A Day in the Life:

Langton is on hols this week so there’s something of a skeleton email going out & there won’t be a full ‘Day in the Life’ until next week.

In fact today, it’s going out very, very late. So much for Germany. Land of engineering excellence and, apparently, very poor WIFI. On to the news:

The News:

PUB, RESTAURANT & DRINKS PRODUCER NEWS:

• AlixPartners & CGA Peach suggest that casual dining restaurants and food-led pubs continue to open up around the country. It says this is ‘a trend being led largely by a crop of ambitious, aspiring branded chains.’

• AlixPartners & CGA Peach report that entrepreneurial food-driven businesses ‘as well as the continued conversion of drink-led pubs to food establishments by major pub groups’ is helping to offset the on-going decline in marginal sites, in particular wet-led and community pubs.

• Latest monitor suggests the number of licensed premises in the UK fell by 0.5% in the year to end March. CGA Peach says ‘this is a relatively small year-on-year fall, and may only be a blip, as it contrasts with the last three quarterly reports, all of which showed the country’s stock of licensed premises in net growth over the previous 12 months. But it does reflect a general slowing down in the eating out sector on both the business and consumer side over the last six months or so’.

• Pub numbers fell by 2.7% in the year to end-March reports AlixPartners CGA Peach. Fall extends to 9.9% over the last 5yrs

• Current trading a little more difficult. CGA Peach reports ‘although the last quarter may have seen a tightening of market conditions both in terms of site numbers and sales growth, this does not appear to have dampened the flow of new entrants to the market.’ It says ‘there is no let up at the smaller chain end of the market.’

• Fuller’s Tuesday reported that Ian Bray, Managing Director of The Beer Company, has decided to leave the Company in order to pursue new opportunities. It says ‘he steps down from the Board, with immediate effect’ and adds ‘the Board has commenced the search for a replacement. Simon Emeny, Chief Executive, will oversee The Beer Company directly until a successor is appointed.’

• The Telegraph reports that Deliveroo has signed a partnership with PizzaExpress. The pizza vendor will become Deliveroo’s largest customer

• Enterprise Inns Friday bought back another 101,500 shares for cancellation at around 98p per share

LEISURE TRAVEL:

• UN WTO has reported that tourism spending has outpaced global trade for the fourth year in a row. The four most popular destinations in the world comprise the US, China, France and Spain.

• Euromonitor reports tourist arrivals have fallen by 46% to Egypt and by 19% to Tunisia. British arrivals in Tunisia have fallen to near zero. Numbers arriving in Turkey are down by around 10%.

FINANCE & MARKETS:

• German unemployment has fallen to a record low in May. The jobless rate for the Eurozone as a whole is down to 10.2%

• India’s economy grew by 7.6% in 2015-16.

Yester-tweet – Yesterday in a Nutshell: Live Tweets on Website:

Some of the early tweets:

• Anti-drink lobbyists helped set the UK’s new, low and controversial drink limits reports The Times.

• PizzaExpress is currently weighing up whether to aggressively roll out its Delivered concept of Firezza brand, writes MCA.

• Strikes in France have led airlines to warn of ‘increased disruption’ to flights and other transport services over the next week

• Alton Towers experienced a ‘25% drop in visitors’ in 2015, according to a report by Themed Entertainment Association.

• Goals announces appointment of Senior NED. Michael Bolingbroke, CEO of Inter Milan, will join the board 13 June.

• Fed should raise interest rates ‘in the coming months’ if the economy picks up & jobs are created as expected says Janet Yellen

• Nine out of 10 of Britain’s top economists believe the economy will be harmed if Britain leaves the EU, according to an Observer poll

• Greece has told the EU that it cannot be expected to implement some of the changes being asked of it