\n<\/p>\n
Ian Govier manages the Littlewick Green Motor Company garage in Maidenhead, and said his costs had “gone up dramatically over the years”. <\/p>\n
“Ten years ago, we’d look at having [a profit margin of] 6p a litre, now I really need close to 15p a litre to still have the same profit,” he said.<\/p>\n
He said he had also spotted customers habits changing, including more using cash as a way to “control their budgets”.<\/p>\n
“We are definitely seeing instead of putting your normal \u00a350 pounds in to fill up, a lot of people are now sticking in \u00a310, \u00a320,” he said.<\/p>\n
Amid the increase in costs, Govier said he was also having to tackle thefts – with some using illegal “ghost” registrations<\/a> to prevent cameras from reading their number plates.<\/p>\n He said he had been forced to invest in a new camera system to tackle such thefts, which also “eats into profits”.<\/p>\n “If you don’t have a profit you can’t invest in the cameras, you can’t invest in your staff, you can’t invest in people,” he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n