Fuel club delay
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• A Belgian-based fuel club is still struggling to start trading in the UK almost six months after it first promised hauliers cutprice diesel.
Fuel Club NV of Ostend planned to start bringing cheap fuel into the UK in October 2000 but the scheme has been dogged by delays, including problems with storage.
Co-founder Jim Wallace says it now faces a challenge from Customs and Excise over VAT payments. Customs and Excise will be holding a meeting with Wallace about the situation in the next couple of months.
However, Wallace is still cautiously optimistic: "Once this is sorted out we have an office outside Bristol ready to move into," he says.
But some companies which have been waiting for the teething problems to be resolved are running out of patience.
Alex Mauro-Hun from fuel purchasing firm Short Brothers in Port Talbot says: "I would like to think that they can do it but so far they have not delivered anything."
MI Hauliers seeking information about the service have contacted CM to point out the telephone number given out last year has been unobtainable since the beginning of 2001. Wallace explains that the Fuel Club NV number has changed to 07977 387905.