slow - from delayed product roadmaps and missed revenue opportunities to customer churn, reputational damage, and renewal risk. We unpack why building payments infrastructure often pulls engineering teams away from the features customers actually pay for, and how falling behind in payments can make an entire product feel outdated.

This episode breaks down:

• Why “owning the stack” is still such a powerful - and risky - instinct for ISVs
• How slow payments innovation directly impacts NPS, churn, and ARR
• The hidden compliance, certification, and operational costs most teams underestimate
• Why speed to market unlocks upsell, cross-sell, and expansion revenue sooner
• How buying vs building affects CAC payback and long-term growth

If you’re an ISV navigating payments strategy, product prioritisation, or scale - this episode is a must-listen.

Building a Unified Payments Estate: From Fragmented Forecourts to Connected Experiences.

Fuel and convenience retail is one of the most complex in-person payment environments in the world - for consumers, the experience hasn’t changed in decades.

In this episode of The Fragmented Forecourt, we’re joined by Chris Dickey, a payments and commerce expert, alongside Victor Padee, to unpack why fragmentation has become the accepted norm in fuel retail - and the real cost of maintaining it.

Together, we explore:

• Why modernising the forecourt feels so risky (and why doing nothing is riskier)
• The hidden operational, innovation, and customer-experience costs of fragmented payment estates
• Why up to 60% of fuel visits remain unidentified - despite heavy investment in loyalty
• Where fuel retailers should actually start if they want to move toward a unified, orchestrated payments model
• How customer identification, data connectivity, and orchestration unlock loyalty, personalisation, and competitive advantage
• What a fully connected forecourt could look like in five years - and the role payments play in getting there

Rather than chasing a “perfect future state,” this episode focuses on practical, achievable steps fuel and convenience retailers can take today to reduce friction, regain control, and start delivering experiences customers actually notice.

If you’re responsible for payments, digital transformation, loyalty, or customer experience in fuel and convenience retail - this episode is your starting point.