Our story

We started with a simple frustration

Fuel prices have risen sharply recently, making it more important than ever to know where to fill up for less. But price alone does not tell the whole story. Drivers also need to know whether that price is current, whether the forecourt is open, what facilities are available and whether the stop makes sense for their journey.

Fuel Beacon is the answer: an app designed to make informed fuel choices simple—showing the latest reported prices, when they were reported, and giving you the forecourt information you need before you pull in.

Built pragmatically

Fuel Beacon draws on our collective experience of designing and delivering apps for organisations ranging from global giants to ambitious specialists. That experience has taught us to begin by listening: understand the need, make the experience effortless and keep improving as the product evolves and its community grows.

Location-based price search was our starting point. Journey planning and advance notice of price changes where available are already well advanced in development. We’re also developing ways for drivers to help verify reported prices, improving confidence in the information and helping to identify and correct errors. Together, these capabilities are designed to help drivers spend less, avoid wasted stops and make fuel-price information more accurate and dependable for everyone. The aim is straightforward: an app that drivers can trust and find rewarding to use.

Designed to earn trust

Fuel Beacon shows more than a price: it makes clear when that price was reported and gives drivers useful context for judging it. Where information is uncertain, we'd rather say so than pretend otherwise.

We will always design around a few durable principles:

• Freshness should be visible. A price without a meaningful timestamp can mislead.
• Provenance should be clear. Drivers should be able to distinguish retailer-reported information from prices independently verified by the Fuel Beacon community as that capability becomes available.
• Context matters. Opening hours, brand and facilities belong beside the price.
• Useful beats clever. Technology should remove work for drivers, not create more of it.
• Participation should improve the product. Community contributions should have a clear purpose and strengthen the information available to everyone.

So, what’s next?

Fuel Beacon is ready for you to explore on the web. We're also inviting drivers to request early access to the iPhone and Android apps as we continue to enhance the experience.

We want drivers to put it to work on real journeys. See what it does well. Challenge what could be better. And tell us what they'd like to see next.

Because the people using Fuel Beacon have an important part to play in what it becomes.