# Top Oil

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{{Short description|Irish petrol company}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Tedcastle Oil Products Unlimited Company
| logo = TOP Oil Ireland logo.png
| logo_caption = The current logo, in use since 1996 
| type = [Unlimited company](/source/Unlimited_company)
| industry = [Fuel](/source/Fuel_industry) 
| founded = 22 March 1960
| area_served = Ireland
| products = [Petrochemical](/source/Petrochemical)
| owner = [Irving Oil](/source/Irving_Oil)
| homepage = {{URL|https://www.top.ie}}
}}
[[File:Village Petrol Station - geograph.org.uk - 1424216.jpg|thumb|Top Oil petrol station in [Ballygarrett](/source/Ballygarrett), Co Wexford in 2009 with the old Tedcastle's Oil logo]]
'''Top Oil''' (formally '''Tedcastles Oil Products Unlimited Company''') is an [Irish](/source/Republic_of_Ireland)-based [petrol](/source/petrol) company founded in 1960 which trades under the brand name "Top". Before a rebranding in 1998, the company variously traded as "Tedcastles Oil Products", "Tedcastles Oil", "Tedcastles" and "T.O.P.", and prior to that as "Tedcastle McCormick".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Byrne |first1=Anne |title=Getting it all together at the petrol station's forecourt |work=The Irish Times |issue=p 7 |date=24 April 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Keeffe |first1=Barry |title=Tedcastles spending £1.6m to get on TOP |work=The Irish Times |issue=p 29 |date=1 August 1997}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Tedcastle McCormick plans £750,000 oil complex in Dublin |work=The Irish Times |issue=p 16 |date=1 September 1972}}</ref> Top Oil is a medium-sized Irish distributor of petroleum fuels.

==History==
The business was founded by Robert Tedcastle as a coal merchant in 1800, later diversifying in the heating business and entering the petroleum business. It was subsequently renamed as Tedcastle and McCormick, then Tedcastle, McCormick and Co. Ltd., and then Tedcastles Oil Products.<ref>{{cite news |title=Potez plant will mean work for 700 people |work=The Irish Times |issue=pp 5-6 |date=17 January 1963}}</ref>

In 1926, the business became an associate company of the Coast Lines group. It established branches in Clonmel, Cork, Foynes, Limerick, Newcastle West and Waterford. In 1950, it returned to private ownership, with John P Reihill as chair. In the 1950s and early 1960s, it opened branches in Belfast, Dundalk and Sligo.<ref>{{cite news |title=Potez plant will mean work for 700 people |work=The Irish Times |issue=pp 5-6 |date=17 January 1963}}</ref>

In the late 20th century, the business variously traded as "Tedcastles Oil Products", "Tedcastles Oil", "Tedcastles" and "T.O.P.". In 1998, it underwent a rebrand as "Top Oil" with a green colour scheme that has changed little since.<ref>{{cite news |last1=O'Keeffe |first1=Barry |title=Tedcastles spending £1.6m to get on TOP |work=The Irish Times |issue=p 29 |date=1 August 1997}}</ref>

The Tedcastle Group was acquired by [Irving Oil](/source/Irving_Oil) of Canada in 2018.<ref name=irvingbuys>{{Cite news |title=Canada's Irving Oil buys Tedcastle group for undisclosed sum |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/energy-and-resources/canada-s-irving-oil-buys-tedcastle-group-for-undisclosed-sum-1.3603142 |newspaper=[Irish Times](/source/Irish_Times)|date=2018-08-21 |accessdate=2020-03-29}}</ref>

==Petrol stations==
The company operates [petrol stations](/source/filling_station) mainly outside [Dublin](/source/Dublin). It has over 205 locations nationwide ( 25 of them are company owned).
In 2010, Top Oil acquired a fuel company in Galway called Sweeney Oil, out of receivership for a nominal purchase price. Top Oil have grown in recent years through vulture purchasing of distressed oil companies from bank receivership, examples including Tougher Oil in Kildare and Sweeney Oil in Galway.
In late 2010, Top Oil's 6 separate sites were finally opened along the Galway motorway, which are all in alliance with [Applegreen](/source/Petrogas).
In 2012, the brand was changed to Top Oil – Fueling Ireland and in 2016, the company re-entered the forecourt shop sector with the acquisition of 10 company owned locations.

==Convenience stores==
From 1998 to 2004, the company operated a convenience store chain on a franchise basis with ADM Londis. These stores were known as "Londis Topshop". This allowed forecourts to become franchisees of both Londis and Top at once.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Keena |first1=Colm |title=Energy firm in Londis alliance |work=The Irish Times |issue=p 17 |date=30 July 1998}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Byrne |first1=Anne |title=Getting it all together at the petrol station's forecourt |work=The Irish Times |issue=p 7 |date=24 April 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=McCall |first1=Barry |title=Ten years that have changed Ireland's shopping culture |work=The Irish Times |issue=p 33 |date=11 September 2001}}</ref> However it also had high street stores in competition with ADM Londis itself. In 2004, the stores were acquired by ADM and rebranded to simply [Londis](/source/Londis_(Ireland)).

In 2018, Top Oil works in partnership with a number of retailers across their network including [SPAR](/source/Spar_(retailer)), [Mace](/source/Mace_(shop)) and Daybreak.

==Competition==
Top Oil's main competition comes from [Maxol](/source/Maxol), [Certa](/source/Certa_(oil)), [Texaco](/source/Texaco) and [Circle K](/source/Circle_K).

==References==
<references />

Category:Oil companies of the Republic of Ireland
Category:1960 establishments in Ireland

{{petroleum-company-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Top Oil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Oil) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Oil?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.
