Fuel retailer Gull is celebrating 20 years of business with general manager Dave Bodger calling it a great achievement.
“It’s a time to pause and think, ‘wow’, it’s been a great trip so far.
“We look to have fun with what we do and for a group of just over 30 people – it was less than 10 for many years – it’s quite an achievement so far,” Bodger says.
It was one of three independent oil companies trying to enter the New Zealand market in 1998 and is the sole survivor of that period “in a marketplace dominated by the big guys”.
It now has over 85 sites throughout the North Island and has achieved a number of special milestones over the years.
Gull imports fully refined fuel into its state-of-the-art fuel terminal in Mount Maunganui, on the North Island’s central East Coast.
The facility has a total storage capacity of 90 million litres.
This enables the company to service its entire network in partnership with bulk fuel logistics provider Tranzliquid.
The terminal has simplified the blending process for its high-performance biofuels Gull Force 10 and Gull Force Pro, which are blended on site from base gasoline and ethanol.
Gull was the first to sell low sulphur diesel in New Zealand back in 2002.
It was also the first to bring a biofuel to market in New Zealand with Gull Force 10.
Bodger says a customer-focused approach has been key to the company’s success over the years.
The key is to “keep it simple … we are good at fuel we want to give great value and we want people to not spend a lot of time getting their fuel”.
“We don’t take ourselves too seriously and look to do a small number of things well … have some fun when you do stuff,” Bodger says.
Other company highlights include supplying Auckland emergency services with diesel when there was a contamination issue with other suppliers, pioneering the unmanned service station approach to business and seeing strong growth with many of its support businesses and suppliers.
Gull has been unable to enter the South Island fuel market due to the costs of building a fuel terminal and holding tanks there.
The big petrol companies would not supply it with fuel.
Other tricky tasks include consenting for new sites which is “one of our longest running challenges”, Bodger says.
The company is meeting its challenges and now has around “20 good prospects for new sites to build several in new areas”.
“The upcoming government enquiry and the focus on how prices differ through New Zealand, we believe, will open up new opportunities for us,” Bodger says
