MURCO

Bell, EP

Brief History

Murphy Oil Corporation started retailing gasoline in the USA in 1957 by acquiring a number of small regional chains. Sensing that expansion might be easier outside the competitive US market, in the 1960s it acquired independents in Canada, Sweden and Britain. Although Murphy consolidated on the Spur brand in North America, the Spur name was owned in Britain by Spurrier Glazebrook, which kept a single station operational in Lancashire, so the Murco name was used instead.
The Swedish chain was soon sold to BP, but the British outlets, formed partly from the EP (=European Petroleum) and Olympic branded chains, survive to this day. Olympic was phased out around 1970, but a handful of EP branded stations survived into the 1990s, when it was briefly revived as a discount name. Murco part owns a Welsh refinery, and has developed a niche in community based service stations.

Maps: Murco

	Murco first issued maps in the 1960s when Geographia Ltd prepared a pair covering Britain North and South at 9 miles to the inch. It is not known how regularly Murco issued maps, for the company supplied under 450 outlets, but the examples on the right date from about 1973 and 1975 respectively and each cover England & Wales on a single sheet at the same scale. ca1975 map loaned by Richard Horwitz
The final sheet map - marked as 8th edition (1990) - has all of Britain on a single Bartholomew's sheet, still at 9 miles to the inch. The special offer price was applied as a sticker when the map was on sale at the Murco station in Bear Cross, Bournemouth in autumn 1990. All Murco garages are listed on the 1990 map: company owned ones are named "Murco Service Station" with dealer sites carrying their owner's name. Murco is the only brand to have issued maps throughout the 1990s in Britain, selling a large format (15 inches tall) atlas every year since 1991.

		On the far left is the 1992 road atlas with an extremely busy cover depicting all elements of the Murco operation. Near left is the 1999 version, by now spiral bound and the first to use the new Murco logo. Bottom left is the 2004 edition; this is the first map found on sale from the centenary year of the petrol company road map. All were produced by Bartholomew at 1:200,000, although the most recent editions credit Collins. As the price of some competing atlases have fallen, Murco has reacted by taking its atlas upmarket, so that the current version includes not only the basic maps, but 19 urban area maps at 1 inch to the mile and 60 city/town centre plans, including such unusual towns for detailed mapping as Windsor and Weston-super-Mare. Murco atlases also list Murco service station locations, usually on or inside the rear cover. The 2008 edition was sold from late summer 2007 and lists Jet branded stations supplied by Murco as well as Murco branded sites.
The 2002 atlas is shown on the UK Maps page. Atlas covers are shown at two-thirds normal map scale.

Maps: Bell/EP

Murco allowed a couple of jobbers to distribute petrol under the EP name. Sadler supplied 70 sites in the Northeast from its Middlesbrough base, but switched to its own brand in 1970 and later sold out to Q8.

Grimsby-based Bell Oil operations had 46 outlets, mainly in Lincolnshire, when it issued this map of the county in 1972. Drawn by local firm, Wally Day, it located the county's 24 Bell and 16 EP sites, as well as recommending hotels and restaurants. An unusual feature was a first aid guide and record sheet for accidents. Bell was one of the first companies to switch to AVIA in 1978, but was bought by the larger independent UK in the mid-1980s.

This extract shows the basic town plan of Grimsby and Cleethorpes, together with the 11 Bell and EP stations in the towns. Town plans were also included for Lincoln and Boston.

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Text and layout © Ian Byrne, 1999-2007