Langton Capital – 2023-03-20 – Selling assets, strikes, wages & labour, ROO, Honest Burger, holidays etc.:
Selling assets, strikes, wages & labour, ROO, Honest Burger, holidays etc.:A DAY IN THE LIFE: Good morning and, after a week during which there was quite a lot of activity in the normally placid Swiss market, welcome to another working week. If you put your clocks forward at the weekend, you’re a week ahead of us and, though that might sometimes be a good thing, you’ll miss your train and be an hour early for all your meetings for the next 7dys. The weather is bad and it isn’t expected to improve this month with the weather boffins saying March could challenge rainfall records. Thanks for that & 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 are £395 for one subscription, £695 for multiple, £995 for very large subscribers, all plus VAT. Or sign up for easy in, easy out monthly option per subscriber HERE https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=87YUG2Z5W7PSN PUBS & RESTAURANTS: Budget: Comment continues. The British Institute of Innkeeping has claimed that the Spring Budget ‘offers little comfort’ for pub operators. Steve Alton CEO said ‘Without further support from government, Ofgem must now step in urgently to tackle the energy suppliers holding our sector hostage with sky-high standing charges and energy prices that will in many cases be three to four times that of 2021 rates…’ Help with VAT. Tobias Ellwood, the MP for Bournemouth East, has called on the Treasury to halve the VAT on hospitality to help the industry overcome cost pressures… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. Transport strikes: UKH CEO Kate Nicholls tells the BBC ‚London businesses are on their knees as a result of the collateral damage they facing as the tube strikes and train strikes and bus strikes continue… Elsewhere, head of the RMT union Mick Lynch has said that transport ministers should follow the example set in the Department of Health and offer “new money” to striking workers… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. Trading: CGA commented on St Patrick’s Day (ahead of the day itself) saying that ‘with St Patrick’s Day falling on a Friday this year, pubs, bars and suppliers will get a welcome boost to drinks sales—and of stout and spirits in particular…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. Wages: Competition for staff continues. Aldi has given its store employees the third pay rise in 12 months, as the battle for staff intensifies. The supermarket group will lift starting pay to £11.40 an hour nationally and to £12.85 in Greater London… The Resolution Foundation says that British workers are little better off than they were 15yrs ago and says that the wage with other countries, such as Germany, has widened. It says the average UK household incomes have fallen to £4,000 behind those in Germany from £500 some 15yrs ago before the financial crisis, the change of government, Brexit & Covid… Labour: The government has declined to add hospitality to its shortage occupation list. CEO of UKH Kate Nicholls says ‘ongoing labour shortages are crippling hospitality businesses, forcing them to reduce their hours and costing the industry billions in lost trade…’ • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. Other news: Selling assets & exiting sites – more easily said than done? There have been a number of announcements recently regarding asset disposals. These have been a mix of freehold and leasehold and… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. HMRC numbers show that overseas exports of Scottish food and drink reached the highest figure on record in 2022, bringing in some £8.1 billion for the year. Food amounted to some £1.9bn of the number with drink making up the balance… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. Food Tsar Henry Dimbleby has resigned in order to be free to the Tories’ “insane” inaction against obesity…. COMPANY NEWS: Deliveroo CEO Will Shu has told The Telegraph that the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank shows it was ‘right to go public despite the takeaway app’s value dropping 80 per cent since its IPO…’ Honest Burger CEO Frank Hayes has said the company is exploring regional opportunities under an evolved property strategy. The 44-strong burger chain has recently put in place a new management team including a new CFO, CMO, people director & head of technology… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. Kopparberg has announced the release of its limited-edition 4% ABV Summer Punch variant… Coffee brand Grind has announced a £15m investment round to fund further growth. It has completed the acquisition of a ready-to-drink coffee company, Bottleshot Coffee. Grainstore Brewery’s ‘Nip’ and North Brewing Co’s ‘Triple Fruited Gose – Mango Guava Guava’ have taken home Overall Champion Gold in the Cask and Keg Awards at the SIBA Independent Beer Awards 2023…. HOLIDAYS & LEISURE TRAVEL: ABTA reports that 62% of people have been on an overseas holiday since the lifting of the UK’s Covid travel curbs a year ago… • See premium. Reply for sample or to upgrade. Single £395, multiple £695. Limited time offer: PayPal alternative monthly £25 + VAT per sub. Easy in, easy out. Security guards at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal Five are to strike for 10 days from 31 March in a dispute over pay. The period includes the Easter break. YOTEL is to open its first aparthotel brand YOTELPAD in Stratford later this year. Mark Warner is set to open a new resort on the Greek island of Lesvos, due to start taking holidaymakers from May 10. Prices for seven nights half board at Aeolian Village Beach Resort start at £749 per person based on two adults sharing with flights from Gatwick. Airport delays blame game. The Telegraph reports that CEO of Gatwick Stewart Wingate is demanding assurances from 43 airlines including British Airways that passengers will not suffer a repeat of last summer’s travel chaos… P&O’s decision to fire 786 crew members without notice or consultation over Zoom last March and replace them with much cheaper agency workers has resulted in no government action despite promised sanctions, according to the Trades Union Congress. Virgin Orbit is reported to have begun drawing up contingency plans for insolvency after halting operations and furloughing its workforce. Virgin Orbit is 75%-owned by Sir Richard Branson’s holding company and is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange… FINANCE & MARKETS: Eurostat reports Eurozone inflation down 0.1% MoM to 8.5% in February, as a big fall in energy costs was offset by a price surge in nearly all other areas. Inflation excluding volatile food and fuel prices, an indicator closely watched by the ECB, jumped to 5.6% from 5.3%. US industrial output was unchanged in February per the US Department of Commerce. Estimates had been for growth of around 0.2%. UK housing market. Analyst Built Place reports that the number of properties being withdrawn properties from the market because of lower offers from would-be buyers has risen sharply. The OECD says that the fight against inflation must go on. The US Fed reports on Wednesday and the Bank of England updates on monetary policy this Thursday… The new, post-Brexit “infrastructure bank” that was meant to replace funding from European Investment Bank, is reported set to deliver only a fifth of the financial support the EIB provided before the UK left the EU reports the OBR. UBS has bought Switzerland’s second largest bank, Credit Suisse, for £2.7billion in what has been termed a shotgun marriage. The Swiss central bank says ‘a solution has been found to secure financial stability and protect the Swiss economy in this exceptional situation’. The government has organises a liquidity assistance loan of up to £88billion. Credit Suisse shareholders will be virtually wiped out. Sterling up at $1.2183 and €1.1414. Oil down almost $4 over the weekend at $71.46. UK 10yr gilt yield down another 11bps at 3.28%. Markets down on Friday & London set to open down around 90pts as at 6.30am. RETAIL WITH NICK BUBB: • See premium. 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