If you’ve been in the independent fuel game long enough, you’ll know the Webbs name. A multi generational family business built on fuel distribution, retail operations and the kind of quiet persistence that keeps the pumps running and the community fuelled.
Jason Webb is the retail coordinator across Webbs Petroleum, overseeing their three sites: BP Macksville, BP Tamworth and BP Port Macquarie. He grew up in the business, knows the rhythms of a forecourt, and has seen firsthand how the industry has shifted under the feet of operators who were once doing things a very different way.
Scaling Back to Move Forward
At one point, Webbs Petroleum operated seven sites across New South Wales and Queensland. As of early 2025, they’ve consolidated to three after offloading four sites in six months.
It wasn’t a retreat. It was a reset.
The distance between Queensland and the mid north coast of NSW made it difficult to stay across the detail that matters: stock levels, margin control, the things you can only really feel when you’re walking the floor. Managers can be good, Jason acknowledges, but they rarely look after things the way you do when it’s your own money on the line.
That honest assessment led the family to make a strategic call: fewer sites, more focus, better outcomes. It’s a story a lot of independent operators will relate to.
Eight Years with Beacon
Webbs Petroleum moved to Beacon’s point of sale platform around 2018. They needed a system that could handle the complexity of their operation: fuel, local accounts, bulk deliveries, distributor card management through the BP network, and integration across multiple sites.
“It covered everything we needed in one system,” Jason says.
But what’s kept the relationship going isn’t just functionality. It’s relevance.
Jason is the first to say they haven’t needed to switch on every feature Beacon offers, but he appreciates that the depth is there when they need it. Tools like the Instant Invoice module, which allows supplier invoices to be imported directly into the system, are available for operators who want to streamline that side of the business. For Webbs, the priority has been elsewhere, and that’s the point: you pick the parts that work for you.
What does work well is the reporting. Jason describes a system that lets you drill down fast, track discrepancies and find problems without running multiple reports and cross referencing them on the desk. For a lean operation where time is the scarcest resource, that efficiency has real value.
Built for the Australian Market
Before choosing Beacon, Webbs looked at several other providers. A recurring problem? Systems built for overseas markets and ported across, assuming what works in the US, the UK or Finland translates to Australia. It doesn’t.
Jason recalls raising specific operational needs with other providers, only to be told those features weren’t on the roadmap because they weren’t relevant in overseas markets. “If it wasn’t needed in America or Europe, it wasn’t a priority,” he says. “That doesn’t work when you’re running an independent site in regional Australia.”
Beacon’s approach is different. Rather than developing in isolation, they go to operators and ask what they need, regularly seeking input on enhancements customers want to see over the next two to three years. For independents who’ve spent years being told what to do by systems that weren’t designed for them, it’s a noticeable difference.
The Day to Day
On the hardware side, Jason speaks highly of Beacon’s all in one machines, which integrate everything behind the screen. No more cables under the bench collecting dust, and critically, they’re far easier to swap out if something goes wrong mid shift.
Training new staff is straightforward too. With most transactions being fuel postpay, the button layout is consistent, and new team members build muscle memory within their first handful of shifts. Jason’s bigger challenge isn’t teaching staff to use the POS. It’s teaching them how to talk to customers, a broader shift the whole industry is feeling.
When it comes to support, Webbs have been around long enough to handle the basics before picking up the phone. So when they do call, Beacon knows it’s something that genuinely needs attention. Jason has no complaints about the help desk, professional services or after hours support. For a family business that can’t afford console downtime, responsive support isn’t a nice to have. It’s essential.
A Family Business Evolving
Michael Webb, Jason’s father, has been in fuel for close to 50 years and has stepped back from day to day operations, though he’s still connected to the business. Jason’s older brother Stephen serves as general manager. It’s the classic generational transition playing out across the independent channel.
“How it worked 30 years ago might not be the best way it works now,” Jason reflects. “Not saying it doesn’t work, but there might be a better way.”
There’s no silver bullet in this industry. But operators who invest in the right tools, stay close to their sites and make deliberate decisions about where to focus tend to come out ahead. For Webbs Petroleum, Beacon has been a consistent part of that equation.
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