Langton Capital – 2022-12-19 – Pizza Union, food inflation, footfall, drink sales, energy costs & other:
Pizza Union, food inflation, footfall, drink sales, energy costs & other:A DAY IN THE LIFE: Well, that was a World Cup final and a half, wasn’t it? And Hull City thrashed Sunderland 1-1 to make a weekend of it but, from a business point of view, this is maybe a working week that will struggle to get out of first gear. Indeed, if all of the ‘Merry Christmas from XYZ’ emails going out last Friday were anything to go by, it be a week that doesn’t even manage to engage first gear and, as Langton is down in London from later today, we might well have the Capital to ourselves. Anyway, such are the risks when Christmas Day falls on a Sunday. On to the news: LANGTON EMAIL: The Free Email is now written in short form. Extended versions of many stories (after the ellipses) are in the Premium Email. Reply to this email if you would like to upgrade. Prices for the Premium at time of writing are £345 for one subscription, £595 for multiple, both plus VAT. Or sign up for easy in, easy out monthly option HERE https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=87YUG2Z5W7PSN PRIVATE COMPANY ACCOUNTS – PIZZA UNION LIMITED: Introduction: Pizza Union Ltd has reported full year numbers to 2 January 2022 to Companies House. • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. PUBS & RESTAURANTS: Food price inflation over 20%. The November CGA Prestige Foodservice Price Index ‘continued its strong upward trend during November 2022 to reach record inflation of 21.5%… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Market trends: The Lumina Intelligence Menu and Food Trends Report 2022 shows that the eating out market is expected to total £101bn in 2025… Current trading: David Lee at Insight & Solutions comments on recent trading, saying ‘England out of the World Cup, snow and cold weather, train strikes, consumers propensity to spend will all have impacted on the sales for last week.’ We are now running into Omicron comps from last year, which should make numbers easier to beat… CGA has commented on the week to 10 December, saying that drinks sales beat 2021 but were level with the last COVID-free Christmas. It says ‘the World Cup helped to lift last week’s On Premise drinks sales well above the same week in 2021—but trading has dipped below the marker of 2019, the last Christmas without COVID issues…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Pay settlements: Workers at luxury carmaker Rolls-Royce have secured a pay deal worth 17.6%, unions say, averting the possibility of industrial action… Energy support: The FT reports that the government is close to announcing an extension of taxpayer support towards paying energy bills… CAMRA has urged the Chancellor to continue energy bill support in order to prevent breweries from going under. It comes after a string of announcements in recent months of small, local and independent breweries closing down as they can’t make ends meet… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. More days off: The government has said it will consult on extending licensing hours from 11pm until 1am on 5, 6, and 7 May across the Bank Holiday weekend that will include the coronation of King Charles… Cost of living crisis: Bus fares are reported set to be capped at £2 by 130 operators outside London to help passengers cope with rising prices. The Department for Transport is to fund the £60m scheme. Other news: Duty. The Sun reports that ‘booze duty will be frozen until August in a major win for pubs and brewers.’ It says the levies ‘were due to be hiked on February 1, but Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will delay that move for an extra six months until August 1…’ The BBC reports that ‘hospitality bosses in the North East warn the cost-of-living crisis in the run-up to Christmas is making it “harder than Covid” for businesses – leading to fears it could be a far from happy new year.’ Not just, the industry may add, in the North East. Rates. The Scottish Beer & Pub Association (SBPA) has warned the Scottish government that its decision not to replicate the business rates relief scheme would be disappointing for operators. SBPA CEO Emma McClarkin said not having the relief would put Scotland’s pubs at a significant disadvantage in their recovery. Low & no-alcohol. In the US, a new study published by IWSR Drinks Market Analysis has found that no and low alcohol beer, cider, wine, spirits and ready-to-drink (RTD) products grew by more than 7% in volume across 10 key global markets in 2022… US restaurant sales. Black Box Intelligence reports that ‘same-store sales growth was minus 3.4% year-over-year in November.’ This is even worse when the impact of inflation is taken into account. Black Box says that footfall was also down in the month. COMPANY NEWS: Liberation Group and Cirrus Inns have announced the combination of the two businesses, creating a predominantly freehold business of 137 pubs, of which 79 are managed and 58 are tenanted. The combined business will also have 400 rooms of premium accommodation… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. Simpson’s Tavern has been granted asset of community value status by the City of London Corporation after it was “forced” to close amidst a dispute with its landlord. The status now means that the eatery cannot be sold without first providing the local community with an opportunity to bid for the building. The Mail on Sunday reports that Rekom, the UK’s largest nightclub operator, would like to increase the number of units it owns from 51 to around 200… AMT Coffee was sold in a pre-pack sale to SSP for £1.75m, an administrators’ report shows, with a total of 25 of AMT’s 43 sites included as part of the deal. Six of the remaining sites were sold to Gourmet Coffee Bar & Kitchen for £62.5k and the remaining 12 surrendered to their landlords. The FT reports that Richard Caring recently sold a further 25% of his restaurant business to Sheikh Hamad Bin-Jassim Bin-Jaber Al Thani, the former PM of Qatar. Toggle has launched a nationwide billboard campaign in a bid to boost hospitality gift card sales this festive season. More than 75 hospitality brands have signed up to the campaign so far, including Bella Italia, Yo Sushi, Rosa’s Thai, Gusto and Cosy Club. Cask Marque has announce that two new Directors are to join its Board. Martyn Cozens is On Trade Director at Molson Coors and Andrew Turner is Chief Operating Office for St Austell brewery. North Brewing Co is to open its tenth venue, on Oxford Road in Manchester in early January. The Arnold Arms pub in Ware Road, Barby near Rugby officially re-opened its doors this week after a joint investment by pub owners Red Oak Taverns and new operator, Jeremy Baker. Nebraska-based Scooter’s Coffee has opened its 500th outlet in the US, increasing its store count by 25% in the 12 months to August 2022. World Coffee Portal research found that US coffee chain achieved a robust $4.5bn sales rebound in 2022, representing sales growth of 10% over the last 12 months. Amazon workers at a warehouse in Coventry have voted to take strike action. The GMB union said workers voted to walk out over a 50 pence per hour pay offer. HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: ABTA estimates that up to five million travellers could head overseas over the Christmas and new year period. Border Force staff are to strike this week. Heathrow expects 61 million passengers to pass through its gates this year as the airport raises its 2022 earnings forecast by £308m to £1.67bn. Britain’s flagship airport expects its earnings to grow by a further 4 per cent next year as passenger numbers are set to go up to 67.2 million. OTHER LEISURE: Sky News reports that VR developer Improbable is preparing to make more than 10% of its 950-strong workforce redundant as it looks to cut losses. The company is focused on creating metaverse platforms for use in video games and industries such as defence. Elon Musk has called a poll of Twitter users to ask if he should step down as boss of the social media platform. The poll is currently running 56% yes to 44% no. Mr Musk says ‘I will abide by the results of this poll.’ FINANCE & MARKETS: Sterling weaker at $1.217 and €1.147. Oil lower at $79.52. UK 10 year gilt yield up 9bps at 4.46%. World markets weaker on Friday but London set to open up around 21pts as at 6.30am. RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB: • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £345, multiple £595. Limited time offer: PayPal monthly £25 + VAT. Easy in, easy out. |
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